Posted on 06/13/2019 8:48:19 PM PDT by gandalftb
...twenty-one sailors from the M/T Kokuka Courageous who had abandoned their ship after discovering a probable unexploded limpet mine on their hull...
At 4:10 p.m. local time an IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) Gashti Class patrol boat approached the M/T Kokuka Courageous and was observed and recorded removing the unexploded limpet mine from the M/T Kokuka Courageous (video attached).
The United States has no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. However, we will defend our interests.
(Excerpt) Read more at navy.mil ...
How's about we wait until we know what actually happened before we bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.
(although I fully admin it would be very satisfying to bomb them up to the stone age, let's make sure they are actually the guilty party, and just not uncritically accept any propaganda we are spoon fed without verification, just because it confirms our biases, m'kay?)
Once again, Cui bono? Who benefits from a Persian Gulf war more? A flattened Iran, or a Russia with higher oid prices (virtually their only export anyone wants) or Our Dear Friends, The Saudis (who would have virtually unchecked regional power?)
Let's make damned sure we aren't spilling our blood for the likes of them!
We in the civilized west would have saved centuries of grief if we had finished the job then.
You sir, are sounding like a hair-trigger war monger.
I hope you actually aren't one!
To be fair the mullets have done everything the can to deserve our enmity.
The presence of a patrol boat would make it more difficult for Saudi frogmen to carry out any type of limpet mine attack, much less one above the waterline.
The fact the US military had the cargo vessel under surveillance adds credence to the notion that there was prior knowledge an attack was going to take place.
Now the Japanese shipping company itself is disputing the limpet mine story, saying its crew reported seeing airborne objects hit the vessel.
There needs to be a serious inquiry into the type of ordinance that can do the damage sustained by the Kokuka Courageous and whether the Saudis or another third party had access to it.
This is why I am a freeper.
Some people here actually know things.
“Comment by an old frogman”
ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.
Otherwise they would not get within 50 feet of it, and then with shields.
But so many here are blinded by their delusions and hatred they cannot think rationally on this matter.
But most are otherwise good Freepers that will come back to the fold after their emotions calm.
The Gulf of Tonkin was our own DoD and Intel services too. Saddam throwing babies out of incubators was our people too-and they were Republicans. If you think Iranians are stupid enough to be seen and taped-well-we deserve what we get.
No, it doesn't. Your smartphone doesn't have a thermal camera.
You’re delusional. Anyplace in the PG is within helo range in minutes of a tanker attack. “Under surveillance” my ass. If a tanker is attacked anywhere in the PG, in less then one minute a helo will be airborne from one of our many USN warships to get photos.
As far as the ordnance, the Iranians invented and deployed their own advanced anti-armor mines to use against our forces in Iraq. They are NOT stupid, and are not idiot client vassals (like the Saudis). The Iranians are 100% able to develop and deploy their own anti-ship mines, as well as Swimmer Delivery Vehicles, bubble-less SCUBA for frogmen, etc etc.
The attack happened just after 4pm in BROAD DAYLIGHT, why was a thermal camera even used to document this?
I’d like to see your smart phone get that better video while you are sitting on a vibrating helicopter outside the visual and audio range of the people you are filming.
Folks just don’t grasp the essential here. The whole point is to film the Iranians removing the mine. To do that, the helo cannot be seen or heard. IOW, it’s many miles away.
Let’s see your smart phone do that.
See my above comment about smart phones.
You think thermal is only used at night? Really?
A big problem with actually doing false flag ops, or weaponizing/falsifying intel for political ends, is that when an enemy actually does something, nobody believes you anymore.
Yep, FFs work, and intel bosses can lie, but in the end there is a serious downside loss of cred when you need it.
See “The boy who cried wolf.”
This isn’t claimed to be video of the attack. It’s claimed to be video of somebody surreptitiously removing evidence.
Frankly, I'm just a wee bit skeptical of any factoid we are spoon fed by someone with an agenda to create a let's-you-and-him-fight scenario.
What's the first casualty of any war, again?
OK, it is “just after 4PM” … it still looks like thermal video. And no, your smartphone is not going to collect that video, not thermal, not stabilized, not distant from the target, and not zooming the way that video does.
The point of attaching the limpet above the waterline is to be able to ignite the streaming fuel. It’s tricky to do. If the hole is below the waterline, it’s just pollution. The mine or mines, planted above the waterline, must accomplish two things:
One, breach the hull and get the fuel flowing through the air into the sea. T
wo, ignite the fumes to ignite the stream of fuel and start a fire that won’t go out.
This is a pretty sophisticated demolition trick, with a good likelihood of failure.
To do it successfully at all would require practicing on a dummy target in port. This was not a group of yahoos. I’m guessing IRGC Quds Force frogmen.
In my old training against big fuel tanks on land, it was always a one-two punch. One demo charge to open up the tank, and separate thermite charges to ignite the spreading fuel.
Even at that resolution, the ID of the boat is iron-clad. Period. As well as its route to and from.
What criminal ever thinks he's going to be caught?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.