U.S.: Iranians ‘Were a Heartbeat From Being Blown Up’

Gulf of Tonkin, anyone?

Brings to mind the phrase “walking on thin ice? This is the kind of thing that because of some hot shot boat commander (Iran’s in this case), can start a war by being so damned stupid!

Could be these Iranians are just idiots, or maybe it’s a case of practice makes perfect.

Sounds like some hyperbole from both sides. Kudos to the Navy commander who DIDN’T fire like the Pentagon wished he had. Obviously it wasn’t necessary, and escalation was avoided. But the Pentagon WANTS escalation against Iran, of course, and I do hope the press is careful not to help them manufacture it.

There has been no verification that any of this actually happened. ABCNEWS has to quote ANONYMOUS military sources to get their ‘information’? The supposed radio transmission “MAY” have originated from an Iranian vessel? Where are the video tapes of the incident? Where are the audio records of the radio transmission? White boxes were dropped, but the Navy has no idea what was in them?? You mean they didn’t take one as evidence?!
What if US military intelligence broadcast the message in order to frame Iran? What if there wasn’t even a message broadcast, and this is all propaganda? What if no ‘white boxes’ were actually dropped? What if all this is war mongering propaganda, which is extremely likely. Five ‘speedboats’ are hardly a match for a fleet of Navy destroyer vessels, and 200 yards is hardly a threatening distance. This propaganda needs to be stopped now, before the neo-conservative wackos are able to manufacture another conflict in the middle east.
The lead up to the Iraq war saw the same exact kinds of bogus propaganda spewed out by the Pentagon to initiate the conflict. It is alarming that CNN and ABCNEWS would publish these events as fact without independent verification!!

“…all [Iranian speedboards] were behaving as if they were packed with explosives”
And what is that supposed to mean?? How does a boat ‘behave’ when it is packed with explosives?
The war mongering propaganda reinvigorating itself here today is beyond ridiculous. Please quote some more anonymous military sources who will gladly tell you the Iranian boats were packed with nuclear weapons. Then maybe the neo-conservatives will get their wish to attack another country granted. And the price of oil will rise to $300/barrel, and Blackwater will be able to place another 100,000 employees in Iran, and the defense contractors will be able to build another 3 years worths of missiles, and all of the cronies will get even richer.

Someone please explain to me how a boat speeding towards a ship and telling them they are about to blow up in a couple of minutes is considered ‘ordindary’?

Tonkin Gulf

If you wonder what this is all about Google “the gulf of tonkin”

they are some lucky morons, all it would take would be about a 2 second burst from those 3 american ships (fairly wimpy as they are comparatively speaking) and there wouldnt be a piece of those iranians bigger than a dime or so to be found ….

Very stupid on the part of Tehran…the Iranians are lucky their boats and crew were not disintegrated…

Can anyone say Gulf of Tonkin. This is similar way the United States got into the war with North Vietnam. Iran is flexing there mini boat muscle to attempt to make us look like the aggressor. This was in international waters and thus we should use the UN to show the cause we have before us. Its easy to start a war with anyone its even harder to restrain ourselves from another one that we can not AFFORD. And Iran knows this. Iran wants to keep pushing us to make them look tough against us to there radical segment of people in there country.
Do you have any idea the price of crude would be if we drop even a single bomb on Iran. People our country has put a strangle hold on themselves due to the dependent nature we face with oil.
This is very scary turn of events people. But don’t get me wrong if Iran wants to cross that line and start something with our ships. By all means make parking lots of every major miltary base they have.
But the military must keep a level head like we did during the Cuban missile crisis. We can’t not afford to get into a fight with Iran. Our economy is by no means strong enough.

Bush is praying that he can start a war with Iran this year..He wants nothing better..This is his last year to play tin soldier..Maybe he will send Condi Rice over there and she will straighten every thing out like she has done in the past..Which is absolutely nothing, zero, nada. This is the Gulf Of Tonkin all over again..It worked for LBJ why not the Liar-In-Chief?? He is hoping anyway.

There was a misprint in the story– it was Iranian swift boats, not speedboats.

Pay attention “Jazz,” the US has every right to be in those waters seeing as they are INTERNATIONAL waters.

It seems the Iranian navy hasn’t learned their lesson since the last bungle. I’m glad these sailors manned the guns rather than surrendering like those Brits awhile back.

The speed boats are controlled by the Revolutionary Guards, a militant organization that seized innocent British sailors in international waters several months ago. It is only logical that these nut-cases are testing U.S. limits as well.
The Iranian government’s own propaganda calls themselves an “ascending power” and the U.S. & British “declining powers.” The Revolutionary Guards may be buying into their own BS.

The Iranians are testing us.

yep….this is what I expect from the “blame America first” crowd. you people just don’t get it and probably never will. there are people in the world who want us dead, and that includes you.

The “right” Rubin? So the US should not be in that region? So how big an area should the US not be in? Does it encompass the entire Middle East? So the US should not be in International waters?
My God you are a blithering idiot. BTW Rubin the US was surrounded by Communists on all sides once. Remember West Berlin?
Seems that the Russians and East Germans were doing all the shooting.

I think you people talking bad about my America should be arrested for treason.Support this great country or move to Iran ..Its a pitty i must share my air with you .

jesus christ…Bush will not stop until he gets his war in Iran…people we only have 1 yr left of him, and he is more determined to have this war in Iran then the American people are of putting an end to this madness. We can stop him, we have to group together and have him impeached…he’s gonna kill us all!

International waters mean every nation has access to the area. This would include nations such as the U.S. which has strategic interests in maintaining the free flow of oil for itself and its allies. It is difficult to understand that Iran would seek to provoke the destruction of its military vessels but we need to take action if they miscalculate in order to insure no further incidents like the USS Cole. This recklessness of the Iranian forces could encourage future miscalculations on their own part. The United States Navy should not become a victim and even the surrender vendors from the Libertarian and Democratic parties should not be so fast to look for votes if the Iranians come to harm.

Rubiconski, the US military ships were in INTERNATIONAL WATERS near the Straight of Hormuz. And you think that US ships shouldn’t be there, protecting GLOBAL SHIPPING from harm?? I’m sure most of us here in the US would LOVE if some other country stepped up to the plate FOR ONCE and did something proactive to protect the world from danger. But of course, everyone in other countries talk a good game, and bash America while at it (it’s become such a fun sport), but never step up and act. How long do you think the Straight of Hormuz would remain free and safe without US military in the area?

Boy, I hate liberals!!!!

When things like this happen the Navy needs to give one warning and then blow them out of the water long before they get within 20 feet
is the navy going to start acting like the english when they let their boats be taken hostage?
Blow them out of the water and let the Iranians explain why they instigated the action.
We dont need to elevate the tensions or activity but our men need to be able to protect themselves

I guess by ABC news tonight, it will George Bush’s and the USA’s fault.

Wow! It is apparent by the absolutely I hate USA comments, that ABC must be only read by foreigners or Liberals.
People are responding as though Iran has more credibility than our own nation. Good Lord, this David guy responding at 1:41 actually thinks that letting small boats from another country get within 200 yards of our ships is okay. Apparently he doesn’t understand that these scum bags use suicidal scum to blow themselves and other things up. Hey David, how many yards would be sufficient for you? Or is the evidence you need, a sunken ship? No that wouldn’t work for your kind either, you’d blame that on our own military.
Then you have this Jazz person at 2.22, asking of what right do we have for our Navy to be in that region. Hey Jazz, we import oil from that region, we have allies in that region, we have soldiers in that region, etc. Isn’t that enough for you to figure it might be a little important for our Navy to be there for protection.
Wake up people! Stop hating your own country!!!
Chris…OC, Calif.

YEAH! More supp Warfunding!

This blotter is full of FAR left idiots! If you poeple ever get in charge of our country GOD help us all. Wait, that’s right you don’t belive in GOD either…..figures.
If you people would be believe in your own country with the same energy as you hate Bush we would all be better off. By the way, are you people getting your politics from Rosie? “Gulf of Tonkin” you are so insane!!!
I think the Navy should sink any Iranian boat who they feel are threatening them. I would rather read about an Iranian boat being sunk rather than any American being killed by these insane people.

The Straits or Hormuz are pretty narrow and a war there or burning or sunken hulks of ships would cause a real problem for navigation of huge oil carrying vessels in or out. Iran is playing with fire but I believe is pretty calculated when it comes to harassing us. Turns out they were cowards this time. No one can predict what they’ll do next time.

What many of the respondents don’t realize is that in the late 1980s the Iranians did the same thing, but fired missiles at American ships. As a result, we sunk 6 of their corvettes.
What the “Bush-haters” don’t seem to realize is the gravity of the event. Do you believe the Iranians are carrying explosives (i.e. behavior of taunting and dropping boxes in the path of the oncoming ships)? Or do you wait until an instance where the do miscalculate our response?
I am sure the “Bush-haters” will say “it’s a bumper sticker issue” or something similarly brilliant.
Get over it. It’s our ships, our sons and daughters. If you are not interested in protecting our lives vis a vis self defense, please move to France. I am sure they would love to have you.

The entrance to the Strait of Homuz is very narrow. Two aircraft carriers andtheir support vessels can barely past each other safely without incidence. This is where Iranian navy think they have a chance of provoking the US into a confrontation. We witness it here now on this story. It happened once before and the Iranian suffered the consequences; but they kept at it knowing the same result will happened. Only this time, if we did fired, they would claimed that only women and children were on board their gunships –for international consumption. Can you imagine the kind of reaction the pro-Iranian and Usama midia here would be. How about that Eric?

