Pentagon Releases Video of Iranian Boats Confronting US Warships

Giuliani or McCain would be decent as command in chief and could take on Iran, instead of trying to compromise with a country known to support numerous terrorist organizations. This is just another step in their attempt to start a war with the U.S. and then whining to the world that they didn't do anything to initiate the war.

reply to post by GUICE2


Seems I have struck a nerve w/ you. I may have read your post wrong and misunderstood it. That being said...Never did I say I fought for your freedoms. I am not that "big" nor do I have delusions that I was part of something so important. What was intended w/ that remark is that I believe we all have a civic duty to be involved...if you come to the table you better bring something. Does that makes sense. I think you should pay for what you have. No free rides. I intended that statement to mean I have paid my debt...what have you done to earn the right to be an american. Now this is just my way of thinking. We can bitch and moan about something from the outside but until you are involved you really dont have the right. I am not trying to be offensive but I believe in a way of life that I must earn what I have. To be free then yes I will sacrifice to do so. I have a hard time with people that complain about freedoms being taken away and they arent even registered to vote or never get their asses off of the couch. I know I havent explained it well but that's it.

I never once said that I agree w/ the Bush administration and what they have done to the rights of Americans. I disagree with what is happening 100%.
Never did I say all wars are fought for freedom...I said you should earn your freedom. If society today had the mentality of our grandparents...we wouldnt be in the situation we are in. That was a generation of people that when we say, "All gave some and some gave all." That is who we are talking about. A lot of our problems aren't related to our government...It is our fast food society and the me me me generation. Though the government doesnt help it any.

Like I said I agree our people should not be there. But to use the starving people arguement...that only goes so far. Yes there is a lot of poverty in our country but there are a lot of lazy people that will do nothing to help themselves. That in turn takes resources tha could be used to help the truely needy.

Wars are inevitable...as long as one man has what another man wants...there will be conflicts. It is in our blood...those who refuse to stand up usually get ran over. Unlike you said I dont advocate it...It is just the truth.

So as a patriot what have you done to earn such a title? What have you done to defend your country? I just ask because I felt a lot of passion in the words you wrote about seeing the big picture and families starving and our rights being taken away....Unless you have done something to earn the title it is nothing but a useless word. If you have I applaud you but if you havent (and I dont mean just Guice) you have no right putting yourself in a league of people greater than you are.

time to go home

kafer

reply to post by kaferwerks


Thanks for the clarification, even if I didn't responded to your original post it kind of took me by surprise as many others for the responses you have gotten.

I find this last post very well put together and very honest.

Originally posted by yanchek

Originally posted by defcon5
It is not an act of provocation to patrol international waters.

A little of topic but how come that RAF saw a Russian bomber formation patroling in northern Antlantic international airspace as a threat or some could say an act of provocation? After all they send their war planes to "intercept" or shadow them. Same happened with iranian gun boats. They we goofing off and making americans nervous.

Which happened during the cold war all to often...

And nervous? Perhaps a poor choice of words..More like pissing ppl off. Three destroyers and 5 speed boats....

I see no difference between this indicents and an indicent that we are discussing.

PS. I personally don't believe this "you will explode" crap.

They are different, but i guess its just a matter of opinion. The Russians were known for their aggressive nature, and so they were met with equally aggressive nature. In the grand game, survival of the fittest, there is no room for looking weak. Russia was met with force, as for nations to not look weak. russia needed "tough love".

And I dont see a reason why we shouldnt believe the voice threat by the iranians. There not exactly sane ppl. And I do not see a reason for them to lie about it. Again, matter of opinion.

naval ships shoulda fire one across their bows...falling short juuuust enough to killem all.

reply to post by marg6043


Would you believe that a small boat can blow a big hole in a sophisticated warship? You probably thought I was mad.

International waters? What has that to do with anything, the US is figthing an illegal war/occupation in Iraq and in a few months they will be in Iran all at the behest of their Israeli masters. What A joke all those patriotic Americans quaking in their boots over a few Iranians and their rag tag navy.

Well her's my take on the incident.
The largest blue boat is packed with explosives and is trying to entice the US ship to fire on it , as soon as the first round is fired they detonate the explosives onboard.The other boats are there to video tape the US warship blowing a innoocent pleasure craft out of the water.

