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Posted on 01/12/2008 2:05:11 AM PST by canuck_conservative
· Pentagon climbdown over 'you will explode' video · Mystery remains over where voice came from
Doubts intensified last night over the nature of an alleged aggressive confrontation by Iranian patrol boats and American warships in the Persian Gulf on Sunday, after Pentagon officials admitted that they could not confirm that a threat to blow up the US ships had been made directly by the Iranian crews involved in the incident.
Several news sources reported that senior navy officials had conceded that the voice threatening to blow up the US warships in a matter of minutes could have come from another ship in the region, or even from shore.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
To me, it sounded like a mechanically altered voice.
I suppose that the Guardian would claim that the boxes placed in the water by the speedboats were what...crabtraps?
The left would love to focus on the voice its meaningless, ignoring the threat just off the bow, its how they go through life.
Well, despite the liberal spin that the Iranians were just out on a nice quiet fishing excursion, there’ no getting around that pesky full video of the incident that showed the Iranian speedboats making dry-runs on the USN warships.
It sounded to me like someone drunk or stoned. I think the "mechanical" artifacts are a sign that it was a digital radio and not the strongest signal. But even given that English wasn't the speaker's first language, the words were slurred and, frankly, bizarre. The fast little boats that bombed the USS Cole didn't radio ahead to say "Weeee are coooming for yoooou."
My best guess: The Iranian speedboats were zipping in close and being deliberately provocative. Nearby, someone -- on a commercial vessel, on a pleasure boat, or on shore -- was wasted enough that he thought it would be funny to inject a threat into the situation. Or was wasted enough to choose "martyrdom" on the Iranian sailors' behalf.
The radio transmission would have had to come from someone within like of sight. Line of sight does not mean visual distance -- it just means tht you need to be close enough that the Earth's curvature does not interfere. Anyone with a transceiver, close enough to hear the back-and-forth between the Iranian boats and the US Naval vessels, could have interjected the threats.
It's been said in the last few days that there's no way to know exactly where the signal came from; that's not exactly true. It's not routine, and it's not easy, but it's possible. The USS Port Royal wasn't alone out there. Three receivers with precisely synchronized clocks can triangulate the signal. Even two can narrow down the potential sources to a straight line, and comparing that to the radar logs of which vessels and land stations were along that line would narrow the search.
All that work is not the norm, but I hope the Navy is looking at it now in the Straits of Hormuz. There are plenty of people inside and outside of Iran who would love to provoke a confrontation between US naval vessels and small Iraqi patrol boats; a US war with Iran is a wet dream for al Qaeda, who could use it to boost their flagging recruiting and sell the notion that the US is trying to wipe out islam.
We in the West see Iran as an Islamic theocracy that was born in 1979. Folks in the region see Persia as a country that once was the heartland of Islam, the home to the caliphate before its capital moved to Turkey, and a rare nation in the region that was never colonized. A Western war with Iran would motivate a lot of people to join the jihad who are currently on the sidelines.
I am not a skeptical as many FReepers to the notion that the radio threats came from somewhere other than the Iranian boats -- and the fact that the US is backing away from its initial claims after the Iranians released their own video of the confrontation seems, to me, to bolster my position. Given those doubts, I think holding fire, issuing warnings on the radio and popping off warning shots was the right call.
I'm also not as quick as many FReepers to jump to the conclusion that this is a manipulation by the MSM. There is ample evidence that the Pentagon is capable of manipulating the MSM. We have only two sources of information on this confrontation, the US military and the Iranians, and I tend to believe that the "leaks" from our military are intended to send a message to Iran. I am open to the possibility that the Navy does, and should, know more than we do.
This is a hell of a spin. The Pentagon never claimed that the radio transmissions came directly from the boats. They are making out like the Pentagon backed down from claiming they had, when all they are doing is answering a reporter's question about where the transmissons came from and saying they are not really sure. It was the PRESS that made the original claim that the radio voice was from the boats.