Umm, again, chris in OC, the poster’s name is written BELOW the post…pay attention…stop crediting me with Rubiconski’s post…

Shepert said, “An explosive vessel within 100 yards would do damage to innocent sailors…To believe that there is no threat in Iran is just ignorant.”
Shepert — For one, the Iranian boats were apparently not loaded with explosives. The mere speculation that an Iranian broadcast MAY have alluded to the words ‘blown up’ is a byproduct of the fact that ABCNEWS is quoting an ANONYMOUS US MILITARY SOURCE. This is how the propaganda machine starts. The press quotes anonymous sources that float ‘facts’ out into the public domain that may or may not be true.
Early news stories said the Iranians dropped “white boxes” in front of the US vessels. Now even that ‘fact’ is changing, and news stories are no longer publishing that ‘fact’. Why not?? Were there white boxes dropped, or not? When someone hears that ‘white boxes’ were dropped, they immediately think ‘explosives’ because the ANONYMOUS SOURCE throws out that term when they leak to ABCNEWS. So now, we go from ‘white boxes’ being dropped, to ‘Iranian speedboats loaded with explosives’, and ‘Iranian speedboats ‘BEHAVING LIKE’ they were loaded with explosives. What the hell is that supposed to mean — they were ‘behaving like’ they were loaded with explosives?
This is exactly what happened in the lead up to the Iraq war. First we heard the Iraqi’s “definitely” had mobile biological weapons labs. Then we heard Iraq “definitely” had a fleet of UAVs that could drop bombs. Then we heard Iraq was “definitely” going to attack the United States. NONE of that was true! It was all propaganda that was labeled as fact for just long enough to convince the nation to go to war. Discovering these lies 3 years after the fact does us no good. We need to demand that the press independently verify every single ‘fact’ spewed out by these suspicious anonymous sources before we end up in yet another disaster.

The Iranians have been doing this for years. As for the Americans being there, 40% of the world’s oil travels through the Straight of Hormuz and if Iran thinks they can cause an incident, the price of oil will shoot up again.

Can someone please tell The President that Johnson already used the Lie about the NAVY being attached in Vietman in order for him to use force to attack Vietmam. JESUS – WHEN WILL THE LIES STOP!!!

Heck, before you know it, we’re going to start losing fighters from those aircraft carriers over there .. and it’ll be blamed on “mid-air collisions”.

The blame America first gang can’t be bothered to know their history, unless it’s the perverted version of Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky. They’re ignorant but they don’t know it.

look at a map and tell me what we would do with ships from another nation so close

They are just doing it to cause a panic andc jack the price of oil up past $100 a barrel.

I see a lot of mindless automatons in these posts, and a lot of great people trying to defend their country. I might suggest that that is a waste of time. These people take marching orders from far left crazy propagandists with no analysis or common sense thought. They could be standing there in the line of fire and would wonder what they had done to deserve it. Poor pathetic, victim-wannabes.
I dare those whiny far-left America-haters to move to the Middle East. Not a nice touristy spot, but move to a regular neighborhood and try and speak your mind. You ladies go out without your coverings. Guys, go down to the pub for a brew with your friends.
Now, to top if all off, refuse to convert. Be the sole American Christian on the block. Tell everyone you are not their enemy.
Last step, see how long your head stays attached, if you made it this far.

I’m sure the U.S. Navy could use the target practice…..

I think I am the last American standing! All of you crazy self-hating Americans need to move to Iran and see how you like it.

LongT made this comment…”I’m afraid that Bush WANTS to provoke an incident so that he will have a reason to invade Iran.” What is the matter with you? Oh wait…I bet Bush was on the phone with the Iranian people that were driving their boats within 200 yards of US Navy Ships. Even better, I bet Bush was at the wheel in a disguise. How could something like that even cross your mind. What is the matter with you?

Mario Majors said, “The Iranians routinely pull stunts like this hoping that they will provoke US Navy into firing their weapons.”
Mario — your claim is baseless. Iran is not nearly stupid enough to provoke a US ship to attack them. Iran is in a very strong position in the middle east now that Bush has destroyed their main enemy in the secular government of Saddam Hussein. The LAST thing Iran wants is to have their country attacked by the United States.
The US military, led by some extremely sick neo-conservative planners, is trying their best to manufacture events to allow them to expand an already senseless war into yet another country. This needs to stop now. The press in the United States needs to demand proof of any speculation that might be fed to them through bogus anonymous sources.

Another false flag attempt. Anything new here?

This could have turned ugly for the US if Iran had Sunburn supersonic cruise missles just waiting for the US to respond to the provocation. Sure we would’ve sunk the speed boats, but we could also lose a entire aircraft carrier battle group in the process. There is no defense against these Russian supplied missiles – they are designed to sink air craft carriers. The chess analogy would be taking a few pons, but losing your Queen and King in the process.
Unfortuntely, the Persian gulf is geographically shaped like a giant shooting gallery for Iran and the ships that pass through it are the ducks.

Why do people automatically assume the worst of the US government and military when you have a certified provocateur, Islamic fundamentalist, and holocaust denier like Ahmadinejad running Iran?
If this was a Gulf of Tonkin style ploy, wouldn’t the US ships have fired on the Iranians? Why would one go through all the trouble of setting up a “fake” incident with Iran and then not fire upon them? All of you who are calling todays incident a “Gulf of Tonkin” ploy are about as logical as the muslim fundamentalists or Christian “intelligent designers” you believe yourselves to be superior to. Thats right, YOU are fanatics.
Its sad to see so many Westerners and Americans, in particular, with such a pathological hatred of their own culture and country and, by proxy, themselves. For all the bad Americans have ever done in the world, it has been far outweighed by the good. We came to grips with slavery and hundreds of thousands of AMERICANS sacrificed themselves to end it. We lost hundreds of thousands more fighting for the freedom of Western Europe in two world wars. We invented the aeroplane, the light bulb, and many of the modern medicines and procedures that have saved millions of lives. We rebulit Japan and gave aid and comfort to its people even after the Japanese were ready to slaughter every American they could during WWII. We gave aid to Iran when they were struck by a devastating earthquake even when our governments have not spoken in years. We gave tons and tons of food to stop starvation in North Korea even as its leaders curse us and openly call for our demise. Every year, Americans give more money to international charity per capita than any nation on earth. What Islamic nation; even what European nation can say that?
Unfortunately, the fanatics- whether they be Muslim, right wing or left wing, only see what they want to. So you’ve got it- Bush made the whole thing up.
Morons.

I hope those Tomahawks and F-15s still are fueled and ready.

The book says it all…….LIBERALISM is a Mental Disorder!!

How anyone can relate the incident to bush, is beyond me. The bush-haters probably forgot to read the part where the US ship is stationed in INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Oh wow, why would anyone want to protect and defind the lifesource of modern civilization (OIL) as we know it by being stationed in a gulf where a majority of the worlds oil is transported? I also wish someone to explain why they think US wants a war w/ Iran? Oh yeah, the Bush is in power and is a war monger is not a valid response since its not based on any fact whatsoever. Ahmademacrap wants a war. Why? B/c hes been horrible leader in Iran and the only way for his popularity to increase is to create a war for his people to forget about the fact that they have 11% inflation and no social liberties. He could probably also involke some “emergency war” statute in their law making him supreme ruler of the muslim world. For those of you who hate the US, and do nothing but sit on blogs all day and diss your country and its commander…leave. We want nothing of you. God Bless America.

The middle east belongs to islam/muslims, no one else can go there, its their land. The waters belong to them also. Their mosques are the loudest and tallest in the land. And the west who lives there, anyone can come from anywhere and live and build the biggest mosque with oil/saudi money and cover your faces because you are so pure and holy. Can a western person go to the middle east and build a church there as the do here…

Remind me again why we are in the Strait of Hormuz…Just being provocative, or just acting like idiots to start yet another war?

If you truly believe Iran is not a threat to American interests you should maybe visit Iran and see how you are treated. Especially if you are a woman! Women cannot drive or vote or walk around without their head covered. Try questioning government officials about the military and ask them what their policy is toward gay people too (by the way their policy toward gays is public hanging by crane).

ummmm….notwithstanding our conspiracy theory imbecile friends on the one hand, or the trigger happy on the other, I am glad for one thing:
THE FIRING DISCIPLINE OF THE AMERICAN NAVY
If you don’t know what firing discipline is, look it up.

It is strange that so many Americans are willing to give a theocracy led by Mullahs the benefit of the doubt when it comes to provocative behavior or WMD’s. The nation most responsible for the freedom of hundreds of millions is the problem…right. SOME OF US ARE DELUSIONAL. For those convinced the Iranians have abandoned nukes…once they have enriched uranium…they could build bombs with plans purchased from A.Q. Kahn. Maybe they don’t need much of “program.” after all. The same experts believed Iraq HAD such a program. Allowing them to enrich is a mistake. There will never be absolute peace without absolute freedom (only illusions of it). If you aren’t fighting for freedom…you aren’t fighting for peace.

“Published reports cite the Iranian Foreign Ministry as confirming the incident but calling it ‘ordinary.’”
This is completely false and an attempt of propaganda. What Iranian officials said is that there was no harassment and that it was a simply a routine Identification procedure between the fleets in those waters, and THAT is what the Iranian FM called “ORDINARY” in a press interview, not the harassment of the ships.
There is a major sign of propaganda and exaggeration in this article, and I wish everyone would notice it. I am not questioning the incident and nobody is 100% certain what really went on. But we must be sure not to fall for the old propaganda tricks in the media.

We are the United States of America. We are the strongest military power in the world. Why do we keep fighting like we are scared of what our enemies are going to think? We had 3 U.S. Navy SHIPS that were bullied by 5 small boats. What are we doing? We are not willing to act, not to bully them back but to simply stand up for ourselves. We need to give the military back its power. The politicians need to untie the hands of the military so that our brave men and women who server this county can regain the RESPECT the military deserves from the world. God Bless Our Solders.

Steel Awesome writes: “I expect the price of gas to shoot up to $4 per gallon for most of the country because of this planned incident. Well, at least the stockholders of the big oil companies will make some money. Yep, the rich keep getting richer while Bush is in office.”
Well its obvious that you know nothing about economics, oil, or their prices for that matter.
1) The current share price of XOM (Exxon since you obviously dont invest much) is $93 and I’m sure many lower income to middle income familes hold stock in the company (be it thru mutual funds, etc). Thus your statement in regards to the rich getting richer is wrong.
2) If you have ever tracked the price of oil and that of gasoline prices, you will notice that they are not directly correlated whatsoever. Oil companies do not profit from higher prices of oil, its actually vice versa due to politicians increasing taxing oil companies due to the price of oil (they make their money on margins). I could easily explain the laws of supply and demand with you, but thats obviously pointless since you get most of your news information from the daily show and write ignorant posts.

