The 3 Wandering Ships - Saddam's Cruise Line

Norsewood

[NorseWood]

What has become of those three mystery ships that are circling out in the Indian Ocean? Has anyone heard any updated information?

[Jambe]

Very little info is being released to the public on these ships.

I've seen 2 or 3 different occasions where the question has been posed to either SecDef, Powell and someone else - their response was very evasive.

My experience and gut instinct watching their responses and facial expressions leads me to believe there is something to this story they don't wish to discuss.

[TADSLOS]

Probably became SEAL Team 6 training devices...

[Steven W.]

Rumsfeld and Myers were asked about this in a recent press conference. Rumsfeld said that all he knew about it was what he'd read in the press; he said it in such a way it was hard to discern whether he meant that the source of the story was a KOOK or (probably less likely) that it's something classified he can't discuss.

[John H K]

I have a feeling these ships are the equivalent of all those Japanese invasion fleets just off California in the Spring of 1942.

[Prince Caspian]

Rumsfeld said that all he knew about it was what he'd read in the press...

Yeah, right. He must have been taking notes from Bubba on that one.

[bmwcyle]

They will be lifted from the ocean and broke in half

[Poohbah]

Somebody send out the USS Greenville to settle accounts "accidentally."

[mgstarr]

[bmwcyle]

Submarines and the other type of ship, Targets.

[Steve Van Doorn]

Lets just say they find the ships. If we boarded the ships it is VERY likely they would commit suicide before turning them over. Killing anyone boarding the ships.

Personally I would follow them then wait untell the war starts and use a sub on them to take them out.

[Steve Van Doorn]

If we don't know where they are. Excpet them to be blown up at some major port someplace.

[NorseWood]

Before we sink them, it sure would be niced to know what is on them.. They would be a good test-run for the new, untested E-bomb.

[TommyDale]

I believe the origination of this story was a British newspaper/tabloid. Even if it is true, the intelligence agencies are not going to acknowledge it unless they begin to pose a threat. With our spy satellite technology, do you really think we wouldn't know where they are at all times?

On the other hand, let's assume that they are really out there, packed with bio-weapons of all types. Would it be smart to blow them up, and risk our Naval personnel in the area, and the life in the ocean and nearby countries?

[jiggyboy]

I searched for "ship" and "ships" -- lots of threads with speculation, and one that implies that it's a non-issue:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/849322/posts

[hchutch]

I kinda prefer "Whoops, I spilled coffee on the weapons console, sir."

[EarlyBird]

They were our transports all along. They were waiting for a stealthy dock time in Aqaba. They've docked and unloaded a US armored division which was transported through Jordan disquised as Jordanian troops. The division is now waiting patiently for orders on the Jordan/Iraq border.

Hey, you never know! ;-)

[goose1]

AAAHH they struck an iceburg and sunk.

[Redcloak]

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
a tale of a fateful trip.
That started from this desert port,
aboard these rusty ships.

The mate was a mighty smelly man,
the skipper liked his goat.
Five terrorists set sail that day,
for a three month long tour, a three month long tour………

[El Gato]

With our spy satellite technology, do you really think we wouldn't know where they are at all times?

It's possible. Satellites generally only go over any given point twice a day. They come over at known times too. Lots of places you could pull in and hide a ship, especially from a radar satellite. Also, how many ships do you suppose there are on the worlds oceans? Lots, I'd imagine. Hard to keep track of all of them, especially with ony two looks per day. 20 knots for 12 hours is 240 nauticial miles, how do you know that the ship you see 240 miles from where you last saw the bad guy, is the bad guy, or some other ship that just happened along, while the bad guy could 480 miles in the other direction, if he turned around right after your last pass. Now that's worst case, but illustrative of the problems.