[Dog]

This just went bigtime...

[GodGunsGuts]

Gee, I wonder what team they will have to assemble when Iran has nukes.

[Vinnie]

Tony Blair is set to up the ante: the plight of the Shatt al-Arab 15 is officially a crisis and he will need the Cobra team to handle it.

Top level COBRA is an acronym for Cabinet Office Briefing Room A, where its meetings are held.

LOL

COBRA my a$$.. hognosed , rolls over and plays dead.

[PhilDragoo]

Oh, okay, you win, we're provoked.

[BlessedBeGod]

As the crew members were surrounded in their two rubber dinghies, the Cornwall's commander, Commodore Nick Lambert, frantically radioed back to his own top brass for instructions.

Big mistake.

The response to the inquiry, which had been immediately patched through to Ministry of Defence headquarters in Whitehall, was to hold fire.

Second mistake.

Where's Horatio Hornblower when you need him?

[headstamp]

"As the crew members were surrounded in their two rubber dinghies, the Cornwall's commander, Commodore Nick Lambert, frantically radioed back to his own top brass for instructions. "


There's the problem with this episode. A front line commander with limited permission/ability to react to a hostile situation.

[Chgogal]

Sheesh, Iran's nutjob is now has officially won the "DumbA$$ Award" in my book. That's just what you want, to have British Special Forces to have you and your country in THEIR crosshairs.

[airborne]

Now Iran has Great Britain pi$$ed off!

What were they thinking?

[Doohickey]

Those Iranians are in trouble now!

[Doohickey]

The response to the inquiry...was to hold fire.

There's your problem right there. My sympathies to the Captain - if a single one of these sailors dies in Iranian captivity he's going to re-live those events every single day for the rest of his life.

[Doohickey]

The response to the inquiry...was to hold fire.

There's your problem right there. My sympathies to the Captain - if a single one of these sailors dies in Iranian captivity he's going to re-live those events every single day for the rest of his life.

[CurlyBill]

I'm sure the SURRENDER PARTY firmly in power now in the US legislature strongly disapproves of the British heavy-handed diplomatic efforts in this situation. After all, the British should not have been in Iraqi or Iranian waters. They didn't giiiive peeeeace a chaaaance. /sarcasm

[Stultis]

If the Iranians can hold uniformed military personnel, bearing recognizable insignia, operating under a formal command structure, carrying out a legal mission sanctioned by the United Nations, etc, as "spies;" then what's to stop Britain from detaining every and any Iranian official they can get their hands on, diplomats included, as "spies"?

[sure_fine]

can you say " telegraphing your punch?"

[Mr. Mojo]

"There is nothing to be gained in provoking a confrontation, because that would be playing into their hands." - British defence official

Bullsh/t. Iran has indenialbly already provoked the confrontation. The West's "it would be playing into their hands" excuse not to give Iran what it has coming is getting tired. ....and not surprisingly it appears to be encouraging them.

[1066AD]

Commodore Nick Lambert, frantically radioed back to his own top brass for instructions.

Hard to believe the CO had no discretion ?
A Nelsonian approach might have been better "What signal" etc.

[Terabitten]

The Brits have hired COBRA?

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Ordered:
Laid down: 14 December 1983
Launched: 14 October 1985
Commissioned: 23 April 1988
Decommissioned:
Fate: Active in service as of 2007.
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement: 5,300 t
Length: 148.1 m (485.9 ft)
Beam: 14.8 m (48.5 ft)
Draught:
Propulsion: 2 x Rolls Royce Spey gas turbines (high speed)
2 x Rolls Royce Tyne gas turbines (cruising)

Speed: 18 knots using Tynes (36.8 km/h)
30 knots using Speys (56 km/h) 32 knots COGAG (Both sets of engines)(59.2 km/h)

Range:
Complement: 250 (max 301)
Armament: 114 mm (4.5 inch) MK 8 gun

Goalkeeper close-in weapons system (CIWS)
Sea Wolf anti-missile system
Two Quad Harpoon missile launchers
Two 20 mm Close range guns
Two Triple anti-submarine torpedo tubes
NATO Seagnat Decoy Launchers
Two Magazine launched anti submarine torpedo tubes

Aircraft: Lynx MK 8 helicopters

armed with:
Sea Skua anti-ships missiles
Stingray anti-submarine torpedoes
Mk 11 depth charges
Machine guns


Motto: unus et omnes
Latin: "one and all"
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu8IkpgZGShsBMNlXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2YnB0cGxiBGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZANGOTExXzg4/SIG=11tk7ihdm/EXP=1174927268/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Cornwall
~~~~~~~~~~~Look at the size of this ship~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How far away from the ship were these rubber-boats ?
How far does the Mk. 8 gun shoot ??22km (11.9nm)

~~~~~~~~~~~
The Shatt al-Arab (Arabic: ÔØ ÇáÚÑÈ, "Coast of the Arabs") or the Arvandrud (called ÇÑæäÏÑæÏ: arvandrud in Persian) , is a river in Southwest Asia of some 200 km in length, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the border between Iraq and Iran down to the mouth of the river as it discharges into the Persian Gulf. It varies in width from about 760 feet (232 m) at Basra to 0.5 mile (0.8 km) at its mouth. The Karun river, a tributary which joins Shatt al-Arab from the Iranian side, deposits copious amounts of silt into the river; this necessitates continuous dredging to keep it navigable.
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu5aSqQZGIYUAdaRXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2YnB0cGxiBGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZANGOTExXzg4/SIG=125bf8liq/EXP=1174928146/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvand/Shatt_al-Arab
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~How Deep is it ??~~~~~~~~~~~~Don't Know.~~
IMHO the HMS Cornwall was too far away to fire in support.
Too large to enter these waters without risking running aground ,coming under fire and losing the ship.

Hint) Rubber-boats were used for a reason.

[rwfromkansas]

This is a big international incident, but it won't lead to war.

Nobody wants another war and whatever is required to avoid it, even capitulation, will occur.

Either that or Iran will eventually back down.

[rwfromkansas]

Also, past events like the 2004 kidnapping show that convening Cobra teams here really doesn't mean squat.

Blair won't do anything.

[VaBthang4]

All of this nonsense, all of this BS could've been avoided had the CO of the HMS Cornball simply been a Man and opened fire.

Tedious.