So much conjecture. So few facts.
But, all we have to go on is the word of the news media (and that ecompasses “All” the media, not just the civilian).
Granted, (from what we are being told) the Iranians seem to be provoking us and our allies when in close proximity to their sovereign land mass. But they have done this for centuries to anyone who does not agree with them and their ideals (sound familiar?).
Agreed, 200 yards is very close indeed – to close. It should be 1000 – 1500 yards as the “Dead Zone” limit (given the respected terrain or situation). The logic: The closer you are to your target, the easier it is to actually hit it. Now days, most ships have the Phalanx Gun system or it’s equivalent, on them. This system is designed as the last defense for ships. These systems can take out a variety of very fast moving targets (this would include “Swift” boats), in mid-flight or otherwise. They are very effective at close range. These sytems were probably fully operational, but they were not used.
While the Captains of the US military ships did restrain themselves, they are not supposed to, in this type of situation. They are supposed to defend the space around their floating piece of USA – at any cost. They did not do this. They allowed the boats to get too close. That itself, is highly unusual. Could it be that they were being (now here is a good word grouping) “Micro-Managed” from afar? Say Washington? Again, anything is possible.
Will this happen again?
Yes, there will be a next time. Do not be foolish to think that there will not be. The british can tell you that. They had one of their ships boarded and the crew were taken captive (look it up).
Q: What to do about “Them”?
That is the ultimate $64,000,000 question. Obviously, no one can ignore them now. We have done this in the past, but no more. Someone will have to deal with this problem, and soon.
Q: Nuke them Morbid?
Not the brightest idea. The ramifications of this line of thought is, for lack of better words, ignorant. There will be fallout of all kinds (not just the radioactive type). But there is always Israel, they have voiced their opinion and they have no problem with this option. Great, let them take the flak while the rest of us deal with the nuclear fallout.
Q: If not the Nuke option, how about conventional?
While this is possible, it would be akin to Iraq and the logistical problem faced there. We did do it, but was it easy? No. It took a lot of manpower, machines and money to pull that one off – and look, we are still there.
Is it reminicent of Tolken Bay?
Of course. Every tactician is supposed to learn from the past, the Irains are really no different in that respect. They have taken a tactic from our past and are using it now.
In closing, George Santayana said it best:
“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
I’ll be here, waiting, and Watching…

Also, to all the people going off about the Gulf of Tonkin incident: The best historical evidence (i.e., neither the Johnson administration’s propaganda, nor the Zinn/Chomsky propaganda) indicates that of the two reported attacks on the USS Maddox by North Vietnamese gunboats, the first reported attack probably happened, and the second one probably didn’t. (It’s not clear, though, that the North Vietnamese crews knew they were firing on American ships and not the South Vietnamese ships in the same area.)
The incident was certainly not “made up.” Exaggerated in its extent and import, maybe, but the Maddox did get shot at that night.

The U.S.Navy could have cleansed the gene pool if they had follwed through.
Nothing Wrong With Shooting as Long as the Right People Get Shot.

Some of you have stated that this is a result of Bush’s desire to attack Iran. Are you serious? Was Bush at the helm of these Iranian speed boats? The order came from Iranian leadership, dolts. Even after the verbal threat came over the radios, our boys stood down. Now reread the article and tell me who is hungry for a war. We get it…you hate Bush. But, this is a clear indication that it is Iran that seeks to destabilize the region, not the evil US president.

Let’s not forget what happened the last time a small boat came at a US Warship…dozens of Navy men died in Yemen… You can’t be too careful. If these Iranian speed boats are stupid enough to radio an aggressive message like that and charge at a US Warship, then they have to be prepared to be blown up. It’s self defense.

Don’t think the US Navy doesn’t have audio and video of this provocation. Those who think they don’t are pretty naive, or too young to not know what our enemies are capable of.
Gulf of Tonkin? Pish-tosh–Liberals will destroy this country, just as they destroyed the black community.

Ya bring bush into the equation you moron. Im sure George Bush was over looking this situation as it happened. Irs the crazy Iranians who want war more than we do. They are trying to provoke a War.

RE you conspiracy kooks, if Bush/the Pentagon really wanted to start a conflict, the USN would have simply fired on the boats. DUH

Useful idiot leftist morons forget all about the USS Cole back when when their hero was sitting at the desk in the oval office. What part of “US Navy sailors died” is it that they cannot comprehend? They are so busy hating themselves and their own country that they forget that without the superior firepower of the USA and her allies there would be no free world at all and certainly not one that forces anyone to tolerate their lies and stupidity.

The Phalanx system (CIWS) typically cannot aim/fire in the downward(negative) angle. They are designed as anti-missile systems. A small boat would not be engaged by the CIWS. Granted, there are some ships that have a new version of the CIWS, but the CGs and FFGs certainly would not. Also, there is no way the CIWS would be on full auto. The system will track and fire on a flock of birds flying miles away. There would be too much risk of firing on a ship or towards land.

I’m getting realy tired of the FoxNews hounds branding anyone who thinks for themselves as a “liberal”. Everyone skeptical about Bush’s motives is NOT a liberal. I voted for him twice and even worked for him in his re-election campaign. He has lied to us repeatedly about the reason we’re in Iraq, he has absolutely no respect for the Constitution of the United States and he has caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people in his quest for his new world order. You imply that everyone who disagrees with the Bush/neo-con agenda is unpatriotic. In fact, it is you who blindly defend him who are contributing to the destruction of my country and yes it is MY country. If you prefer a fascist/totalitarian government, I suggest you move to Russia or somewhere similar and leave the US to those of us who prefer peace and liberty.

If anyone is that stupid to taunt a US Navy war vessel, or any war vessel for that matter, there is just one answer. Let Darwin rule…. and sink them!

I love how Americans think the world is theirs… give me a break! Well, I guess we can look at all of the great things Bush has done for America.

Yep Bush wants to start something

This should be the only warning the Iranian military gets. They cannot continue to act in such away without consequences.
Why are they trying to provoke the U.S. now? If they keep it up, they are only making an American response more clearly justified.

To you anti-Bush ney-sayers:
In evaluating a president, you must look at the hand he was delt.
In 2000, every time the votes were counted, Bush won every time. The opposition tried to steal the election but failed.
Bush inherited an intelligence organization, supported by the world, claiming stockpiles of WMD’s in Iraq. Bush acts responsibly and governs by doing what is right, living by the creed “The buck stops here”. The previous president governed by polls and acted like “The buck never got here!”. Had Bush not invaded Iraq he would have been as irresponsible as Clinton.
Foreign policy under Bush has not created more terrorist. On the contrary, it has reveled them!
Weather you admit it or not, oil is the fuel of democracy. There is nothing wrong with stopping our enemies from dominating it.
When it comes to the three big issues of President Bush’s presidency, the economy, national security and terror, and federal judges,..Bush got them all right!
Iran’s govt. supports radical Islamic terrorist. The same who sanctions the murder of women who have been raped. The same people who issue murderous fatwas, celebrate murder of artists, mobilize sword-welding mobs to demand death for a female teacher who allowed children to name a teddy bear ‘Mohammed’. And the same people who proudly exhibits videos of throat-cutters torturing helpless victims.
Do you really want the current Iranian govt. to succeed against America?

American ships are 7000 miles fromtheir home port. What are they doing off the coast of Iran?
This is not the 1950s, the world no longer fears us, no longer respects us. We are on their turf being a bunch of provocative nut jobs, foolishly playing with fire. This is Iran we are talking about, not Iraq, a failed Arab state!
Those sailors need to get their butts home to Peoria where it belongs. One thing is for certain, they are not “keeping the world safe” in the Persian Gulf!! Anyone who believes that they are there for any other reason but to provoke an incident belongs on the Bush foreign policy team (or the American Enterprise Institute) or the local Asylum!

Posted by: Sivan: “Gulf of Tonkin, anyone?”
My thoughts exactly. Baaaaa baaaaa to both the democrat and republican sheep that refuse to see and stand up for the truth of how our government is misleading us.

LOL. The Iranians are not smart. It would have been better if us navy fired that would, have been less iranian threats to deal with. Go america we must do what it takes to protect our great nation and deal with threats to democracy and islam.

listen up folks, this is the ‘opening shot’ of our next war. If this really did happen, we should have opened fire and blown them away. That is what Israel would have done. We need to be bold when under threat.
If it did not happen, it’s just a smokestream from Bush to create a reason to attack Iran.
Let’s hope that we are not ‘manufacturing’ the next war.

Chess people, not checkers. They were trying to assess the US Naval response to odd, erratic maneuvers. Hopefully they learned very little from this gambit.

“Well, at least the stockholders of the big oil companies will make some money. Yep, the rich keep getting richer while Bush is in office.”
Maybe that’s because the “rich” keep doing what made them rich in the first place. Likewise, the poor keep doing what made them poor in the first place. It’s not Bush’s(or any President’s) fault that you keep making bad decisions.

“The fact that Iranian vessels and US vessels came to within 200 yards of each other would be a non-event. Right??”
————
Uh, they just didn’t “come within 200 yards” you blathering idiot.
Wow, you ignorant leftists never cease to prove what idiots you are.

The Iranians confirmed the incident, and still, the numbskull liberals start their “blame it on Bush” conspiracy theories. Go Figure.

Desperate for a Gulf of Tonkin style incident to reinvigorate momentum for an attack on Iran after the National Intelligence Estimate derailed the push for war, the Pentagon is crying foul over the alleged hostile intent of Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats after an incident in the Strait of Hormuz this weekend.

Do you not remember your history people?!? The USS Vincennes was itching for a fight with the Iranians, when they blew up a commerial Iranian airliner out of the sky! They blamed it on the same Revolutionary Guards harrassing them, but the truth came out after, that it was US, yes, that’s right, the good ol US of A, intentionally violating Iranian coastal boundaries, to bait the Iranians and make them respond. We provoked it and then we murdered a bunch of civilians. Good Job, Pentagon. You believe everything they tell us, the American people, and the Press? Sure, like there were WMDs in Iraq. Idiots…just swallow everything hook, line and sinker don’t you!?

