Navy-Contracted Vessel Fires Warning Shots on Iranian Boats

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352579,00.html ^

[jhpigott]

A vessel contracted by the Navy in the Persian Gulf fired warning shots Thursday on two Iranian fast boats, FOX News has learned. The Westward Venture, a ship contracted by the Navy to carry military cargo to Kuwait, fired upon the boats Thursday after attempts to get Iranian boats' attention failed. The ship was about 50 miles off the coast of Iran when the fast boats approached. A Navy security team, armed with M16 rifles and .50-caliber machine guns, was onboard at the time the warning shots were fired.

[AmericanArchConservative]

Quite honestly I do not know, and am not exactly qualified to answer. I think it is a decent question, however.

A.A.C.

[Redbob]

"One can only hope it is not starting. Our brave soldiers are already fighting a two front war. They don't need to be fighting a three front war."

Pray tell, where do you think the bad guys are getting their materiel?

If you said, "Iran," go to the head of the class.

Now then: how would open combat with Iran be any different than what we have today?

If you said, "Open war would allow us to stop the flow of arms and jihadists to Iraq," give yourself a gold star.

Any other answer, though, and I'd have to guess someone else logs you onto your computer...

[Redbob]

"Nuke the terrorist savages."

Sounds like a plan!

What I like to call "The green, glowing, glass-bottomed parking lot solution!"

[mysterio]

Guess whatever you like.

[mkjessup]

What I believe the West has failed to understand and comprehend, is that the ONLY effective way to end this War on Terror, War on Islamofascism, War on Radical Muslims, whatEVER they want to call it, is to unleash upon that culture of death and depravity the ultimate in terror, the kind of terror that finally brought militarist Japan to it's knees, the terror of highly enriched radioactive material being slammed together with the resultant release of energy at the speed of light.

Iran wants a war so bad they can taste it, but Ahmadinejihad has no conception whatsoever when it comes to what really happens after a nuclear warhead goes off. Oh he's an engineer they say, so he might have a rudimentary understanding of the results and how the destruction takes place from Ground Zero out to the suburbs of whatever city is the unlucky recipient, but the fact is he's got no idea of just how much destructive power could be unleashed upon Iran by either Israel, the U.S., or both.

Those mad mullahs may think that by provoking such a conflagration that it will usher in their imaginary 12th or 13th Imammy, whichever one is supposed to have Jesus working as their administrative assistant, but they will have to discover too late, that their beliefs, their hopes, their aspirations, all of their fairy tales about Islam, the Mahdi, all of that crap, is just that: CRAP.

When Tehran joins Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the history books, when Tabriz and perhaps Qom as well join Tehran in the Jeopardy category "Iranian Cities No Longer Existing", you will then see a gasp of horror and (*surprise*) TERROR among every Muslim on Earth, when they realize their terrorist brethren pushed too hard, crossed the line, whatever metaphor you'd like to apply, and the U.S. finally said "enough is enough, the Magic 8-ball says "INCINERATION!

Then, and only then can we hope to obtain an unconditional surrender from the Islamofascists, when they realize that each and every one of their 'holy sites' are in the crosshairs, and their future may well be measured in radioactive half-life.

But that would take a President of the United States with forged steel, titanium plated, King Kong sized BALLS, and I'm not convinced that any of the three would-be Commander-in-Chiefs have enough testosterone to make it happen.

I KNOW the current one does not.

[Lazamataz]

Yer weird.

[El Gato]

A Navy security team, armed with M16 rifles and .50-caliber machine guns, was onboard at the time the warning shots were fired.

Kind of reads as if they were all just standing around and the guns just shot themselves, or they were shot by the civilian crew. The second possibilty being only slightly less likely than the first. :) Oh, I see the story says the Ship fired those guns. :)

The Military Sealift Command vessel then blew its whistle and fired flares before finally firing warning shots with the machine guns and M-16s when the boats came within 100 yards of the cargo ship.

I didn't know we'd reinvented the Naval Armed Guard program. My Uncle was NAG on the SS Clark, when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Greenland sea by U-354 in November of 1942.

My Uncle was one of 40 survivors out of 71 total complement on the ship, 30 of whom were the Armed Guards detachement. I don't know if he was in the group that spent 3 days on the lifeboat, or the one that spent 8 days in their lifeboat. The powered lifeboat initially towed the other two, but they became separated. The motor boat, with the Clark's master aboard, was never seen again.

