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IRAN 1, USA 0 NAVAL ERROR IN THE GULF (Ralph Peters)
New YorK Post ^ | January 8, 2008 | Ralph Peters

Posted on 01/08/2008 4:41:25 AM PST by beckaz

January 8, 2008 -- EARLY Sunday morning, the US Navy lost its nerve and guaranteed that American sailors will die at Iranian hands in the future.

...[SNIP]...

On Sunday, the Iranians tested us. We failed. They'll probe us again. And every time we fail to react decisively, we raise the number of future US casualties.

Remember the USS Cole? You bet the Iranians do. They plan to better that attack by an order of magnitude.

For almost 70 years, we've deployed the finest navy in the history of the world. But it looks increasingly as if we've gone from "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" to "Will this interfere with my next promotion?"

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: armchairadmirals; gulf; iran; navy
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Thank your NIE writers again, among others.
1 posted on 01/08/2008 4:41:29 AM PST by beckaz
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To: beckaz

Yup, it appears we were made fools of. We can’t allow that to happen again.


2 posted on 01/08/2008 4:44:44 AM PST by Slapshot68
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To: Slapshot68

its gonna take an attack for us to do anything about it.


3 posted on 01/08/2008 4:46:01 AM PST by abstracTT
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To: abstracTT

“its gonna take an attack for us to do anything about it.”

I would just tell Iran...if any vessel of theirs gets within a mile of ours, they will be sunk.


4 posted on 01/08/2008 4:47:57 AM PST by Slapshot68
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To: beckaz
Oh, from Washington's perspective we did the right thing by "exercising restraint." But Washington's perspective doesn't amount to a gum wrapper in a gutter. What matters is what the Iranians think. They now believe that the Bush administration, our military and the entire United States are afraid of them.
When chickens rule the roost, the rules they make are chicken-sh1t.
5 posted on 01/08/2008 4:48:00 AM PST by samtheman (Fred Thompson '08)
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To: abstracTT; Slapshot68
its gonna take an attack for us to do anything about it.

Of course, and we'll be blamed for it by the world and by half our countrymen.

6 posted on 01/08/2008 4:48:43 AM PST by beckaz
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To: beckaz
One report stated the Iranians came within 200 yards of U.S. ships and we didn’t fire a shot. I wonder if JAG is running military operations.
7 posted on 01/08/2008 4:51:26 AM PST by Man50D (Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it! Duncan Hunter is a Cosponsor.)
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To: beckaz
But it looks increasingly as if we've gone from "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" to "Will this interfere with my next promotion?"

Or how about: "Will the Administration sit on its hands while I sit in the brig and my crew gets scrounged for prosecution witnesses?"

8 posted on 01/08/2008 4:53:44 AM PST by SIDENET (Hubba Hubba...)
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To: beckaz

We weren’t there, the ships followed their training so far as we know, there was no attack.

And the author is absolutely mistaken, what the Iranians think is not the only thing that matters. The outcome when we apply our military power is what matters. That’s what makes us different from countries that lose to us, such as Iran.


9 posted on 01/08/2008 4:57:30 AM PST by Williams
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To: beckaz
ARLY Sunday morning, the US Navy lost its nerve and guaranteed that American sailors will die at Iranian hands in the future.

Was this guy there? Does he have all the intel? I think not and maybe he should shut his trap. Why? Because he does NOT know what went on there.

10 posted on 01/08/2008 4:59:37 AM PST by numberonepal (Don't Even Think About Treading On Me)
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To: beckaz; All

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1949944/posts


11 posted on 01/08/2008 4:59:45 AM PST by AliVeritas (ah, the sheer grace! in darkness and concealment, my house being now all stilled.)
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To: beckaz

Probably afraid they’d go to jail like a couple of Border Patrolmen.


12 posted on 01/08/2008 5:00:04 AM PST by the gillman@blacklagoon.com (And close the damned borders!)
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To: Man50D

when the soviet union was our enemy, we had soviet ships coming so close to our carrier that we could spit on the decks.....international waters...


13 posted on 01/08/2008 5:02:55 AM PST by joe fonebone (When in danger, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout)
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To: Man50D

Not the JAGs, the Pentagon’s civilian leadership. The same guys who had the Islamic expert fired.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080104/NATION04/410150204/1008


14 posted on 01/08/2008 5:05:51 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: Man50D

Back in the day, I did some good work with the .50cal M2 ring-mounted machine gun on my M109s at SIX hundred meters.
Lobbing rounds thru the bedsheet-sized targets got boring.
I cut the POSTS that held the targets—at the ground level.
I DOUBT the swabbies of today are any worse than I was in ‘68. They have the same gun, with MUCH better mounts.
Those boats should have been kindling wood.
The problem lies with the idots with the gold braid (or should I call them cowards?)


15 posted on 01/08/2008 5:07:15 AM PST by Flintlock
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To: beckaz

On the flip side, had the naval vessels fired upon and destroyed the Iranian boats, fifth columnists and BDS sufferers would be hollering, “False Flag!” and “Tonkin Gulf.”


16 posted on 01/08/2008 5:09:35 AM PST by sono (Washington, DC. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.)
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To: beckaz
Of course, and we'll be blamed for it by the world and by half our countrymen.

We'll be blamed no matter what happens, so we might as well turn the entire Iranian "navy" into fish condos ASAP.

17 posted on 01/08/2008 5:13:15 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
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To: beckaz
Thanks to all the Leftists and liberals in America who run a constant smear campaign in the MSM against our military and any action they undertake that involves (gasp!) violence. Thanks to the Leftists and liberal lawyers that are constantly bringing up on charges anyone in the chain of command. Thanks to the Leftists and Lawyers who paralyzed our intelligence communities by making them abide by civil-rights ideology (thanks Slick Willy).

And thanks to the Leftists and Liberals who then turn around and talk about how impotent we are, how our defense agencies and services have let us down.

This is a perfect example of why we need PSFs to be employed by our military. We’d be demonized in the MSM if we’d opened fire on these Iranian boats. So, let’s hire some mercenaries to go in under the cloak of darkness and blow them all up.

18 posted on 01/08/2008 5:15:00 AM PST by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (If Hillary is elected, her legacy will be telling the American people: Better put some ice on that.)
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To: Man50D

200 Yards! Maybe if there are no Navy officers with onions they need to get Marines to run their ships. They can show them how to employ weapons. Its easy, just point and click!

In navy terms 200 yards is like in the foxhole with you.


19 posted on 01/08/2008 5:19:19 AM PST by Michael Knight (Young loner in a dangerous world of liberals who operate above the law.)
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To: beckaz

Iran was trying to sucker us into a battle. We destroy their ship/boats, they fire land/sea missiles in response, claiming self-defense.

I believe the Navy knows what’s going on and will fight the war on their terms, at the right time.


20 posted on 01/08/2008 5:21:44 AM PST by wolfcreek (The Status Quo Sucks!)
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