Rea Ality – Come on now, you can’t believe everything you read about Iran. On a different tangent, are you going to sit there are deny that our neighbor to the south, Cuba, has better health care than the U.S.? I’m sure that’s what you read about in the right-wing gossip rags, but the reality is much different, comrade.

Nice try Darth! We ain’t falling for it!

Hillary wept.

200 yards is ridiculously close and I would have to question the US Navy’s commander’s lack of more definitive action. Say what you want about conspiracy theories, but given the idiotic statements made by the leaders in Iran, this incident is entirely believable as described

After reading all of the comments, valid question is :
Who should I hate more ?
Liberals or Iranian Wacko’s ?

I have always found it amusing that the same people calling Bush an idiot so freely accuse him of planning some pretty far fetched schemes to ruin America or go to war or make money for his homies.
I’m not 100% happy with Bush’s job as president either, but I think he may be one of the only people in Washington who understands the nature of the conflict in the Middle East.
People who have no faith can never truly understand the motivations of someone who is fighting for their god. To the Islamic extremists, the crusades never really ended.

The Iranian ships should have been blown out of the water as soon as that message was transmitted!

TOO BAD THEY LAUNCHED A COUPLE SEA-SPARROWS TO THOSE IRANIAN CHICKENS OR LIT THEM UP WITH THE PHALANX…OH YEAH LET’S JUST BLAME BUSHIE THERE….

CORRECTION A COUPLE OF HARPOON ANTI-SHIP MISSLES WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER…

How sad our founding fathers would be to read so many of these left wing posts that doubt our nation and mention sympathy for Iran. You lefties might wonder how we would feel if Iran had ships off our coast, but then again, we haven’t threatened to “wipe” (them or another ally) “off the map” as has Iran’s facist leadership. This moral relativism is either stupidity or intellectual dishonesty, at best.

I wish they would have fired and provoked a war then we could use those 10,000 nukes gaining dust.
The sooner we wipe these countries clean the better.
Pro-War all the way

Damned…This is serious…We’re carry essentially the same offensive weapons as they are on multi-million dollar ships and they’re using 35-foot yachts….

The liberals will be the death of this country.

Fish need food.

Iran’s days are numbered…can’t wait.

Marilyn, go take a Physics class. The Iranians are making pure Uranium. Put a lump of uranium together the size of a small tangerine and voila! you have an atomic bomb. The tricky part is just slamming it together fast enough to get the maximum fission effect of about 110 Kilotons. Do it slower, less bang, but even thirty kilotons in a city would spread the rest of the Uranium around several square miles and make the place useless for generations. The other problem is size, but if you don’t need to fit in on a missile or plane any engineer can make one in a warehouse near downtown anywhere.

They just need to take a .50 cal Barrett and a sniper to put a slug through the Iranian speed boat engines. The Navy usually has Marines onboard. You could also use a Phalanx but you are better off shooting out their engines. I see lots of lib IslamoFacist pacifiers are posting today.

I commend the restraint of the Naval officers in recognizing a clear attempt by the Iranian “navy” to goad them into a rash action. The result of any retaliation would have been subject to such scrutiny that the US would be further villified in the Arab world. Only at that point that they strike first will we have the blessing of the world powers to swat the mosquito that is Iran. It is sad that our military will have to suffer injury before any action is justified, but it is the state of foreign affairs created by Bush’s misteps in Iraq.

Interesting, In My opinion, we should have lit them up. Sure, this would likely have a negative effect on gas prices, but it would be nice to use true force against Iranian aggression and demonstrate our DEADLY seriousness in this situation.

LOOKING FOR A FIGHT, WANT AN ICIDENT TO DETRACT FROM SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT?
THEN TRY PICKING ON THE USN IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS, IT’S A SURE FIRE WAY TO GET SOME ATTENTION YOU MAY HAVE ASKED FOR THEN FOUND IT WAS NOT WHAT YOU WANTED.
SMART AS CHICKENS THEM IRANIANS.

AMERICA LOVE OR LEAVE IT!

It is interesting to read how many of you believe, without question, the US govt version of events. I have no idea what really happened out there, but I doubt it was as clearcut at the US is claiming. I am certainly not going to believe the Iran version, though.

The IRG clowns should be crab chow right now. My suspicion is the next pack of bozos that try this crap again WILL be.

Seems like a warning shot -through- the bow is in order. Are we so into safeguarding ammo we can afford letting these nuts get that close? What are the ROE for these potential suicide boats? It isn’t possible that -someone- does not want to draw attention away from the Clinton meltdown, is it?

The commander should be relieved for putting the lives of his crew at risk by letting hostile boats get within 200 meters of the ship.

Jim – There are always three sides to every story, and never doubt that the media will spice up the story to attract more readers/viewers. The US Navy committed no actions and therfore has no reason to fabricate a story.
However, ask ANY sailor who has gone throught the Straits of Hormuz. This incident is not out of the norm or made up. Incidents like this occur with some frequency. It isn’t always Iran either. I have had issues with Russian ships, Chinese ships, and others. This is likely one of the more intense and provocative occurances though.
LT Mike
USN

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
-George Washington, a forefather if I ever heard of one
this is dedicated to those of you who think the “bushies” or the “lefties” should shut up or move.

All of you Gulf of Tonkin chicken Little’s have it wrong. Moreover, you show dislike for your homeland by assuming the worst. Why don’t we just wait and see. I am by no means defending the Gulf of Tonkin action, but this is a much different world. Those of you who suggest we work through the UN are just plain stupid I am sorry to say. The UN is the most ineffective body of governance ever. Add to that its anti-American bias. Please tell me what good you think could possibly come of that. We all need to wait and hear the official transcripts (yes, I trust my government to provide honest information) before we make snap judgements.

Serious?? Some of the comments on here are blaming Bush for this, using the same old line saying he only wants war with Iran and blah blah blah… for all you, remember it is the Iranians speedboats who were advancing the US ships, and in case you haven’t figured it out yet, those muslim extremist want Americans dead (that includes you idiots who do not understand the threat and do not support our troops and prefer us to be a vulnerable nation), so put two and two together.
How is this the fault of a president sitting in the White House?? Maybe Bush sent a memo asking Ahmadinejad to deploy those speed boats, right?? hahaha We have some bonafide morons in our country you know.

Cry Havoc!!! AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR! Remember the hostage situation, this regime must be CHANGED!!!
What’s wrong with this country, when we lamely complain to the media??? Send them some pics of smoking Iranian boats!!!

Jazz et al
Do you understand International Waters?
If someone walked up to you in the mall and said I plan to shoot you, what would you do? I would assume anything but no action whatsoever.

Iran’s leadership will without hesitation give up the lives of these few motor boat junkies to attempt to raise the price of oil above $100. It’s a cheap way to harm our economy and nothing else.

As I commented in my earlier entry, the conspiracy theorists are out of control. I have just one question for those who automatically disbelieve anything that our military says. What would it take for you to believe the Navy’s account of this incident? Is it even possible for your fevered little minds to comprehend the fact that in all likelihood the incident took place exactly as described?
The problem is, those on the far left have become so irrational that even if they were right there in the gulf, and personally witnessed the event take place just as the Navy described, they would somehow attribute it to a deception by the evil right-wing and/or President Bush. They would base this opinion, of course, on exactly ZERO facts as they always do. But I can hear them now concocting some insane theory about “holographic projections” or “mind control” (don’t laugh, they’ve actually tried to use these before).
Just look at their nutty theories about 9/11 and how they’ll believe any unknown leftist crackpot. Simply because the self-apparent truth about 9/11 didn’t fit their political agenda, they immediately set off to contrive an alternate reality for themselves wherein George W. Bush was an evil, manipulative dictator who flew the planes into the World Trade Center by remote control, but used a missile to demolish the Pentagon, yet inexplicably decided to shoot down Flight 93 over Pennsylvania, etc., etc., etc… The fact that their various “theories” conflict with one another and don’t remotely match up with the facts never bothers them. They just invent other conspiracies to attempt to explain the initial conspiracy.

wasn’t the USS Liberty attacked by Israel in the late 60′s, close to 40 years ago, more than 25.

Iran is like a naughty little boy that needs to be spanked. By the way, The MIGHTY UNITED STATES NAVY would welcome an engagement between any nation’s navy. Lets compare the might:
Number of Carrier Strike Groups
United States……………….11
United Kingdom………………02
France……………………..01
India………………………01
Iran……………………….00

The U.S. Navy should have pointed speakers at the Iranian vessels and played speeches of Hillary Clinton at full blast. They would have hightailed out quicker than you can say Mahmoud Imadinnerjacket and believe me, they would never pull these shenanigans again.

Remember folks, the press has the right not to report the truth. The speedboat harassment has not been confirmed. Flies cicling the head of the Lion. No more No less. get a grip…

Some folks need to learn the hard way. In the end, they’ll be sorry….

FIRE AT WILL!

Most of the people here that blame the US for the incident will also fully back the next democrat president in every military action they engage in…just like they backed Clinton. When it was Clinton declaring war on a sovereign nation they deemed it justified. When it was Clinton launching attacks against Iraq, they deemed it justified. when it was Clinton that cited Iraqs WMD programs and ties to terrorism they agreed and applauded.
When it is Bush, they claim it all warmongering and lies.
Hypocrites in the name of partisan politics. Selling out your country in the name of political ‘power’ (knowing all the while there isnt a dimes difference between the two parties). Disgusting.

A fascist/totalitarian government is what we are facing if we elect Hillary or Obama or any of those liberal Marxists Socialists as President.
I’m sick of all the liberal drivel on this thread. Please people move to Canada, Russia or maybe Venezuela would be good! You people think if we play nice the Islamic fascists won’t attack us? They already did on 9/11 and 3,000 died. So soon we forget! Liberals made a big to-do about 3,000 dying in Iraq. Please!!! It’s time we stand up and fight for our Country and stop bowing to the politically correct minority who choose weakness over strength. If you don’t love this Country…then by all means, LEAVE IT!
The Iranian president calls for America’s and Israel’s destruction in every speech he makes even under the banner of the UN in New York City. Personally, George Bush should have hit Iran, not Iraq…Iran funds and supports most of the terrorists in the middle east and globally. There is no appeasing an Islamic extremist. American liberals just make them smile.
It’s time to untie the hands of our military to strike anyone and anywhere our Country is threatened. We need another Ronald Reagan!!!!

