Posted on 01/07/2008 6:42:06 PM PST by blam
US tells Iran to back down after Gulf skirmish
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:53am GMT 08/01/2008
The White House has told Iran that it risked provoking "a dangerous incident" after a weekend skirmish brought the two nations to the brink of conflict.
US naval commanders were about to fire on a group of Iranian attack boats after being challenged at the mouth of the Gulf on Sunday, the Pentagon has disclosed.
The Persian Gulf is the scene of tensions between Iran and the US
Three US navy ships were targeted by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy as they entered the strait just after dawn.
Five Iranian patrol boats came within 200 yards of the US vessels, issued threats over the radio and dropped mysterious objects into the water.
A transcript of the radio traffic revealed that the Iranians had warned the US commanders that an attack was underway: "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes."
A "swarm" attack by small Iranian boats in the busy shipping lane is one of the prime security threats to the US navy presence.
Its commanders were handing down an order to open fire when Iran navy patrol boats pulled back from international waters.
A Pentagon spokesman said the Iranians were "moments" away from coming under fire.
A statement issued by the US Navy Fifth Fleet said that the incident occurred at about 8am local time as the cruiser Port Royal, the destroyer Hopper and the frigate Ingraham were on their way into the Gulf and passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Tensions in the Strait, a narrow waterway responsible for 40 per cent of the global trade in oil shipments, have escalated as Washington and Teheran swap accusations over Iran's nuclear ambitions. The White House demanded that Iran refrain from further provocation but Teheran played down the incident as an "ordinary occurrence".
The Pentagon said the skirmishes constituted a "significant" act of aggression at the chokepoint of global oil supplies.
An official said: "Five small boats were acting in a very aggressive way, charging the ships, dropping boxes in the water in front of the ships and causing our ships to take evasive manoeuvres. There were no injuries but there very well could have been."
Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons has seen the US-led naval coalition, based at the home of the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, dramatically increase its presence in the Gulf.
The Iranian response has been a series of dangerous exercises that have forced the coalition on to high alert.
Operating procedures were overhauled last year after the Iranian navy seized 15 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines, who were protecting Iraqi oil facilities at the head in the Gulf.
The British patrol was accused of trespassing in Iranian territory and surrendered without a shot, in part because air cover was withdrawn before the Iranians pounced.
The 15 crew of the frigate Cornwall were taken to Teheran where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presided over a humiliating ceremony announcing their release as an Easter "gift" to the British people.
Steps taken to ensure the superiority of allied naval firepower along the international boundaries of the congested shipping lanes include deployment of modern attack helicopters plus rapid reaction US coastguard boats and additional marine guards.
Task Force 152, the US-led naval coalition, officially acts in support of the oil-rich but militarily-weak states. With President George W Bush due to visit the region this week, Iran's threat to world oil supplies will loom large on the agenda.
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Dire Strait
The Strait of Hormuz is 34 miles across at its narrowest, but its navigable channel is just two miles wide, augmented by a two-mile buffer zone.
Analysts say current traffic carries 13.4 million barrels of crude oil per day, down from a peak of 17 million per day last year.
The rate is expected to rise to 34 million barrels a day by 2020.
An Iran-Iraq "Tanker War" in the mid-1980s reduced shipping by a quarter, forcing US intervention.
200 feet is too close. Glad our team kept their cool but next time they should fire away.
Oh, and the rest of the world started using trim-tabs back in the '70s.
I'm hoping for a nasty letter in all caps from the DOD.
TO: PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD
RE: INCIDENT IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ
THE DOD REGRETS THAT THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT IS CALLING THE UNPROVOKED HARASSMENT OF US NAVAL VESSELS A "NORMAL EVENT".
A "NORMAL EVENT" IN US NAVY TERMINOLOGY INVOLVES CLEANING, COOKING, EATING, SLEEPING AND TRAINING. LOTS OF TRAINING. WE TRAIN FOR THE DAY THAT A FLEET OF MISBEHAVING BOSTON WHALERS ARMED WITH CARDBOARD BOXES APPROACHES OUR SHIPS.
A "SIGNIFICANT EVENT" WOULD THEN ENSUE. WE HAVE RUN THIS SCENARIO COUNTLESS TIMES OF YOUR BOSTON WHALERS VS 21ST-CENTURY STEEL WARSHIPS, AND THE RESULT ALWAYS COMES OUT THE SAME.
HOWEVER WE WELCOME ANOTHER TRAINING OPPORTUNITY. WE ALSO REGRET THAT THE IRANIAN VESSELS TURNED TO SHORE BEFORE THE EXERCISE COULD BE CONCLUDED.
WE HAVE PREPARED A PLAN FOR OUR NEXT TRAINING EXERCISE WITH YOUR NAVY. IT IS CALLED "OPERATION JON BOAT". IF YOU WISH TO BE A PART OF IT, JUST COME AGAIN.
REGARDS, US DOD
Every time we turn the other cheek, it only increases the amount of force we will eventually have to use. Morally superior appeasers just never get this.
WTC 1, the Cole, etc. until we got WTC 2.
WE don’t have pictures of the anti ship missiles at the island Fortresses.
I've read Churchill. Your point is not lost on me.
What’s up with the racing helmets?
Part of their dress code....I guess.
“I’ve read Churchill. Your point is not lost on me.”
Churchill? I’m flattered. I haven’t read him but what should be done is just so obvious.
The US NAvy Seals need to take out those ship destroying cruise missiles on those islands, and we need to control the islands ourselves. Sooner the better.
Meanwhile we have the Dep. Sec. DoD,( forme Nav. Sec.) , Mr. England, and his stooge,Cmdr. Hesham Islam (ret.), making nice with Iranian Navy reps whenever they can.
No wonder the US Navy didn't shoot to kill today.
See this thread, really , you will be amazed:
More on England and Islam ( Hasham Islam , aide to England turfs anti jihadist scholar and expert):
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948915/posts?page=15#15
AND:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948474/posts
Soon wthe US Navy in the Persian Gulf won't be allowed ammo. in their guns, just like happened with USS Cole!
You have not read the "The Gathering Storm"? It is a must read. Shocked that anyone on this forum would not have read it at least once. Seriously.
These boats are simply clean up vessels , to capture or kill US Navy personnel, after the cruise missiles hit US ships.
They are not front line attack boats.
They're carrion boats.
IRAN 1, USA 0
Address:http://www.nypost.com/seven/01082008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/iran_1__usa_0_380577.htm?CMP=EMC-email_edition&DATE=01082008
Foxnews is promising to show some video relased by the Pentagon shortly on the Britt Hume News Hour....
Thanks for the heads up E.
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