News Competing Stories in the Persian Gulf
posted by January 11 at 13:07 PM
onThis Iranian boat incident is getting very weird.
[A] five-minute video, released by Iranian television yesterday, offers no indication of the tensions that supposedly sparked the encounter between U.S. and Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz—and no indication of an intention to attack. The Pentagon said it does not dispute anything in the Iranian video.In Tehran, Revolutionary Guards Brig. Gen. Ali Fadavi charged that the United States was creating a “media fuss,” the Fars News Agency reported. He said the Iranian objective was to obtain registration numbers that were unreadable…
…The United States yesterday sent an official protest to Tehran through Switzerland, while Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates charged that Iran had acted aggressively. “What concerned us was, first, the fact that there were five of these boats and, second, that they came as close as they did to our ships and behaved in a pretty aggressive manner,” he said at a news conference.
Quoting former defense secretary William S. Cohen, Gates said: ” ‘Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?’ I think that aptly characterizes and appropriately characterizes the Iranian claim.”
It’s worth reading the whole story.
Comments
This Slate article also provides some useful perspective.
The Persian Gulf of Tonkin?
I am shocked, shocked I tell you, at the idea that our government would lie!
Shades of the Gulf of Tonkin...
Has anyone mentioned the Gulf of Tonkin, yet?
OK, I know this is paranoid, but I wouldn't put it past the rogue elements in the government controlled by Dick Cheney and the other neocons to manufacture this whole damn thing, including broadcasting threats on the Iranian radio channel that were designed to look like they came from the Iranians in order to spark an incident.
I'll be over here wearing my tinfoil hat.
Tlazolteotl @3, it's not clear at this point that either government has lied.
We have ample reason to be suspicious of US government statements, granted. Would you really call the US govt version a lie, though, just because the Iranian govt says so?
I think both governments are full of shit. This kind of stuff isn't entirely unusual. Remember the days when Soviet Migs would buzz our aircraft? And the Gulf of Tonkin talk might be premature. Overextended as we are, I cannot see any way that the US can wage a conventional war against Iran.
Back to work!
No one will even think of this but you know it sounds like Gulf of Tonkin. But again, no one else will mention that obscure event in history.
To clarify: I don't doubt that both governments are full of shit.
But I also wouldn't be shocked if both are giving honest but wrong versions of an incident with outside actors and/or a lot of ground-level CYA. There isn't good evidence yet to call it either way.
And I agree, Gulf of Tonkin talk is way premature.
In the name of originality, I'll reference the USS Maine instead.
Make that, "...wouldn't be shocked if one or both..."
Flamingbanjo wrote:
David Wright wrote:
NapoleonXIV wrote:
Cascadian wrote:
Just Me wrote:
Tsm wrote
You conspiracy theorists need to get a life. Damn it, where are the government monitors when you need them? Hello, Fnarf?
see also:
You can't have any discussion about boats without mentioning the Gulf of Tonkin.
Sorry but this administration's got me so cynical they could say the sky was blue and I wouldn't believe them.
Once again, the Red Bushies, caught lying in trying to make up lies to start a foreign war we don't need that has nothing to do with 9-11 or homeland defense.
Sigh.
Did you read Thomson's racist quote about this last night? "I think one more step and they would have been introduced to those virgins that they're looking forward to seeing." All Iranians, all the time are extremists. Unbelievable.
OH MY GOD, THEY'RE THROWING BOXES IN THE WATER NEAR OUR BIG U.S.WARSHIPS. (shitting self) OH MY GOD! DANGER! DANGER!
@ 17 No all of them aren't...
Only ones who challenge Aegis class destroyers with 17' fishing boats on a body of water the size of Washington.
Let's not forget what your lying eyes are showing you in that video... they buzzed around WARSHIPS in an attempt to start an international incident.
What other purpose would those tiny boats have been doing out there behaving like they did?
Maybe little boats were there to help keep a Republican in the White House. Keeping the US bellicose keeps extremists in power around the world.
@19 - um, it's international waters, they can do whatever they want there, and the US Navy knows the Iranians are well withing their rights in so doing.
As does Kaiser Cheney who had them record fake vids of the incident so he can have his war.
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