Too bad the US Navy wasn’t on such a high state of alert when israel attacked the USS Liberty… killing 34 US sailors and wounding 174 in air and surface attcks.

This is just like a playground fistfight. Fake a punch to see what the other guy is going to do.
This reminds me of the flying imams, and others who board planes with fake bombs.
They are probing our weaknesses.
Next time take them out.

Only fools believe that we will “invade” Iran……….a few well aimed ICMB loaded with bunker busting conventional paylods should do just fine….history will show that Bush was a military genius for flanking Iran with minimal casualties;)

Reading these post’s one would imagine that the Iranian inflatables were 200 metres off the shores of America. Get real and wake up this is their waters they have every right to be there protecting their country from provocation by a hostile force. This has all the hallmarks of a directive from Washington, for an Vice Admiral to be on escort patrol in a mundane convey throws a sinister shroud over this operation. I have no reservations that this type of harassment will continue until the American navy will open fire on these unfortunate Iranian sailors and claim provocation from the Iranians.
The papers will support the lies as usual and this strenghten the cause for war. Same old story and ye fools suck into it.

We must protect the region and keep the peace in the middle east! The World depends on us to do so!
We must not stand down from the radical evil ones!
They want US ALL dead because we don’t believe what they believe!
SOME OF YOU JUST DON’T GET IT!!!!!!!!!!

Tell the familys of those that died on the USS Cole how the US is over reacting

The United States has every right to be in international waters and project our Navy around the globe. If you don’t like that idea, then go get your own navy and do something about it. Or, you can let the Iranian navy do your bidding for you. Just make sure you are on one of the Iranian boats mouthing off when the shooting starts.

First, the Leftoons who are saying “Gulf of Tonkin” are mentally unstable, not understanding the true Hitler-like mentality of Ahmadinejad. Second, it is clear that the U.S. Navy is led by dhimmi castrati.
Talk radio-host Michael Savage nailed it this evening when he called out the Navy for blinking at some pathetic speed boats.
As Savage says, this, “Oh, we were just about ready to shoot, but they turned away in the nick of time….” malarky is the verbiage of a coward.
Once that one boat expressed the intention to blow up one of our vessels, it was cowardly, immoral, and negligent of the US battle group commander to allow those hostile Iranian boats to escape destruction.
The Navy is leading the way to Dhimmitude and surrender: The recent firing of leading Pentagon anti-terrorism expert Coughlin to appease the Pentagon’s resident terrorist-sympathizer, Hashem Islam is another prime example.
The left calls the President “Bushitler.” They have it exactly wrong: He is Bus(c)hamberlain.” He is weak in the extreme. He is Jimmy Carter weak.

immediately courts marshall any commander who’s ship is threatened and does not take military action, (blow them to mars). remember what happened in yemen. those people over there only understand and respect brute force. a sharp stick in the eyeball.

I cannot believe or understand some of these anti-America posts. Personally I think that both sides of the political spectrum are extemely lacking in leadership. However, that does not mean that I love America any less.
And for those that think what would the USN lose by a five speedboat/light craft attack on us:
1st – Remember the USS Cole
2nd – A single ship board IED can kill more Americans in a single attack then those used on the streets of Iraq. Just take a look at history! Can any of you that think a small craft cannot cause massive damage to a warship remember the kamikaze attacks used in WWII. If you cannot, then I suggest you google the battle of Okinawa and see how many sailors were killed during that campaign.
Check out the following:
CG-47 Ticonderoga
DDG-51 Arleigh Burke
FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry
The amount of money that the United States has invested in the building/training of these ships and sailors, not to mention the future loss of human potential is mind blowing.
My job requires me to study/research/report on the effects of war on a daily basis, however this does not take away the amount of respect of the men and women who serve in uniform on a daily basis. It only reminds me of the incredible things that Americans do on a daily basis. I am not a fan of war, but I am a huge fan of those that do their jobs on a daily basis to protect and defend me and my family.
God bless those that serve.
Chris in VA

So wonderful to see those on this site so very sure that Bush, the Pentagon, Navy or corporations want to start a war with Iran when Iran is the one provoking us. Need to get your information from somewhere other than move.org. The US has shown remarkable restraint in dealing with these nuts.

I’m sure Bush called the Iranian PM and ordered him to send the boats out there. Every time I think I heard the most stupid comments from libs, this kind of thing appears, and I have to lower my standards. Everyone is anti-war. It’s just that many of you are anti-America. God bless America

For those who want to defend Iran and their actions, then go..this is America…. A few bursts of Sea Whiz, those Cowards when have been with allah right now….Iran had better remember, Our Naval Force in the Gulf can Eliminate them from the Face of the World Really quick, they will not have a chance to start WWIII!

There’s seriously something wrong with this country when its citizens are more suspicious of our government than that of an Islamofascist dictatorship that happens to be the foremost state sponsor and exporter of terrorism. Some of you are so blinded by your incredible hatred for Bush that it completely clouds what little common sense you have. Those comparing this incident to the Gulf of Tonkin need to learn the difference between things like apples and oranges. There was no exchange of fire (alleged or otherwise) and it is not and will not be used as a pretext for war. Get it?
For starters, there was no assassination in the Middle East last week. Pakistan is NOT in the M.E. And if you’re going to discuss assassinations, at least learn how to spell the word correctly.
I think that the US military should be congratulated for showing such restraint. They had more than enough justification to blow those Revolutionary Guardsmen right out of the water. Unfortunately, some of you would rather make apologies and excuses for terrorists than make an honest assessment of the situation as it has been presented.

What will the Iranians try next? Dive a passenger plane full of pilgrams at a US Destroyer? Hmmmm, I think that happend in the not so distant past, and it wasn’t pretty.
People are saying we shouldn’t be there and that there is only one reason we’re there. OIL!
Why not just get rid of our dependency and the rest of the world from that old Black Gold, Texas Tea.
How?
Have you heard of HHO?
No? It’s Water (H2O)that has been broken down into 2 Hydrogen, and 1 oxygen molecules, in the form of a gas with very special properties. It has 3 times the power of gasoline and the by product is?
That’s right! Water (H2O)
There is so much information on the internet about it and people around the world are working to bring technology to everyone. The really cool thing about this is, that the technology is all “Open Source”! None of the discoveries can be copy righted or patented.

LIBERALS WILL BE THE DEATH OF THIS GREAT NATION. WAKE UP YOU IDIOTS.

Bravado on Iran’s part trying to show themselves brave and demonstarte us as weak. Restraint in the face of idiots is not weakness.
If they get that close in future, though, I vote we give ‘em an all-new haircut from every gun on deck.
Good discipline guys.

For all You who think President Bush is starting another war. Please read other news sources around the world. Iran has already admitted the incident and there mistake.

Golf of Tonkin II

Do we now believe ANYTHING the Bush administration says? Looks like Bush and company, now realizing that he can’t lie about nukes and wmd’s might find a new excuse for starting a war. Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t that gulf as close to Iran as the East River is to NYC? Every bullet that’s fired, some Bush crony makes money, and WE pay for it.
Get ready ya’ll, Bush gonna start a new war ANY WAY HE CAN.

“Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t that gulf as close to Iran as the East River is to NYC?”
Go grab a map Yahoo…
Also, is the East River “International Waters”? No. The Gulf IS. The Gulf IS NOT Iranian water. The Gulf IS International Waters as International Trade occurs through those waters.
Might I remind you it was the United States that was attacked – NOT the poor terrorists. It was THEY that declared war YEARS before Iraq.

Why didn’t our Navy blow those religion of peacers into allah’s kingdom of virgins? Can’t think of a better place for those scumbags. Have we forgotten the American hostages those ROP’s took back when Jimmah Cawter was ruining our country? How about the USS Cole,etc. etc.etc.? Come on, Pentagon, teach those morons a lesson for what happens when you screw with our people. The Commander(s) of the ship(s) should be demoted.

We all need to be very carefull on how we access events without jumping to immediate conclusions. In 1898 American KNEW that the Spanish sunk the USS Maine in Havana Harbor….causing the Spanish/American War. But come to find out not true at all. It was an internal fire in a coal bunker.
WE ALL (left wing tin-foil hat wears and right wing flag waving gun clutchers) need to step back and access the REAL situation.

You people are so funny! GW doesn’t need an excuse to start a war. If he wants it, he will get it. If he wants it with Iran, I wish he would hurry up!

Well, first – I remember over 90% of the country being in support of the invasion of Iraq when it started. Americans are turning senile and can’t remember before 9/11 – can’t remember a decade of Iraq thumbing its nose at the UN over weapons inspections; don’t remember that France, Germany and Russia opposed our actions because they had the same oil interests as we do. America made mistakes in Iraq, but the rest of the world did too in failing to enforce unanimous UN resolutions. WW2 was a direct result of failure to enforce the Versailles Treaty. No one learns. As for Iran…
You really think we’re in Iraq by accident? heh…

According to Islamic sites, the incident did occur and they are celebrating it. Iran has been fighting a proxy war against us in Iraq and it’s time to lower the boom. For all of you Bush conspiracy theorists, that would have been the opportune moment. Something has to happen before a democrat takes office and leaves Iran to assume the power vacuum.

Coming within 2/3 the length of a football field is much too close in the military! They could have taken out the ship and then what? Someone would be calling for heads to roll since it was not stopped. And most likely the underlings would suffer the consequenses. The problem is the war is too political. We worry about world and public opinion whene we shouldnt. They should have sunk the boat, but mind you, in this day and age it should all be on video so we all can see that yes, they did provoke the incident. We don’t have to go to war over it, but just sink them so that in the future they understand we do in fact mean business militarily. What would the Israelis do?

It is a gross insult to every officer and sailor to suggest that they would provoke an incident just to provide G.W. Bush with justification to start a conflict with Iran.
The U.S. Navy can not cede one inch of international waters to the Iranians. To do so would give them the ability to act as toll keeper for the sea lane through which %50 of the worlds oil must flow.
Do you really want this rogue regime to control this spigot.

