Why edit out a threat that would be your only basis for an attack?

[jasmine621]

I can't believe what I just heard reported on CNN. In reporting about the confontation between the Iranians and the US ships in the Persian Gulf, the US is reported as having edited out the threatening language. WTF?

The new report by the Iranians claim that no threats were made and the boats were routine speed boats used for water skiing. WTF?

[Buzz Clik]

1. LOL! The Iranians crack me up. They tell the most incredible lies.

[Virginia Dare]

28. I'm sure they're the ones behind the choking on a pretzel story...n/t

[Maine-ah]

2. you know, I saw that video the other day

why is it such a crappy video? Doesn't our government have better equipment than that?

[rodeodance]

5. did you see the iranian counter video--it is up on yahoo front page a bit ago

[Ezlivin]

21. Hell, they don't even have cameras at the Pentagon

Or else we'd seen clear footage of what struck it on 9/11 (instead of a grainy video marked 9/12).

I guess a trillion dollar budget doesn't purchase as much as it used to.

[Marrah_G]

3. The Iranians often remind me of Bagdad Bob

There are no American troops marching on Bagdad- We have vanquished them all ~

[rodeodance]

4. watersking. umm.. But I get your point about editing out the threats (if there)--as it makes no

sense to do that.

[DCKit]

6. They sure looked like domestic speedboats to me.

After hearing the buzz all day long, I laughed my ass off when I saw the "actual" footage.

Fight the warmongering, neocon chickenhawks with laughter and derision whenever they pull this shit and we may be able to prevent further escalation in the M.E..

[Marrah_G]

7. Because a small craft cannot cause any harm right?

Please tell that to the families of the dead Sailors on the USS Cole.

The Iranians knew they could fuck with the American ship because unless they actually fired on us we couldn't fire on them.

[screembloodymurder]

11. The Cole was not on alert. Had those boats come close to our ships

they would have been blown to bits. How long do you think their navy would last if it was parked off NYC. Give me a break.

[GrahmMan]

13. The COLE most certainly on alert

And the CO did not want to go in there because of the securtiy threat but they were overridden by Cohen who wanted to push relations with the Yemenis by taking their oil.

[screembloodymurder]

20. The Cole sat just outside the port of Aden, Yemen

--stalled by a local harbor pilot who was late in arriving to help guide the Cole into port. I doubt we're allowing the Iranians to pull up along side and come aboard.

[GrahmMan]

26. This is true

But it does not mean we were not on alert. Hell we man the SCAT team when we pull into Italy.

[Marrah_G]

29. Hey there ...

My brother is also a navy officer. He is retired (ten years) but has been recalled a few times in the last few years, the latest was a nice long tour of the sand dunes in Iraq.

[GrahmMan]

31. Yeah I worry about that

I only got a nice trip to GTMO.

[Marrah_G]

32. Ewwwwww........

[GrahmMan]

35. Yeah a feces shower once a week n/t

[Marrah_G]

27. How close should we have let them come?

I'm wondering why everyone is so set on the situation being a set up. If the navy wanted to start a war then they wouldn't have held off firing at those boats.

[GrahmMan]

33. No CO wants to be the one who gives Batteries Release on Iran

But the Navy is keenly aware that if there is a conflict we will be the ones firing the first shots.

[Marrah_G]

36. I keep hoping saner heads will prevail in this on all sides

I'm pretty sure they won't, but I am hopeful.

[Marrah_G]

16. 12 miles off the coast?

Like Russia used to do off our shores?

This was international waters. Our Navy did not fire on these boats because it is against international law. Yes, had they proceeded after making the threats then maybe we probably would have fired.

Your assumption that a small boat is no cause for concern is just flat out silly.

[screembloodymurder]

23. I think the threat to our Navy personnel was relatively small.

What do you think?

[Marrah_G]

25. I think most threats are small until they happen

I would never want the crews on those vessels to NOT take a situation like that seriously. I believe they handled it correctly and did not fire to quickly.

[DCKit]

39. In my defense ('cause I'm not an idiot)....

From an earlier post:

"Yeah, yeah, I realize it was a dinghy that took out the U.S.S. Cole, but this was broad daylight (better for filming) and anyone with an automatic weapon (and I'm sure they lined the decks) could have stopped them.

The administration is getting increasingly desperate and therefore, more dangerous. Our only defense is to discount their actions, laugh at them heartily and treat them with the derision they deserve."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3129269&mesg_id=3131015

My point is that very few people trust the propaganda spewed from the WH and this incident, in particular, is a shameful and obvious conflation of what other posters in this thread admit is a common occurrence in the Straights of Hormuz.

DickyGeorge wants a plausible excuse and OUR backing to bomb Iran. Laughter and derision at them and their amateur attempts to gain that validation are excellent methods to prevent escalation.

If you have a better idea, put it out there, but, particularly in this case, laughter IS the best medicine. The Chimperor has no pants and a tiny weenie to boot.

[GrahmMan]

43. "and anyone with an automatic weapon (and I'm sure they lined the decks) could have stopped them."

So you think that it would have NOT been an incident had we stopped them?

Yeah.

"If you have a better idea, put it out there, but, particularly in this case, laughter IS the best medicine. The Chimperor has no pants and a tiny weenie to boot."
Classy, you astute political analysis puts me to shame.

