01/10/2008
Pentagon Now Casts Doubt on Legitimacy of Iran Naval Provocation
The video on the left was released by the Pentagon, who claimed "Iranian speedboats swarmed around US warships in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and radioed a threat to blow them up." In response, Iranian TV broadcast the video on the right showing a clip of the incident from the Iranian point of view.
The New York Times reported today that the doubters of the legitimacy of the U.S. reports now include the Pentagon itself: "Unnamed Pentagon officials said on Wednesday that the threatening voice heard in the audio clip, which was released on Monday night with a disclaimer that it was recorded separately from the video images and merged with them later, is not directly traceable to the Iranian military. That undercuts one of the most menacing elements from the Pentagon’s assertion that Iranian forces threatened the Navy ships: The voice on the radio saying, 'I am coming to you. … You will explode after … minutes.'"
UK's Telegraph noted that the Iranian clip "shows no threat to US navy."
Bush held a press conference yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert regarding the incident:
Here's a bit from Shakespeare's Sister on Bush's dramatic pauses. So what's this incident all about?
Iran Accuses U.S. of Faking Persian Gulf Video [nyt]
Degrees of Confidence on U.S.-Iran Naval Incident [the lede]
Iran airs own video of US ship incident [afp]
Posted 12:03 PM EST by Andy Towle in George W. Bush, Iran, Military, News | Permalink
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war with iran is next, my dears, though they're going to need a draft for this one...
Posted by: the queen | Jan 10, 2008 12:18:25 PM
Despite Health Canada's idiotic ban on gay men being organ donors, emigration to Canada looks better and better each day that bellicose turd is in office.
Posted by: David R. | Jan 10, 2008 12:39:16 PM
Remember, Bush knew the reasons he laid out for Iraq were a lie when he told them so lying about an Iranian provocation would not be unreasonable for these crooks. Wars help elect Republicans, always remember that. Bush needs a Republican in power for a few years so he gets off scott free. I can see a war with Iran coming this summer.
Posted by: davefromtampa | Jan 10, 2008 1:09:51 PM
Good timing on this - just days after we learn that the Gulf of Tonkin event was a fake we have another attempt by the military to fan the flames of war. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Posted by: scott | Jan 10, 2008 1:12:20 PM
lies, lies, and more lies. where is the outrage over these lying sack of sh*ts?
Posted by: nic | Jan 10, 2008 2:27:32 PM
I love the Orwellian "Middle East Peace Process" label they run over the little man's not-so-veiled threats.
Posted by: Meanwhile | Jan 10, 2008 2:44:34 PM
Even if the US military was telling the truth, there has been so much lying coming out of the US and the Bush Regime that people are, if not more likely to believe the Iranians, they are less likely to simply accept the US version of events.
Posted by: EvilEuropean | Jan 10, 2008 2:44:35 PM
Considering all the sniping gunfire by Cubans at Guantanmo or the North Koreans sniping at American soldiers over the years, there has never been a full-scaled invasion of those countries. So, for the past year Bush's "rotten-little-kid" stamping of his feet towards Iran has always sounded hollow. When I heard about these little boats coming close to a battleship and Bush's over-the-top response, I thought "what the f...." This has got to be a set up. He's just not a good liar. People may have believed him when he was a simpleton of a kid (it was probably cute then), but he's an adult now and should just grow up (or go to jail).
Posted by: woodroad34 | Jan 10, 2008 6:03:18 PM
The first question is not what are the Iranians speedboats doing in and near Iranian waters but what is the US Navy is doing there. They’re supporting the ground forces in the oil piracy in Iraq, which in turn is part of a wider imperial war for control of resources. These wars are supported by both war parties, the Democrats (sic) and the Republicans.
This is a repeat of LBJ's Gulf of Tonkin Incident, a faked justification for escalating the US invasion of Vietnam. Bush will need some to attack Iran because the polls are overwhelmingly against him and even the CIA debunked his claim that the Iranians are building nuclear weapons. It may be Bush’s attempt for an ‘October Surprise’ and since his only support for continuing the oil piracy and attacking Iran comes from politicians like Hillary Clinton and other Democratic (sic) war hawks it may work. The Democrats (sic) like their Republicans cousins always vote to fund the war.
The Democrats (sic) and Republicans both support the recourse wars and plan to continue them in Iraq and Afghanistan and extend them into Iran and Pakistan. Both parties and their leading candidates expect the war to continue for years and have said do.
When DAVEFROMTAMPA said "Bush needs a Republican in power for a few years so he gets off scott free" he was only telling half the truth. Neither the Democrats (sic) nor the Republicans have the slightest intention of impeaching or prosecuting Bush for war crimes. Nancy Pelosi says 'impeachment is off the table." Neither of them is going to convene an International War Crimes Tribunal. These same chickenshit chickenhawks consistently vote to toughen the anti-constitutional Paytriot act.
DAVEFROMTAMPA apparently is under the delusion that this is a Republican war – he couldn’t be farther from the truth. ` Like Korea, Guatemala, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Libya, Panama, Haiti and now the Mideast these are all bipartisan wars.
Posted by: Bill Perdue, RainbowRED | Jan 10, 2008 6:49:07 PM