Posted on 06/13/2019 11:31:41 AM PDT by Red Badger
U.S. Secretary of STate Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for the "blatant assault" on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier on Thursday.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Pompeo said Iran is working to disrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz and are a deliberate part of a campaign to escalate tension.
His comments came shortly after a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News that it saw an unexploded mine attached to the hull of the Panama-listed, Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous ship, one of the two ships attacked. It is the same type of mine used to damage four oil tankers last month in the same area - an attack senior Pentagon officials blamed on Iran.
A spokesman for Taiwan's CPC Corp oil refiner, which chartered the other boat attacked on Thursday morning, the Front Altair, said it was "suspected of being hit by a torpedo", although his not been confirmed.
2 OIL TANKERS DAMAGED IN SUSPECTED ATTACK IN THE GULF OF OMAN, CREW EVACUATED
Whether it be a torpedo or mines, Jakob P. Larsen, head of maritime security for BIMCO, told the Associated Press that the incident brings the region closer to an armed conflict.
“The shipping industry views this as an escalation of the situation, and we are just about as close to a conflict without there being an actual armed conflict, so the tensions are very high,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Demand proof on HELL of a lot better than anything presented for the Gulf of Tonkin or the ‘babies thrown out of incubators’ stuff.
If the evidence isn’t good enough to convict a single person of second degree manslaughter in a court of law, it sure as hell isn’t good enough to start a war over.
. Agreed. If China bought the oil and the Iranians blew their oil up then it’s china’s beef to sort out/go to war with Iran.
“...the incident brings the region closer to an armed conflict...”
That region’s been in an armed conflict for a thousand years; so what’s new?
What you said.
“Two things; 1) I don’t believe they sank anything. I trust NOTHING our intel agencies tell us. 2) Let’s worry about oil tankers after we fix our border and illegal immigration problem.”
100% agree. Besides Europe and Asia needs that oil way more than we do, let them take out the mad mullahs.
The problem with that is that the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people hate their overlords and are very positive towards Americans. It would be tragic if large numbers of them would become collateral casualties.
It sounds like it was a limpet mine attached by a diver or a passing boat.
We? The oil belonged to Taiwan and Japan. Let them deal with it.
The US is energy independent.
This is not our fight. Some other country wants us to do the dirty work of war, on their behalf.
It is possible for the US Government to chew gum and walk at the same time.
You are apparently correct hoewver it was apparently accomplished in I ranian waters
What's on your mind?
“Calm down Mr Pompeo”
He is calm.
Can you imagine if we go to war with Iran what the Dems would demand domestically to fund it?
A wee bit more than $6B?
It seems like the deep state allows Presidents some latitute to pursue their own agenda in domestic matters, but on Israel, Saudi, Iran, Russia and US dollar, they must follow the script.
> No more Gulf of Tonkin incidents please. <
And no more “Remember the Maine!” incidents either.
As an aside: The Maine was sunk in Havana harbor in 1898. And as most folks know, that helped start a war. To this day we still aren’t sure who did the deed. But the American press at the time blamed a Spanish mine or a torpedo.
Sound familiar?
ANYONE could have done this, just to spike the price of oil, which has been plunging near $50 until today. DO NOT feed the war beast by taking this VERY minor incident too seriously.
Somehow I get the feeling that our Navy SEALS will be busy very soon.
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