Boy, I’ll be so glad when Ron Paul finally gets booted out of the US election process, so all of the ignorant crazy troofer freaks who support him will go climb in their greasy holes again.
Thank you, all involved in Armed Services! God bless America!

Oh I think 08 will be quite the year. [asks for a bag of popcorn]

We are all lucky nothing happened. I think Iran did this to provoke a shooting so they can claim to their people that the US hunted them down in international waters. And it wouldn’t matter what the US would say in response. US knows this and that is why they didn’t fire. They wouldn’t fire until it got within a distance to do real damage.

Some of you idiots want to blame the United States first. And when one of these whack job Iranians kill thousands of our citizens…blame Bush, blame the U.S., blame your neighbors, blame the cops, blame all of us. For the love of God move out of the U.S. if you hate this country so much. Our ships were in “international waters” with every right in the world to be there. Iran is whacked country with nutcase leaders. We better keep a close eye on them. Wake up!

It’s amazing how fast liberals mouth opinions with so little facts.
Gulf of Tonkin II? You gotta be kidding! Tonkin was a total fabrication by Democrat Lyndon Johnson to justify war buildup.
This is NOT Tonkin II.

Eric: It is obvious you know nothing about any sort of military operation at all. Audio and video tapes don’t run 24 hours a day and recording equipment is the last thing anyone picks up on the way to a battle station.
Where are the white boxes? How stupid do you think our military commanders are that they would pick something up from the water that had been left by a hostile force and bring it onboard the comfined areas of a ship?
200 yards is a very lethal distance in combat operations since the max effective range of a machine gun is 400 yards, 1200 to 1500 for a small shoulder fired surface-to-surface missile.
Like most anti-US/anti-US military loud mouths, your hatred and cynicism have clouded any logical thought pattern you may tend to develop. You know nothing about the things you speak of and demonize.

I’m scared too. Scared that all those virgins and Allah will have to wait.
Open fire when ready!

What does it take to wake us up? To get within 100 yards, 50 yards of one of our naval vessels? This was a provocative act and it should have been dealt with. They are testing us. What about next time….if we choose not to fire on them?…. and their speedboat is packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives?

OUR NAVY NEEDS SOME TRIGGER TIME!TAKE THEM O U T !!!

We should meet the threat of force on the high seas with overwhelming force. People in the middle east understand and respect one thing over all else: Power. The muslim religion itself is a cult of submission. We need to give these guys the opportunity to submit to our power, and to become glorious martyrs to allah.

How dare you people who encourage or even joke about our Sailors being shot at, fish food or any of your other tastless reteric. I am a Navy wife, my husband is on one of those ships. Walk a mile in our shoes then lets see how you feel! A VERY PROUD NAVY WIFE!

“Eric” obviously doesn’t believe that this actually happened, and wants the rest of us to conclude that our government made the whole thing up so that we can go to war with Iran. Well, Eric, Iran does things like this all the time. I was on board USS Enterprise when it happened before and we came to blows (April, 1988). The circumstances were different, however… we sunk everything that came at us that time. I’m sure that the CO of the ship that allowed the Iranians to come within 200 yards may not have a job much longer.

Wikipedia? lol … Using Wikipedia as a source of information is about as intellectually lazy as it gets.
But then liberalism is defined by its intellectual dishonesty and laziness. That’s why so many young mush-heads are so easily swayed by it.

At what point does the insanity end? Bush is blamed for everything including global warming, hurricanes, and the idiotic actions of people who have been aggressive since taking hostages in the 1970′s. Somehow he is being blamed because our military didnt fire on these threatening individuals who have in the past taken British soldiers captive? In an area of the world where suicide bombings are a daily concern? Look people they have been bombing, killing, and having war over there centuries before there were any oil interests and they will continue even after we move on to new fuel sources and dont need their oil anymore. You can wake up each day and blame Bush for everything wrong in your life and in the world but those same problems were there before he took office and will be there when he leaves. Just take a look at world or Iranian opinion of the US when Carter was in office and tell me how it is any different now. It is nice to have someone or something to blame for your clinical depression. I fear that after his term when you no longer have someone to blame and all the problems are still there that only then will you realize where your depression comes from. Pelosi taking the house and not changing the foreign landscape as promised should have been an indication that countries will hate us until we are weak, poor, and beaten…then move onto the next successful country to blame. They hate the US, and what they hate most in the US are the liberals far more than the conservatives- but you will defend them and attack the US right up to the point where they will come to convert or kill you and then you will beg for a gun toting conservative to protect you. You know it is true- this has happened so many times in history in so many countries.

Stand a watch on a ship in Harm’s way and then comment. Otherwise continue living with your head in the sand. 200 yards is too close for an aggressive speed boat shadowing your ship. Its only seconds away. The Iraninans have been doing this for 30 years. They know the rules and which ones they are breaking. No reason to nuke them. Just trim their navy down by a few speedboats. I don’t know if they can get another ‘Tonkin Incident’ passed us. You never know though…

Iran will do well not to provoke the big brother. You remember the fox and lamb story when fox was drinkining water in the river and a little lamb down the stream was accused by fox of dirtying his drinking water. You know the moral of the story, the little lamb ended up in the stomach of the fox. Pakistan may hide Bin Laden and still get along with Bush, but Iran cannot afford to provoke Bush for Iran has OIL !!! Iran should avaoid any conflict to avoid the eventual occupation, after all Mr.Bush has almost one more year to serve as President

Turner Joy

That’s what makes this country so great. Everyone can say and think what they want and our brave young women and young men in our armed forces continue to protect our rights to do so.
I guess if we were in Iran, we couldn’t post negative comments about our government or acuse them of conspiring to start a war.

So let me get this right, a slanted and unsubstantiated view with no evidence to support it is always correct if it takes a stand opposite to that of the US president? Since Iran only disputes the details of the incident, I think I’ll ignore the inflammatory rhetoric of the uninformed and politically biased opinions above.

typical, the commander had to call Washington to check and see if the could fire if the iranian boat got any closer.

To rebatemonger: Had they continued…it seems from the reports coming out that there would have been a lot of pretty pyrothechnics Iluminating their stupidplan to attemt to take on the U.S.Navy. Nonetheless, I admire the restraint the commanders showed.
To navywife: We will forever be indebted to you, your family and your husband for the sacrafices you are all making on our behalf. Rest assured, should the bad guys want to square-up with the Navy, I have no doubt about the outcome.
In many ways it is seniorNaval officers that get to make the shoot or don’t decision for our sailors. I wish it were such for our soldiers too. Many young kids with M-16′s make those decisions on a day to day basis.
But, that is the nature of warefare and the service to which your husband has sworn. I will sleep better tonight knowing he is amongst men who are of a level head…and trust that they are of a warriors mindset as well. Sleep well yourself. Your husband serves with the moth lethal and professional navy the world has ever seen.
And to those of you that think I am a pacafist…you are idiots. I am all for giving the benefit of the doubt. However…mess with our troops and be advised that your country, your, government, your very way of life will be at severe risk. And those you send into harms way on your behalf will be doomed to suffer the wrath of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Our people may be civillians at heart, but by God, the are killers by profession. Do not mess with them unless you are ready to meet your maker! Mess with the U.S. and almost surely die.

Lots of dumb sheep here, LOL.
Amazing how easily it is to goad you idiots into hating other people. Maybe we need home euthanasia kits for all you self loathing freaks that are so easily duped into fear. Suicide means your suffering ends and won’t effect others with your neurotic pathological thoughts.
After all the lies fed to you by the current US administration, and many are still so damn dumb as to keep believing the same old crap.
When the economic depression hits, then you shall see how stupid you really are. Fools and their money shall soon part.

Where were all you hypocritical liberals when Bill Clinton was lobbing bombs on an aspirin factory, an act even the liberal media had to admit was suspiciously timed? Just happened to have been called by Clinton in the midst of his greatest scandal. He bombs innocent people in and around an aspirin factory and you liberal toadies, like the good “useful idiots” Lenin spoke of, turned the other way. You’re all a joke, blinded by hatred of Bush and the right to the extent that it’s spilled over into hatred of your own country. That’s why you’re still not going to win the White House!

We’re becoming as sissified as the euros over here in the US. We need to have a 500 yd kill radius around our ships before we get another USS Cole

I find it interesting, no maybe humorous that the far left side has repeated over and over that this reminds them of the Gulf of Tonkin matter.
Now, let me get this straight. The Gulf of Tonkin lie was perpetrated by a sitting Democrat, i.e., Liberal President.
Have I got that right?

“And what is that supposed to mean?? How does a boat ‘behave’ when it is packed with explosives?”
I don’t know! The boats sat low in the water? Go visit a Navy man in a VA hospital and ask him. A thank him for the fact that you’re still free.

I’m really tired of these cynical, humorless liberals posting about all this conspiracy theory crap. another country threatens our military and your first assumption is that it must be our fault and we want a war badly. You people are sheep, idiots for hating your own country. I’m not saying to implicitly trust everything the Feds say, but that doesn’t mean you should explicitly distrust everything either. You people are useless and should just shutup if you have nothing productive to add.

Wow, I see all the U.S. haters are out in force. Dir Sirs and Madams, if we were surrounded by Iranians, they would disintegrate in short order. And to answer your question, yes, we would not like it. But we would have something bigger than speed boats encountering their forces. Use your heads people. This was nothing more than Iran trying to provoke us. The commanders of the U.S. ships we very cool-headed… lucky for the Iranians. They could be fish food right now!

I hate to say this, but it’s coming down to ISLAM DELENDA EST.

Hurray for Bush and his fine military machine! The U.S. will NOT BACK DOWN from twisted Iranian idiots! Hurray for our armed forces! Thank you for being strong and protecting U.S. rights in international waters!

Hurray for President Bush and our fine military who take a stand against ruthless people in international waters! Hurray for our U.S. Navy! Thanks to all our military who protect and serve! The U.S. will not be intimidat!ed by radical Iranians!

It comes down to who do you trust again. Bush or the Iranians. Bush is a proven liar so trusting the Iranians is the logical option.

