Official Version of Naval Incident Starts to Unravel

[marmar]

from InterPress:



POLITICS-US: Official Version of Naval Incident Starts to Unravel
Analysis by Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (IPS) - Despite the official and media portrayal of the incident in the Strait of Hormuz early Monday morning as a serious threat to U.S. ships from Iranian speedboats that nearly resulted in a "battle at sea", new information over the past three days suggests that the incident did not involve such a threat and that no U.S. commander was on the verge of firing at the Iranian boats.

The new information that appears to contradict the original version of the incident includes the revelation that U.S. officials spliced the audio recording of an alleged Iranian threat onto to a videotape of the incident. That suggests that the threatening message may not have come in immediately after the initial warning to Iranian boats from a U.S. warship, as appears to do on the video.

Also unraveling the story is testimony from a former U.S. naval officer that non-official chatter is common on the channel used to communicate with the Iranian boats and testimony from the commander of the U.S. 5th fleet that the commanding officers of the U.S. warships involved in the incident never felt the need to warn the Iranians of a possible use of force against them.

Further undermining the U.S. version of the incident is a video released by Iran Thursday showing an Iranian naval officer on a small boat hailing one of three ships.

The Iranian commander is heard to say, "Coalition warship 73, this is Iranian navy patrol boat." He then requests the "side numbers" of the U.S. warships. A voice with a U.S. accent replies, "This is coalition warship 73. I am operating in international waters."

The dramatic version of the incident reported by U.S. news media throughout Tuesday and Wednesday suggested that Iranian speedboats, apparently belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard navy, had made moves to attack three U.S. warships entering the Strait and that the U.S. commander had been on the verge of firing at them when they broke off.

Typical of the network coverage was a story by ABC's Jonathan Karl quoting a Pentagon official as saying the Iranian boats "were a heartbeat from being blown up". .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40747

[niyad]

1. looks like my instincts were correct (first thought being "gulf of tonkin") at least we didn't

have to wait decades this time for the truth to start coming out.

[Stephanie]

2. Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice... Don't Get Fooled Again!

[L. Coyote]

3. The unofficial version: Phone sex was overheard, causing confusion, nearly causing war.

[wryter2000]

4. K&R

Does anyone have a link to the New York Times report this source cites?

[mtnester]

5. WHOMEVER from the Democratic side of the aisle takes over in the WH

next January...every last PERSON from the previous Bush years out to be marched out..no matter how far down or up the ladder they are.

Find me ONE person who is part of this administration who is not a liar, and I will show you a cover up.

Wash them out of our military ranks too, if need be.

[malaise]

6. As I said the moment I saw that crap

Duh!

[Lugnut]

7. I'm shocked.

:sarcasm:

[KansDem]

8. The Iranians were actually delivering pizzas

Here's a complete transcript:
I am coming to you (with your pizza orders). You will explode (with delight) after a few minutes (of tasting our delicious cheese and pepperoni!)


You...want...anchoies...with...that?!!

[whatchamacallit]

9. So somebody's gonna get their ass kicked for this fraudulent chicanery, right?

... didn't think so...

[wryter2000]

10. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[whatchamacallit]

11. Thanks, this place rules!

:thumbsup:

[AntiFascist]

12. K&R, what a perfect example of how the War on Terror is a sham....

how can we seriously "support the troops" when we know games like this are being played, and the media (particularly CNN with its 'situation room') is right there promoting the propaganda. I guess when there's $trillions of dollars of military spending at stake, people will go to such lengths.

Who knew? :sarcasm:

[marmar]

13. Gareth Porter, the reporter who wrote the story, appeared on Democracy Now! today w/Amy Goodman:

Here's the link to watch or listen to the show:

http://www.democracynow.org/