I’m in the minority here, but I don’t see anything conspiratorial about the event. Just a good old fashioned screw up.
But the heart of the issue is that our sailors and marines did not know if they were ‘allowed’ to fight. So they let a few Iranian fishermen take them prisoner. Heck, we don’t even know for sure if the sailors had ammunition. This speaks to a bad command climate from top to bottom.
Also, it seems that the movement of these boats was logistical, and not part of a tactical plan...and the Navy treated it like they were just shuffling some cars around on a used car lot. These guys don’t appear to have had good communications, or even anybody who would notice that they weren’t where they were supposed to be. Way too complacent for moving around in the Gulf. Again a bad command climate.
Too much attention to social issues, and not enough to the important stuff.
Don’t disagree with your assessment. Reminded me of a quote by Napoleon “never ascribe to malice, that which can adequately be explained by incompetence.