Posted on 01/15/2016 6:26:00 PM PST by pboyington
Don’t give up the ship! Fight her until she sinks!â€
Last Words of Captain James Lawrence, USS Chesapeake, June 1813
I think I can speak for most Americans, that the sight of US Navy sailors on their knees, hands on their heads, surrendering to the Iranians is absolutely sickening.
What happened last week in the Persian Gulf is an absolute disgrace to the US Navy and the United States of America and is an insult to the brave sailors of the US Navy who gave their lives in previous conflicts.
Frankly, I don’t care what the excuses are. The fact the US Navy personnel surrendered to the armed forces of a two bit dictatorship like Iran without a fight, is disheartening and speaks volumes about the decrepit state of the US military’s fighting spirit.
This is the kind of military you get when the troops are more worried about doing PT (physical training) in pregnancy simulators than about training for war.
This is the kind of military you get when the Commander in Chief is a feckless, naïve, left-wing fool.
Numerous questions remain concerning this most recent cluster by the US military:
–Why were such small craft, designed for operations close inshore so far out in the Gulf?
–The episode is now being blamed on a “navigational error†but how is that possible when every decent sized-fishing boat has GPS and radar equipment aboard to determine its position down to a cable-length? Also, how could both boats have had navigational issues? Are we supposed to believe that the GPS and radar equipment malfunctioned on both boats?
–Why, given the small size and vulnerability of such craft were they not being escorted and/or shadowed by more substantial naval vessels in these disputed waters?
–Given the known hostility of the Iranians and the British 2007 precedent, were the Riverine craft under surveillance by US Navy air assets? Where the heck were our air and sea assets when the craft were over-powered by the Iranians?
–What were the rules of engagement for the young officer in command in the event that his boats came under attack?
–Even if the rules of engagement put a stranglehold on the commanding officer, what feather merchant authorized him to surrender his flagged combat vessels of the United States Navy, without offering any resistance? Was he ordered to do so by higher command? If so, who ordered it? The surrender of those vessels violates the US military Code of Conduct, Article II, which states…
I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.
–Were the boats prepared to defend themselves as naval vessels of a sovereign power against boarding and seizure, even in disputed waters?
–Were the weapons on the boats loaded and ready for action as one might expect in such a hostile area where terrorists abound? If not, why not?
–Was the commander authorized to make a televised admission of guilt on Iranian television? This is again a violation of the Code of Conduct, Article V, which states…
When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
To me, it sounds like the US Navy needs to hold some classes on the Code of Conduct for its sailors, not more sensitivity training.
Congress should investigate this issue and find out why the US Navy acted as it did and subsequently, why Secretary of State Kerry was groveling to the Iranians, instead of issuing them a firm warning, which should have gone something like this…
If you try something like this again, the Iranian Navy will be destroyed.
That being said, the incident on the high seas last week was a terrific blow to the prestige of the United States. In a nutshell, we look like total cowards to our friends and allies and a virtual pushover in the next conflict to our enemies like the IRANIANS, the Russians, the Chinese and ISIS.
The United States is weak and we are getting weaker by the minute thanks to President Barack Jimmy Carter Obama.
No doubt there will be more insults to injury carried out by the Iranians before Obama leaves office.
>>Elected twice
Not twice. Thousands of times. In my own state, Corinne Brown gets re-elected every two years. The list of senators and congressmen who push our nation towards this dystopian Progressive future is very long.
The Stoopid is Real. They aren’t the outlier or statistical anomaly anymore. Now, the intelligent person who can draw a conclusion from a group of facts is the anomaly and we are outnumbered by the people who think that memes on Facebook are intelligent discourse.
I heard one news story that the two riverine boats were surrounded and surrender demanded by 2 or 3 much larger Iranian boats mounting 40mm and 76mm guns to the riverine boats .50cal mgs. Sounds like a Navy Lieutenant being put in a position of ‘surrender or die.’ And as a deliberate provocation by the Iranians, rather then ‘fuel problems’ or ‘broken GPS.’ It is just the type of insult the Iranians like to do, especially to tweak bh0 on the day of making the State of the Union speech.
They should have fought. No naval officer should give up his ship to a foreign power without resistance
As a minimum there needs to be an Article 32 investigation. Unless this young officer recieved specific orders from his lawful chain of command to stand down and surrender his command to the Iranians he should face Court's Martial. He if DID recieve orders to surrender it should be published who gave them.
The only boats in any photo I have seen wouldn’t pass for a bass boat in this country.
I heard the Marine on duty in the Naval Academy Chapel reported that John Paul Jones shook in his coffin. Another rumor is that Oliver Hazard Perry’s battle flag has been taken down in Bancroft Hall.
The story will eventually come out. The lieutenant commanding is screwed no matter what. The Navy won’t let him command a rubber duck in a bathtub.
I'm sure as the sun will rise today that Obama, Jarrett, Kerry and the Ayatollahs are up to their eyeballs in skulduggery...
Way too many Iranian / USA events in the last few days that need the dots connected...
I'm sure congress will get right on it...(puking)
The guns are filthy and rusty.
The ship is aging and no longer sea worthy.
The bulk heads are broken.
The rudder is twisted.
The Skipper is a novice punk.
The crew are demoralized.
The Commander & Chief is a fool.
America is undermined.
America is in a mine field.
Am I referring to the US Navy today after nearly 8 years of Obama devastation?
Yes, but as for the ship, so goes the nation...
Trump will build a new Navy! A navy second to none. A fleet that will help re-vitalize the nation. We need a fleet that can do the job of projecting power. New classes of ships—like small Drone carriers, rail Gun Battleships, non-nuke attack subs, deep divers and quiet. A cool presidental Yacht (armed too least any terrorist get any bad ideas). Some new ice breakers, some Troop transports and merchant ships. And lastly-—a Tall ship. The USS United States for the cadets of Anapolis to train upon! We have the USS Eagle but that’s for the coast guard.
The Iranians, Russians, NORKS, Hezbollah, ISIS, ISIL, Al-Qaeida, Chinese and others are set to damage the US as much as possible BEFORE the November elections so this year will be a very dangerous one.
They saw how President Ovomit and John Toilet Curry all apologized for the Navy incident and they laughed their robes off, moved to tears form the insanity that is President Ovomit & Co.
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