Gulf of Tonkin? Maybe you gentlemen and ladies should pick up a history book now and then. You shouldn’t base your entire world-view on John Stewart’s opinion. Try forming one of your own based on actual fact and not emotion. Failure to do so is a perfect recipe for amazing, outlandish paranoia and a screaming hatred that cripples your ability to see the truth. As a Brit, and one who has wide traveling experience, I can tell you that there is no finer, more just or compassionate nation on the face of the Earth than your own United States. Whether you are or not, you sound like shouting, naive spoiled children who have no apprecation for any of the gifts they’ve been given, and I mean “given” not earned. With regard to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Johnson did actually over-dramatize a minor confrontation to justify a larger conflict but direct aggression by rogue Iranians toward U.S. warships halfway across the world and forty years later has absolutely no relevance. First, no one fired at anyone. The Iranians were actually given the benefit of the doubt and not erased. Due to the excellent judgement of the Naval commander on the scene, no one was harmed in any way. The Revolutionary Guardsmen escaped martyrdom but not through any genius or tactical brillance of their own. They exist to martyr themselves another day because of the mercy and wisdom of an American who was raised to believe in caution and the purity and sanctity of life. Unlike the savages he confronted, who were itching for a lopsided fight that would immediately earn them seven virgins, he chose a more judicious approach. The Americans were not aggressive. The Iranians were. If the entire incident was manufactured, I imagine someone on the D.C. side would be beating war-drums. I don’t hear any. All I hear is surprise that the Iranians acted so aggressively. The pols in the U.S. didn’t even file a diplomatic protest, which they were certainly entitled to do. Ah, I see. Probably part of that fiercely clever U.S. president’s smokescreen and plan to nuke the Iranians when no one is looking. He’s a dodgy one, that Bush. I wonder how since he is also apparently completely retarded. How does he manage such brilliance sans a brain? Come to your senses, all of you. When someone steps on your cat you don’t run to the blogs to flame Bush or go and grab your long and wearying list of U.S. political and social failures to try and sort out blame. Or do you? Maybe, just maybe, your collective foolishness and lack of vision is the reason that he world appears to be ganging up on you. I’m not sure what world view you intendto embrace but you ‘infidel’ are not entitled to seven virgins even if you convert to Islam. I’d stick with the devil you know because that other one won’t rest until your throat is cut and your blood waters the American soil you stand on. Good luck.

allright people, you have all had your fun. Now get serious, look up; Sebel Edmonds and her disclosures to the Times on Line in the UK over the last couple of days. (just as a start!)
Ma.

You lefties are something else. You say Bush is trying to provoke? It was the IRANIANS that charged our ships idiots. I’m sure you also blame your zits on Bush. It is also Bushs’ fault that the sun comes up every morning and goes down every night.
This incident happened, and it was the Iranians that were being foolhardy. But you scum sucking liberals are total nut jobs.

I see only a few people posting that appear to be both rational and knowledgable. The rest exhibit their liberal lunacy repeatedly. Liberalism has done more to divide this nation than any other radical group. Most of you are anti-military and most probably never served in the military. While I and millions of others were in Vietnam, the socialist hippies were getting a college education and joining socialist/communist groups. They spent more time protesting and taking over administration buildings, burning ROTC buildings, etc. Now these same anti-capitalists are some of the richest in our nation. Some are teachers poisoning our young minds, both in elementary, mid, and secondary educational levels, as well as colleges and universities. I sacrificed for you. What a shame! I am just thankful that we have enough young people that are patriotic and continue to serve our nation. If the liberal/socialists gain total control of this nation, what will you do when the terrorists and illegals have overtaken our nation, exhausted our funds, and turns us into a second rate nation? Oh…will you fight if attacked? Will you deny your creator and convert to islam at the threat of beheading? You people make me sick. Go drink your appletinis, drive your foreign status cars, and feed off true Americans who actually work for a living. Open your eyes people! God save America from itself!

Forget Tonkin Gulf. Forget staging an incident to allow the current admin. to go to war. Does anybody remember a ship called the USS Cole? Anybody remember how that ship got attacked? By a boat packed with explosives that was allowed to get too close. So, it would be prudent that if someone in say a small boat began making provocative manuevers, looked like they were packed with something and perhaps radioed their intentions. To take precautions. Better to be safe than sorry. And it is not as if the Iranian Revolutionary Guards haven’t done stupid things in the past. So instead of seeing boogey men under the bed like a number of posters. Realize that there are real boogeymen out there. Some who want you dead. And if they can not kill you directly any old American will do. For a start.
But then again there are a whole lot of stupid people, American and others, out there who will end up getting us into a war. Mainly because they haven’t got the slightest idea what is at stake. Or what is involved.
Or more importantly who is behind it.

It seems to me that a lot of these libs won’t get it till there is a mushroom cloud over New York, or LA, or Chicago, or anywhere in America.

Golden oppurtunity for Mr.Bush to rush his militsry into Iran. Lot of Oil !!!

You know, the last time I was in the Persian Gulf was 1997 and the Iranians did the same exact thing by hassling the carrier patrolling the Gulf just before Ramadan. Our ship made tracks there and it almost came to gunfire before the Iranians went home that time also. Provocation is what the islamofascists do, it’s page 1 in their playbook. If I were CO, once the threat came over the radio the 5 inchers would have been unleashed. No questions. For you lefties who think Bush fabricated this to start a war with Iran, understand that the Islamofascists want to kill you also regardless of your PC idiocy.

Can anyone say, crazy as a loon.
The Gulf Of Tolkin, the Gulf of Tolkin,
There are no Democrats in the White the hhouse, and not enough in congress to
make a Gulf of Tolkin possible.
Oh how soon you looney stalin lovin lefties forget. So I’ll try again. I know that consumed in your rabid illogical hatred for the current president, you dulude yourselves into thinking that Iran and the global terror network it supports and supplies is not at war with this Nation.
You fall into what can only be described as some strange Bushaphobic rant, he’s dumb, he lies, he does not recycle!
How about you take the day off from caffine or something, walk the beach looking for stranded marine life, or whatever it is leftists do when their not protesting, and be thankful for those guy’s on that Ship, and that they wwere well lead. And for all the guy’s and gals like them that put their lives on line every single day, to protect your right to carry on with your lockstep radical leftist life.
It is amazing how many of the good folks here seem to hate this nation and what it stands for, I can only hope it’s a scattered collection of lost troubled, maloderous, lovers of lennin, ssitting by their computers in their “I love Che” t-shirts hitting send over, and over again. But then again, perhaps some of these folks are Not citizens of this nation.
uummm.

It’s too bad that the military has to protect these anti-American traitors along with genuine Americans.
Well, that’s probably not fair. Some aren’t anti-American. Some are just nut cases. Pretty sad when Bill Clinton himself calls you 9-11 “truthers” nut jobs.
That would be called “a clue”. But there is no sense arguing logic or common sense to someone who isn’t interested in either facts or information. Just nursing their own sickness.

Iranians would do NOTHING without a directive from higher ups, in this case I wouldn’t be surprised if it came straight from Ahmadenijad. Don’t forget that it is an ideologically driven country that is as close to dictatorship as it gets. No hotheaded commander of a speedboat would have done this, lest he risked having his family hang off those little gallows.
Iranians do the same sh*t as with nukes. They play games and see how far they can push.

I can’t seem to understand why so many liberals always attack their own country. I can see for my self how ridiculous and blatantly stupid your statements are. Do you forget where you live? I mean can’t you people just grow up and stand by your commander in chief that YOUR COUNTRY AND COUNTRYMEN ELECTED to lead us?? Those Iranians Should have been blow to pieces, if I were commanding either one of those vessels there would be no more Iranian attack boats in those waters.

200 yards? Why were the Iranian boats not vaporized? In the middle east, this will be considered an Iranian victory and those clowns will be emboldened.

HA HA HA.scared. glory of RussiA!!!

Trying to provoke an event to draw the US into a conflict. Good idea for Iran as each day brings the U.S. closer to victory in Iraq and lessens Iranian influence in the region. In short, they are getting desperate. We have all the force and they are sandwiched between two countries that are under U.S. control. Teetering in the balance are the youth of Iran seeking Western culture and democracy, who we wish not to alienate, otherwise we would have already invaded. Bush is playing the long hand. Left alone, Iran will implode from within at the hands of it’s own elite youth.

What would the American Navy do if some other navy ship was that close to OUR shores?

This is to those on the political left, who have risen to the defense of America’s every enemy, who have imagined the worst of any government elected official not of their choice or party, who have impugned the service of so many good young men and women in the U.S. armed services: “A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand” – Abraham Lincoln. Think back over the last 225+ years of American history, and tell us which great American leader would side with America’s enemy during time of war? JFK? Truman? FDR? Lincoln? Washington? Which American tradition are you following? Defining America as “evil” against all evidence to the contrary, does not benefit Americans. I’m a military vet, and happen to be in contact with many young Marines. Some are discouraged, not by their duty assignments, not by the fact that they’ve been to war and back 2 or 3 times. Not by their injuries, multiple concussions, PSTD, or the friends they’ve lost. The most damning indictment I make against the political left is that these kids picked up the BIPARTISAN call to arms after 9/11, they put themselves in harms way for their country, for YOUR country (for those readers who are Americans here), only to come back from war to a “redefined reality”, a “politically inoperative” truth, to a America divided by left-wing political opportunists who were “against the war before they voted for it..”. The lazy, the cowardly, the self-absorbed of the “patriotic” political left can’t hold a candle to these kids, these noble warriors … who are just like those kids on those three ships that just put their lives on the line for you ingrates again. Again, which great American are you following? JFK? FDR? or is it perhaps Trotsky or Lenin? If you glory at the prospect of America’s defeat, you may very well realize your desire, because the “right wing”, the “neo-con’s”, the “red states”, the “southern red-necks”, or whoever it is you image our defenders to be – can’t defend a divided country. Remember that, when you say that the President, the DOD, the Navy Commander of that battle group, or the kids manning the guns, were all a part of your imagined conspiracy. Actions have consequences, your own included.

jock59801, There you go again, bashing Bush for some OBVIOUSLY he had/has nothing to do with.
You Bush haters are gonna be lost when Romney takes power… or I guess you’ll just change targets, heh?
The Iranians have LONG been are provovateurs (remember the crisis mis-0managed by your bud, Jimmy Carter – what a failure that dude was), you should know that. But then again…

My God! Do any of you moron’s listen to yourselves? Conspiracies? NeoCons? If you are truly that dissatisfied with your country maybe it’s to emigrate to France! 8 out of 10 of these posts are a perfect example of why the electoral college exists. What really scares me is that all you morons VOTE!