[DCKit]

45. Why so angry?

We can agree to disagree, but, as far as the Dickie/George maladministration is concerned, laughter and derision are the strongest tools we've got. I'm tired of being angry all the time and find it cathartic to make fun of their continued, pathetic attempts to engage us in Iran. You should try it.

I'm not here to demonstrate my astute political analysis: I'm here to be informed, learn and have some fun with what is an otherwise tragic situation. It's going to take decades to undo the damage of the past seven years and I'm not going to crawl into a corner and sob until it's all better.

I wouldn't have bothered to answer, but I see you are new and probably still under the impression that our discussions are, or should be, limited to a scholarly and serious discussion of politics. Keep that up and your head's going to explode by the Friday night news dump.

Don't bring me down Dood.

[GrahmMan]

12. The IRG-N

Mostly uses speedboats, unmarked at that. They also havE OTHER DOMESTIC LOOKING STUFF.

[screembloodymurder]

8. If those boats were a threat to our navy, my kayak is a nuclear missile.

What a joke. What a stretch. WTF is wrong with the American people? I have friends sending me email about this incident... claiming it proves that Iran must be nuked. I give up. My friends have lost all ability to reason. These are college educated people and FOX News has rendered them brain dead. Never underestimate the power of propaganda.

[Marrah_G]

9. Do you honestly think in this era that a small craft cannot harm a large vessel?

[screembloodymurder]

17. Much less of a threat than a President itching for a reason to attack.

Do you really believe Iran, which has no nukes (and according to our own intelligence no nuclear weapons program), is more dangerous to the world than an unstable, nuclear-equipped Pakistan?

[Marrah_G]

18. But we did not fire- if we had I would agree with you

And how on earth did you jump to your next question?

Pakistan is far more dangerous and unstable then Iran. How you somehow twisted my post to mean I thought Iran was a bigger threat is beyond me.

[screembloodymurder]

22. I'm curious.

Why do you think our navy is over there?

[Marrah_G]

24. To support our troops stationed in the Middle east

Besides keeping the strait open for everyone our Navy also uses it to transport supplies in and out.

Do I want them there? No, I would prefer they come home. I would prefer that we had never invaded Iraq.

I look at individual situations and in this one I simply believe the Iranians to be full of shit. Being full of shit does not mean they need to be bombed though.

[GrahmMan]

14. The Iranains Have threatened MANY times to

shut down the SOH, do you think that it would take anything more than a few small boats with RPG's and a sunks supertanker to do it?

[GrahmMan]

10. In everyones rush to say we "just made it up"

You are ignoring the fact that Iranians bug us all the time in the SOH.

"the US is reported as having edited out the threatening language. WTF"
Mostly because it would reveal our SOH ROE and other classified stuff.


"he new report by the Iranians claim that no threats were made and the boats were routine speed boats used for water skiing. WTF?"
But the tape they showed has them IN SPEEDBOATS conducting queries.

[sendero]

15. Let me ask you a simple question,...

... just what do you think we should do about this?

Whether or not you are a drooling idiot depends on your answer.

[Marrah_G]

19. I'll answer

We should do nothing- They turned away, no one was hurt.

Just another dick-waving episode in the middle east.

[Virginia Dare]

34. Unfortunately with our dick waver in chief..

we can't trust that to be the course of action here.

[Marrah_G]

37. I don't trust either side.

In this particular case I believe the Navy account. If Bush wanted to start some shit it would have ended differently.

[GrahmMan]

30. Nothing

Since I am not a drooling idiot (I tend to see myself as a rather intelligent and compitent Naval Officer) I know that these things happen all the time (never to this degree). The Iranians have circle my ship in a chopper at low altitude while I was Transiting the Strait, we warned them off but we did not shoot. I like you preemptory ad hominem attack on my intelligence, that was classy and mature. Care to make any fart jokes while your at it?

[sendero]

38. Well you just never know..

... you sure sounded like you were ready to do something.

Here's something for your intelligent brain to ponder. If this shit happens all the time (which I not only don't dispute but totally agree) what was the point of the pentagon releasing this particular incident for public consumption?

See, a lot of us are getting sick of being played. And our tolerance for morons coming on here and trying to tell us something is shinola when it is clearly shit is getting thin.

If you're not one of them, please accept my apologies. If you are, leave now you won't last long.

[LeftCoast]

41. Thank you for your insight into this episode

and welcome to DU!

Personally, I am disinclined to believe the Bush administration when it makes wild claims such as this. You bring up some very interesting points though so I'm trying to keep an open mind about the whole situation.

Again, welcome! :toast:

[GrahmMan]

42. Another thought I was pondering

Is that the "rouge voice" in there could very well have been a rouge merchant running around being assholes on bridge to bridge, that kind of crap happens all the time as well. Bored folks on the morning wartch fucking with the Iranians and Americans.

Anyone who knows the "Fillipino Monkey" knows the assholes I am talking about.

[LeftCoast]

44. I was just reading an article which seems to indicate the Pentagon may agree with you.

I think it was on MSNBC. Sorry I don't have the exact link.

[SoCalDem]

40. Hey you.. don't you know that CNN is there to "keep an eye on "

the news FOR US.. they will watch stuff FOR US and decide if we need to know about it..:)

That way they don't have to "confuse" us with facts & stuff :)

CNN loves us, and only wants to help us understand what's happening..