Might have been mines. Might have been sonar buoys. Might have been decoys, so the Iranians could see what kind of scanning the Navy used, information that would be used in planning a possible future attack. That kind of thing was routine during the Cold War -- the US and USSR would skim each other's territory, lighting up their radar and sonar to gauge their capabilities.
That sort of probing sometimes goes too far. KAL 007, IR 655, the USS Stark, for example. But that usually isn't viewed as a causus belli, and fortunately cooler heads usually prevail. We aren't a gangsta or a banana republic that goes to war when someone steps on our foot.
I have no doubt that the Iranian boats were intentionally provoking the US warships to gauge their response. As I said above, that kind of probing is routine. What allegedly made this incident unusual was the threat of a USS Cole-style attack, and those threats could have come from anywhere within line of sight.
That's not what your candidate of choice said.
What’s the next story? That US frigates purposefully drew those poor Iranian Republican Guard boats out to create the incident?
Drive by media is so predictable on such things.
This is shaping up to a pre Yom Kippur War (1973) situation. The Egyptians and the Syrians went up to the Israeli borders and then turned around. On Yom Kippur, they did this again. But, instead of turning around, they attacked with devastating results.
The next time this sort of thing happens, the Iranian Revolutionary guard will strike -- just like what happened to the Cole.
Again, I hope the next time the navy will blow them out of the water.
A truly ignorant comment if I ever heard one! The video was shot with a video camera by a sailor on deck. I assume it does not record all radio frequencies as well. The radio traffic was recorded by an audio recorder, either on the bridge or radio shack. Where's the problem?
Yes, strange white crabtraps - that's the ticket.
Do 5” rounds have flechette warheads? Just wondering. If not some enterprising munitions supplier should develop one. Just the ticket for a cigarette boatload of IRG.
The USS Whidbey Island actually fired warning shots at an Iranian vessel on December 19th. This latest incident is not the first time in recent weeks that this has happened.
link to the article is below:
” Doubts intensified last night over the nature of an alleged aggressive confrontation by Iranian patrol boats and American warships in the Persian Gulf on Sunday, after Pentagon officials admitted that they could not confirm that a threat to blow up the US ships had been made directly by the Iranian crews involved in the incident. “
... that absolutely does not matter, they charged the ships in threatening manner
if any balls had been in command on those ships, the remaining pieces of those speed boats would be drifting in currents now
Almost seven and a half years after 9/11 and we are right back to square one again. After all of the hand wringing and investigating regarding that day, the bottom line was war was declared on us and yet we ignored it. We are doing the same thing now with Iran. Terrorists are patient unlike us, they will sit back and toy with us until this election is over then the sh!t will hit the fan again.
Thank you very much for your thoughtful and well-reasoned response. I tend to agree.
How would one confirm that it came from the small ships, anyway? It was over the radio, so it could have come from anywhere -- another ship, the mainland, even Tehran or from orbit.
Is it a good assumption that it came from the harassing craft? Yes. Is it a virtually certain assumption that it came from an Iranian source? Yes, again.
So, why is the Guardian questioning the report?
Because they're on Iran's side.
I can just imagine the conversation that went on during the speedboat encounter with the USN warships...
-Wheeeeee! These things really sail nice, eh Achmed?
-Indeed Abdul
-Great wind today—we picked the best day to do some cruising in the Gulf
-Yep. Look, if we go fast enough we can make a tidal wave in the wake! Look at this!
-Hahaaa! Hey! Let’s go show those big US Navy ships over there who’s the boss around here! Race ya.
-You’re on.
-Wooo-hooooooo-AAAH crap! The boat’s flipping ov—” SPLASH!
-Allahu FUBAR!
(blub blub blub)
-Hey Achmed, do the Americans know we’re really this bad?
-Nah, they think we don’t even have a military!
[*ahem* Ron Paul...]
Fred Thompson is still the best choice out of all the Republicans with any chance to win the nomination. He’s the only real conservative.
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