To allow a hostile craft, with announced intentions of blowing up the ship, within 200 yards is the height of incompetence on the part of the U.S. captain. 200 yards can be crossed in a flash, and if he doesn’t know that then he has no business in command. He recklessly hazarded his ship and should be removed from command.

As is normal with this administration, they only start wars with small countries that do not pose a threat. WE DO NOT BELONG IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WORRY ABOUT HOME. CAN YOU PEOPLE IMAGINE IF THE TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS USED TO FUND WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST WAS USED INSTEAD HERE AT HOME. RON PAUL IS OUR ONLY HOPE.

To all the Americans who want to blame the United States for events like this: Why do you trust the good intentions of renegade soldiers from a maniacal regime over the intentions of your military and your president? If America is so imperialistic, and Iraq was all about oil, why aren’t we taking their oil and driving our gas prices down to 50 cents a gallon? Why do you think Bush is more dangerous than a tyrant whose stated policy is the destruction of Israel and the West?
It frightens me that Americans who despise their country and distrust their military so much will actually have some say in choosing our next president… Just try and remember to take off your tin-foil hat before you head to the polls!

Set against the backdrop of the pending summit meeting in Jerusalem with Presidents Bush and Abbas, and Prime Minister Olmert, I believe this Revolutionary Guards operation had political objectives that were a no-lose situation for the Iranians, and a lose-lose for us. If our ships did nothing at all (which is what happened), we’re shown to be a “weak sister” in the area who can’t influence the future for Israel and Palestine. If we sank the “harmless” Iranian boats (which Iran’s UN Ambassador would have then claimed were only “fishing”, and probably had rods and reels on board as cover for their presence and status), the resulting brouhaha would have overshadowed the conference and embarrassed the Sunni Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas for meeting with the “war mongering” USA. The timing of this operation is no accident and was probably approved at the highest levels of the Shiite Iranian government in support of their Hamas proxy in the Gaza Strip.
That said, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards speedboat skipper did the United States a favor by showing us which of our destroyer captains in this group of three ships was slow to respond to a rapidly developing threat. None of the armed Iranian speedboats should have been permitted to close within even 2000 yards of any of these ships, much less 200! With a more aggressive defensive posture from our Navy, this Iranian political stunt would have fallen apart, showing us to be a “strong horse” in the area.
Iranian political operation or not, when our Nation places in harm’s way a multi-billion dollar armed destroyer with hundred’s of Sailors and Marines on board, we expect that the ship’s Captain will not flinch in exercising his responsiblity to protect his ship and crew. The captain should be reprimanded, and possibly relieved, for apparently not being at battle stations when he initiated the passage of the Straits of Hormuz, and for failing to place a cannon shot across the bow of the lead speedboat at a range of say, 3000 yards. With the RADAR, SONAR, Night Observation Devices, Helicopter, and computerized weapons systems and illumination rounds at his disposal, the Captain’s negiligence in protecting his ship is glaring.
The Iranians should not take comfort in their succesful probe of our security in these troubled waters. I suspect that the next time the Iranians present one of our warships with a live fire target opportunity like this, we’ll take full advantage of it.

I’m amazed at the sheer stupidity revealed in some of these comments. Gulf of Tonkin? Yeah and Jane Fonda is an ardent patriot right?
The USS Cole should paint a very clear and adequate portrait of how serious this threat was. Yet the libs will fall back on their tired comparisons to Vietnam as they wish for our failure in Iraq. After all AMERICA IS EVIL according to every liberal mind; greedy, excessive, violent and small-minded, we need to be taught a lesson, right?
The slogan, “America Will Never Forget” has faltered in the wake of liberal acquiesecence to the whims of a small group of global thugs. We are encouraged to forget the lessons of 9/11 through the constant bombardment of “facts” that prove how evil America is in the world.
From where does most of the foreign aid for underdeveloped nations come? America.
Who gives more money, resources and people to the causes of international diplomacy and goodwil than any other country? America, again.
When the Tsunami hit Sri Lanka, who sent more aid to the region than any other nation, by 500%? Yep, America.
The libs must be right though, they’ve said it so frequently and for so long. Say it with me.. “America is EEEEEVIL.” What a bunch of rubes.

Inevitable! Surely some lame, political jerk has to make this a BUSH PROVOCATION. Where do you people come from? This is a plain and simple case of Iran pulling another attempted suicide bomging of a U S Navy ship and being warned awsy. I wish our gunners had blown them out of the water!

Let’s face it – you cannot patty-cake with these Islamic Fascists. We should’ve bypassed Iraq, turned Afghanistan into a sheet of glass, then looked at the rest of the extremists and posed the question “Who’s next?” Unfortunately, our leaders don’t have the stomach to do what needs to be done.

It was obviously a test run to gauge the reaction from the international media and Iran’s support in the U.S. Next time they’ll probablty try for the real thing. The left-wing is going to bray “Gulf of Tonkin” (or whatever) regardless. The President will, as usual, pay little heed and orders will have been previously given to blow them out of the water. Joy Behar, as one of the left’s chief spokespeople, will make some sort of asinine statement. Harry Reid will say something stupid again and life will go on.

Of course the government would never fabricate or embellish an incident like this. *cough* Gulf of Tonkin.

Al Gore and Greenpeace should be ###### that the Iranians were throwing trash in the water.

Leave it to some wackos to accuse the U. S. of provoking Iran. Blame Bush for everything. Get a brain you idiots the incident happened in international waters any fool would realize getting that close to Navy Warships is asking for a destruction.

It isn’t just some US neocons that want a confrontation. The Iranians may want a real military confrontation also very soon. Iran’s oil exports are declining, and the subsidies to its population is becoming much more of a burden. The Iranian regime may soon need an “Islamic Cull” in order to keep its own population in line. And that means war.

The only thing more disturbing than Iran provoking the US ships (which I think our Navy acted supperb and made the US look good) are the anti-american Americans blaming the US and believe that Bush WANTS another war.
Take off your tinfoil hats, put down the kool-aid, wakeup, and realize those people are a threat!

It was not a test of our military prowess, or of our Government’s abilitiy to deal with Iranian aggression and provocation…it was a test to see how our people would react to such an incident … to test the water of our discontent. Iran and the radical Muslim movement is very clever and to them, weakness in the minds of their opponents people is like blood in the water for a shark.
If Bush had wanted a war, as so many weak minded people in ehre seem to think he does, is this incident not the perfect opportunity to get into it? U.S. ships assaulted in international waters by Iranaian provocatuers repeating the actions that damaged the USS Cole and killed so many American sailors! Yet, the Bush men held fire at great risk to themselves and thus, some how, thwarted Bushes “plans”. My God! Do you not have any powers of logic at all? Are the America haters and Iranian sympathizers so brain washed their God given powers of deduction have been removed?

Four actions.
(1)Radio that you are too close to us.
(2)Bullhorn that we will fire if you persist.
(3)Warning fire across their bow.
No retreat?
(4)Then create shark food.
There is a lot of space out there.
Invade ours purposely,
Then face the consequence’s.
U.S. veteran, Vietnam
Navy 1971 and Army 1980

bushrots, you possess a crippled logic…it’s not “either or”, and the world does not exist in some sort of simple dichotomy…it’s very likely that the Iranians tested the US Navy, as they have before, and attempted to provoke a military response on the part of the Navy ships…

This to the person who makes the most sense of this situation.
LT Mike
Kudos to you.
Keep them straight, keep them thinking, keep them safe.
“We will be here. Waiting, and Watching…”

Maybe the terrorists spoofed the communications of the Iranian ship to try to escalate tensions and to possibly cause an international incident. I would want to know more from a signals perspective to be sure that it was indeed a revolutionary guard Captain or Signalman that made the remarks. JW

I’ve got it!
Bush wants to start a war with Iran before the election. Once the war is started, he’ll claim there are thousands of undercover Iranian militants in the country, delcare martial law, suspend the constitution, and declare himself supreme ruler of the world forever and ever.
All this will be announced, of course, from his pillow fort in the living room of his Crawford ranch while wearing a newspaper hat.

I don’t know. That blue boat looked
an awful-lot like a 19-21ft sea-ray.

What if it was a diversion to see what we would do in order to practice a strike with their Submarines. Of course it could be just plain stupid too, who knows what goes through the minds of children. Hopefully we’re watching all angles of the situation.

For those who are old enough, this is not the first time US Navy is flexing in the Persian Gulf. USS Vincenne shot an Iranian passenger plane and killed all 300 something on board, including children, women, and crew in 1988. We backed the Shah’s dictatorship for decades and staged a coup there in 1953. Did we expect to be welcome in the Persian (not American) Gulf with flowers and champagne?

The leaders of Iran are suuper stupid. If we let them get away with acts like this, no nation in the world will respect us. I think it would endanger more of our soldiers and seamen.

The incident did happen!. My son is on the USS INGRAHAM. They were armed and ready. In fact he said that at one point, he could see the color of the mans eyes driving one of the speed boats. Hooray for the U.S. navy!!! What a bunch of courageous young men and women. Keep up the good work!!

Oh please; the stupid ship commander why did’t you just shoot. It is a navy for God’s sake it was not a fishing vasel, it was NAVY. Should’t the navy be responsible for security?? 200 yard? Remember what 007 did to that troop in Azarbaijan?.

I can’t beleive that Iranian Navy should have done something like that. They are idiots. Our government is about at war with Iran in the near future. I agree with Duke that we need to take out the threat of a dictator who proudly proclaimed that Isreal should be wiped off from the world map, and support terrorists that kill our soldiers in Irag.

LOL hang on tight , Americans are believing thier government again.
I bet way more inocents die in Iran than did in Iraq.
If the United states plan is to take over Earth and all it’s resources then I just wish they’d hurry up. All the lies are so tiresome , just kill more people faster please , it’s insulting to our intelligence to suffer this steady diet of bovine residue year after year. JUST DO IT

Notice how those filthy little leftist tries to twist things around to blame this on America.