The Westward Venture is over twice as long and displaces around 31,500 tons compared to about 7,200 tons for the Clark. (Making the Westward Venture, a Ro-Ro type ship, about as big as

Considering her size, a security team of 12 with only M-16s and M2s seems mighty puny compared to the 30 Armed Guards with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns in addition to "small arms". Considering the Western Venture is a RO-RO, they could have driven a couple of old M-60 tanks aboard. That would put "PAID" to any pirates or Iranian Ragheads for sure and for certain. Maybe next trip. :)

[Quix]

And that sweetness was brought to us courtesy of what motivation?

[El Gato]

One can only hope it is not starting. Our brave soldiers are already fighting a two front war. They don't need to be fighting a three front war.

True, although the Chairman of the Joint chiefs has recently said we have enough forces in reserve to deal with Iran. Besides while the Army and Marines are pretty busy, the Navy and Air Force aren't. Iran has salt water on two sides, and a USAF base to the northeast of it. (in Bishkek Kyrgyzstan) and to the east in Bagram Afghanistan. Also to the south a bit is the British base at Diego Garcia, which has a B-52/B-1 capable runway, and a nice big supply of bombs. )

[El Gato]

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tehran. Qom.

If you want to get the real bad guys, and not just kill a bunch of Iranians, many of whom would be, and are, at least friendly, if not for the Angry Ayatollahs and Mad Mullahs.

[El Gato]

I find it exceptionally unlikely that we will accomplish regime change simply through air strikes

It's much more likely in Iran than pretty much anywhere else in the mideast, outside of the former Soviet 'stans, and not all of them.

[El Gato]

Destroy? How do you destroy a country of 75 million people?

No need to destroy the country, just the Revolutionary Guards forces, and the ability of the regular Army, Navy and Air Force to operate for a relatively short period. It's the Revolutionary Guard that keeps the Ayatollahs in power. Destroy them, and their equipment, and the people will do much of the rest.

[El Gato]

I understand that size gun can take out tanks.

Only if wielded by Nancy Pelosi, Diane Fienstien, Chuck Schumer, Howard Metzenbaun, or Sarah Brady. :)

[El Gato]

Another good reason to concentrate on the existing fronts rather than taking on a third front.

Very similar to early reasons for not attaching North Vietnam, early on, and later for not dropping the bridges, rail lines and harbors being used to supply our enemies in that war. The supplies and training are coming from Iran, you have to go to the source, or we'll just bleed forever on those other fronts.

But we might not have forever to get this job done, we might only have until January 20th.

[El Gato]

Not one of them has blown himself up on a street or in a subway car or on an aircraft in New York, Rome or Jerusalem in recent memory

The Iranian leadership has merely supplied the bombs. Not all of them of course, but enough.

We also "owe them" for 1979. Although that was a bit of a favor to us, since it got rid of that odious Peanut Farmer from the White House at least and brought us 8 years of Ronald Reagan. Probably the last 8 years he could have served his country. That resulted in Mr. Gorbachev tearing down that wall, or at least allowing it to be torn down, the liberation of Poland, and most of the rest of Eastern Europe, without a shot being fired...

Gee maybe we owe them? But if so, payback is a bitch.

[El Gato]

an M16 is not ideal for shooting at boats. I’d want an M14 if the .50 was already taken.

I'm sure the sailors of the Security team felt the same way. Remember this comes from public information officers, filtered through "newsmen". I suspect they have M14s and probably 12 gauge shotguns too. The latter makes a great boarding and anti boarding weapon.

On a ship as big as the 1,000 foot Western Venture, they really could have several 20 mm Gatling type cannon (plenty of Vulcan's laying around) or 25 mm chain guns or even 40 mm single barrel cannons. Plenty of room, wouldn't take much space relative to the amount required.

[Lazamataz]

Yer talkin' bout Shadow Governments moving around in time.

That's weird.

[Quix]

Depends on a lot of things and the criteria for assessing those things . . .

such as one’s sources . . .

[Quix]

BTW,

a great number of abduction cases have incidents and aspects of time being altered . . . such as being slowed down, usually . . . but other such phenomena, as well.

[Lazamataz]

Your sources are weird.

I'm starting to think you might be a Reptilian space alien bent on mimicing your way into a high government post so your species can come down and start farming us for food.