Fifth Fleet unsure threat to US warships was Iranian

APF - via AfricaAsia ^ | 10 Jan 2008 | n/c

[BlackVeil]

The US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said on Thursday there was "no way to know" if a threat radioed to US warships in the Strait of Hormuz came from Iranian speedboats, casting doubt on the earlier US version of Sunday's confrontation.

"There is no way to know where this (radioed threat) exactly came from. It could have come from the shore... or another vessel in the area," Lieutenant John Gay told AFP by telephone.

But he stressed that "the Iranian fastboats were acting in a very provocative and aggressive manner" towards the US warships in the strategic waterway at the time.

[magslinger]

[george76]

AFP

.

[John Jorsett]

I’d have thought we’d have aircraft and satellite tracking info to tell us where they put into port (or if they rendezvoused with another ship).

[Candor7]

OOOOOooops. Accidently put the Phalanx on surface auto track/fire!

VVVVVVvvvvvvvRRRRRRiiiiiiiiippppppp!

How many boats were there? Sheesh.

Who did that?

[Syncro]

What happened with the boxes?

It was reported that the speedboats threw out some unidentified boxes.

Did our guys retrieve them and see what they were?

I haven’t seen this mentioned since the incident.

[torchthemummy]

"There is no way to know where this (radioed threat) exactly came from. It could have come from the shore... or another vessel in the area," Lieutenant John Gay told AFP by telephone.

Just by posting the above quote I have covered 1/3 of the entire article.

No offense but if this is a valid story it would be nice to have an article that has some meat to it. Who is Lt. John Gay? What is his position within the navy hierarchy? Etc.

[Moseley]

HAVE YOU CHECKED if the boats are still there? If you were a terrorist, wouldn’t you steal boats like that fromhe West and use them in the Middle East?

[kbennkc]

I might , but I really like cruising open water .

[Westlander]

What’s with the crotch handplay?

[Kickass Conservative]

Maybe it was the Trunk Monkey.

[Kickass Conservative]

But but, but, Ron Paul said that’s why we shouldn’t fear Iran. It was probably a 9/11 truther broadcasting from his parent’s basement. Great timing though.

[valkyry1]

Well maybe they don’t get it that we can play their game too :-)

[Does so]

"...These boats were cheap speed boats taht would hardly qualify for a Navy..."

I can't find a "still photo"—anyone got one?

[valkyry1]

Maybe it was the Trunk Monkey

LMAO! the makings of a movie!

[piasa]

lol

[SWEETSUNNYSOUTH]

Maybe it was Greenpeace masquerading as Iranians.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Funny pic. In the 1920’s in the US women covered a good portion of their bodies when at the beach. Maybe not this much, but quite a bit. Of course, we are soooo much more progressive and modern with the way we do things now...

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I believe he is asserting that the boats were certainly Iranian, the radio call could have been “anyone”.

I suppose that Farsi and Arabic, being linguistically unrelated, are different enough that a skilled linguist could disguinish the difference between an Iranian accent and an Arab? Like the difference between a Chinese and Japanese accent. [Not to be racist, but Chinese: “flied lice”, they pronounce “r” like “l”, while Japanese pronounce “l” like “r”.]

Even if the voice were Iranian, it might be someone other than the Iranian navy.

[livius]

Even men covered a good portion of their bodies at the beach in the 1920s - and many would be well advised to do so again!

That said, every time I see the burquini pictures, I think it’s creepier and creepier. Islam is totally loony.

[Bernard]

If not Iran, it must have been Sean Penn, making one more run to aid victims of Katrina. The other boats were paparazzi, trying to get a close-up. Throwing stuff overboard was intended to keep the boat from sinking. Next time, he needs a better navigator.