Posted on 01/17/2016 5:53:30 AM PST by Nachum
See also: The most plausible explanation for the 10 riverine sailors captured by Iran
A fascinating comment on Rick Moran’s blog about the Iranian capture of our sailors is making waves in the blogosphere and on Facebook. It makes a lot more sense than any of the official explanations we have received for the capture and subsequent release of the sailors.
Thomas Lipscomb explains:
Flash! A former Navy SEAL, Matt Bracken, just blew up what I have been calling "a pack of lies from the US and Iran" on what the hell happened that got our boats captured and taken to the Farsi Islands.
Remember: the single most dangerous area in all the Persian Gulf is a small group of Island in almost the middle of the heavily travelled shipping lanes that is a major naval base for Iran and the HQ of the radical IRG for special operations of their own against all the countries abutting the Gulf. A top Marine told me our two boats were special ops boats with crews that delivered our own SEALS... the direct rivals of the IRG on Farsi.
The idea that toxic area would be a possible rendezvous site area for a refueling is idiotic... as is the idea of commo and navigation failure. You might as reasonably expect Gibraltar to be a rendezvous point for resupply for the Nazi subs in Das Boot.
If the US press today weren't evenly split between toadys and military incoherents, they should have seen what has been clear to anyone who has any military experience.
Here is Matt Bracken's stunning take:
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
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I'm unconvinced that the boats encountered any significant firepower against them, and if they had their weapons at the ready even at close range in a standoff they had the advantage from what I have seen. After all, if you were standing on a fiberglass boat holding an AK47 how threatening are you really to a guy with a M134 minigun on a larger, possibly armored boat?
In the publicly available photos there does not appear to be any larger, more heavily armed boat in the vicinity, but there is a small portion of the scene not shown or visible in the various videos and photos.
I think it is more likely they were ordered to surrender, or something has gone radically wrong in the military training process.
would the administration that abandoned their men at Benghazi also do this?
would they permit their boat to be taken under screwed up rules of engagement, and then permit them to be paraded in front of the cameras?
would the country that was okay negotiating a nuclear deal with another country that was blowing up a model of its aircraft carrier do this also..?
Of course...!!
Very interesting article by Lifson at AT ping (FReeper Matt Bracken mentioned) ...
Why would you risk your life in the US military NOW..?
they give you screwed up rules of engagement, they abandon you in the field to the enemy, and then they lie their asses off about it.
There were men and/or cargo removed from those boats. It was a simple disguised delivery that went off exactly as planned. And conveniently there wasnt any of those pesky patriotic American CIA ex-Navy SEALs around to jam up the works.
The Boston Whalers are not radar equipped, and had to be vectored to the US boats. It is very likely they were tracked down and confronted with overwhelming firepower from one of these fast Iranian patrol boats:
And the BWs were used for stopping and boarding the US boats.
See here for Travis McGee’s take on this mendacious story -
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3384777/posts
The administration has. And does.
The deeper intention is to send the message that no one will want to join the military because of the screwed up ROE and the dumbing down/lowering of standards that has been going on since the Kenyan bastard became president.
The media is focusing its feigned outrage on Ted Cruz’s “insulting” New Yorkers instead of our sailors being captured and humiliated by one of our greatest enemies. This is all bread and circuses. And even the conservatives are falling for this crap.
So, the author states that the Bimini topped bass boats had 76mm cannon? I call BS on him - 76mm is 3 inch. He’s telling me there is a 3 inch naval cannon on a bass boat? Bullshit
They do have 3” missile/rocket launchers. A quick image search shows them
ok , apologies if I misunderstood, I think he's saying the bass boats weren't the real interceptors. Still, however, the USN vessel was REQUIRED to resist capture and they did not. They folded without a single shot.
I am a former Tin Can sailor and I can tell you that capture of our vessel by the enemy would never have happened without a fight.
Do you ping the person this article is quoting.... Matt Bracken?
Look at the photographs themselves. They were not taken from a BW, but from a height mucher greater above the sea than either the BWs or the US boats. The camera was looking down at the captured boat.
100% agree.
The US Navy has never surrendered without a fight. These guys had the duty to defend their vessels from being taken and they failed to discharge that duty.
Even the guys on the virtually unarmed USS Pueblo resisted as best they could. One was killed by the NKs in the act of destroying classified equipment. They resisted throughout their captivity. They may have lost the ship but they kept their honor and did not disgrace the nation.
These guys had 50 Cals, miniguns, 240s and small arms and they surrendered to bass boats. You can see the ammunition laid out in the pictures
There needs to be an open Congressional hearing on this and a simultaneous article 32 investigation
Either someone ordered that LT to surrender - I want a name. Or he was out of comms and took it upon himself to do so.
And nobody had better even hand me the "ROE-wouldn't-let-him-fight" and "Code-of-conduct-doesen't apply-because-we-aren't-at-war-with-the-Iranians" arguements I've been reading in some other articles about this disgraceful incident.
No ROE denies the right of self defense. The demand of surrender by the forces of another nation is an inherently hostile act
If you are in the military you are subject to the code of conduct 24-7-365 for the duration of your service.
The greatest Navy in the world is now Iran's bitch. I want an audit trail. Somebody is responsible. And needs to be held accountable.
And why would the Iranians, knowing how well armed these boats were, expect to safely stop them armed only with AD47s. Did they know they would be safe or what?
The official story is a fabrication. A lie.
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