About a third into the video you can see a merchant passing by.They could have been watching the whole thing.Towards the end of the video the two Iranian boats almost collide.That would have funny!!!

Originally posted by jtma508

The Cole was attacked while docked in a friendly country. What does that have to do with this current incident?

Same sort of deal. Small boat with explosives blowing a big hole in a ship.

Originally posted by marg6043
Some littler Iranian boats tells a mighty American fleet that they are going to blow them up in 5 minutes and you believe it? .

Use common sense my dear friend. . .

Well, a small car packed full of explosives can flip an armored vehicle much larger than itself.

A small boat could punch a hole into the side of a ship, or damage it. Remember the Cole?

Originally posted by magicmushroom
International waters? What has that to do with anything, the US is figthing an illegal war/occupation in Iraq and in a few months they will be in Iran all at the behest of their Israeli masters. What A joke all those patriotic Americans quaking in their boots over a few Iranians and their rag tag navy.

So you don't think there should be any international waters, huh???

Yep, we were quaking in our booties. Maybe the commander of that ship was worried that if he blew the little boogereaters out of the water, he might be starting a war, and if he didn't, and they rammed his ship (suicide bomber, anyone?), his own sailors would die. Could you deal with that sort of pressure? Could you make those tough calls?

Iran calls the video a fabricated American hoax.

I checked Iranian Coast Guard, Navy, ext, and compared their ships/boats the speed boats to the video.

Not a single type of Iranian boat in official Navy/Coast Guard use matches the boats videotaped.

Can ANYONE identify the alleged Iranian boats as Iranian?

Iran officially denies that any of their boats/ships came to proximity of US Navy, so the only way to figure this one out is to identify the boats in the videos.

Any speed boat buffs here?

Originally posted by iskander
Can ANYONE identify the alleged Iranian boats as Iranian?

www.usatoday.com...

The US said they belonged to the Revolutionary Guards.

The IRGC uses a wide variety of civilian speedboats, usually armed only with light MG's & RPG's.

These aren't the patrol FAC's operated by the Iranian Navy, they are much smaller.

I don't find the video particularly hard to believe.

This stuff is nothing compared to the Cold War, where US and Soviet ships would regularly harass one another, up to and including bumping into one another

reply to post by deltaboy


Yes, but how confident the American ships were of their safety that they didn't fire a single warning shot for the dangerous littler boats as warning.

Common sense my friend, common sense, US mighty navy warships were never in any real danger from any Iranian littler boats.

The American naval commanders in this situation showed amazing restraint. More than I would have, given Iran's history and the nature of the confrontation. Those speed boats could have easily been packed full of explosives and they were DAMN close.

After hearing a threat and seeing them ignore my warnings, I would have just switched the Phalanx to surface mode, hit the auto-engage switch, and watched it do it's job. It would have been quick and messy and the Iranians would never pull crap like this again.

[edit on 9-1-2008 by Vanguard223]

reply to post by marg6043


Its the captain's choice as to open fire or not based on the safety of the ship and crew. Similar to the U.S.S. Vincennes shooting down what he thought is a threat when in reality it was a passenger plane. Its similar to dealing with possible suicide bombers in Iraq. Soldiers have to make a choice between firing or not firing that could lead to disaster. Don't fire could lead to successful attack by suicide bomber by killing you. Or fire and possibly killing civilians mistaken for suicide bombers.

Similar to the U.S.S. Cole when they did not open fire on the suicide bomber. Who knows, the Iranians might take advantage of a captain's hesitation and really attack, surprising the crew that didn't expect an attack.

Well, according to the story, the USN ships were preparing to open fire when the Iranians bugged out - wise move on their part.

In conventional combat, the Iranian boats would have stood absolutely no chance against the USN vessels. A suicide bomb attack is possible, but not likely considering the recent cooling of tensions.

As I said originally, this was probably an unsanctioned adventure by a low-level IRGC commander, and now all parties are playing the propaganda game as well as they can.

reply to post by deltaboy


Delta it will may US looks stupid after the USS Cole if another incident is allowed to happen to any of the US ship.

Even my husband said that US warships were never in danger and they are allowed to fire warning shots if the Iranian boats has gotten that dangerously close.

I think this nothing more than cat and mouse play for the purpose of propaganda by both sides.