Free Republic

President Trump said Wednesday that he’s instructed the U.S. Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian gunboats harassing American ships, in the wake of a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf. “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” Trump tweeted. The encounter happened last week. Six U.S. Navy warships were conducting drills with US Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters off Iran last Wednesday when they were repeatedly harassed by 11 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy vessels, the U.S. Navy’s 5th...

Chinese tourists account for more visitors to Thailand — and much of Southeast Asia — than from any other country. The Thai village of Sob Ruak, at the heart of the Golden Triangle region where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, is no exception. Tour buses routinely disgorge thousands of Chinese tourists to buy trinkets, snap selfies and tour the nearby Hall of Opium Museum. And it's not just tourists coming from China. About every month, a few Chinese gunboats cruise down the Mekong River through Myanmar and Laos from China's Guanlei port. They announce their arrival with a barrage of...

Former Iranian intelligence officer says Tehran ordered downing of plane over Lockerbie in retaliation for US attack on Iranian airliner. Who was responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland? While the Libyan government was thought to have masterminded the terrorist attack, a bombshell documentary by Al Jazeera quotes a former Iranian intelligence officer as saying that it was Iran that ordered the atrocity. The former agent, Abolghassem Mesbahi, who defected to Germany from Iran, is quoted by the Telegraph as saying that flight 103 was downed in retaliation for a US Navy strike on...

by John HillStand With Arizona The border is “safer than ever”. So says DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Again and again. Barack Obama has mocked those who say the border is unsafe: “Maybe they’ll need a moat. Maybe they’ll want alligators in the moat. They’ll never be satisfied.” But for Texans, the Rio Grande is wide open - thanks to Federal failure to secure it  - and is a growing threat to the safety of citizens and law enforcement, on land and water. In January we chronicled how ranchers in the Rio Grande Valley were stocking up on AK-47s to defend their property and lives...

Tehran, Iran, Feb. 22 – Iran’s armed forces have added 74 new gunboats to their naval apparatus, state media reported on Friday. “With Defence Minister [Brig. Gen. Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar] present, an assortment of 74 logistical and fast boats ... were handed over to the naval forces”, the government-owned news agency Fars said. The Defence Ministry announced that all 74 boats were produced domestically. Mohammad-Najjar described the Islamic Republic’s armed forces as the greatest protector of security and stability in the Persian Gulf region. “We will not allow foreign forces to threaten the security and clam of this region, in particular...

NAVY TAKES ON TERROR Unit expects to deploy sometime in '07 By SETH HETTENA Associated Press IMPERIAL BEACH - Six years after suicide bombers killed 17 sailors on the USS Cole in Yemen, the Navy on Thursday commissioned its first active-duty unit with the job of thwarting a repeat attack. Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron Five will protect shipping lanes and U.S. forces overseas, defend harbors and provide port security with small, fast gunboats not seen since Vietnam. The squadron, expanding to 325 men and women, is expected to make its first deployment in 2007 to either Kuwait, South Korea or...

Friday, December 17, 2004 Racheting up its firepower, the sheriff's office is getting a 30-foot boat with mounted machine guns for homeland-security patrols at the Port of Palm Beach and offshore. Mounted machine guns are a first for the sheriff's office, although sub-machine guns are assigned to some deputies in specialized units. The $163,735 cost of the boat and equipment is being paid for by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is helping to finance security increases at several Florida ports.

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

North Korea sent fifteen gunboats to Iran last week aboard an Iranian freighter that arrived at around the same time US and Spanish warships temporarily seized a shipment of North Korean Scud missiles, The Washington Times reported. The gunboats, according to the Monday report, consisted of several special-forces craft called semi-submersibles - vessels that move just below the water’s surface. According to the Times, the 15 gunboats were carried aboard the Iranian freighter Iran Meead that slipped into the port of Bandar Abbas, a day before a North Korean freighter was seized and boarded several hundred miles to the south...

Gunboat scare a test for security False alarm sparks action by local maritime interests BY TONY BARTELME Of The Post and Courier Staff The report hit Coast Guard headquarters at about 2 p.m. Monday: four 40-foot gunboats heading fast toward Charleston. Coast Guard officials, on high alert since Sept. 11, quickly phoned the Navy. Were any of their vessels in the area? No. The Coast Guard broadcasted a radio alert. Would the boats please respond? No answer. That's when things got serious. Within minutes, the Coast Guard had a helicopter and a boat unit sweeping the harbor. The Charleston County...

<p>A U.S. Navy replenishment ship was threatened by several small boats during an encounter April 23 near Iran.</p> <p>The USS Walter S. Diehl, an underway replenishment oiler, was passing through the Strait of Hormuz when it was approached by as many as six deep-v small power boats. The ship fired flares to warn the approaching boats away, but the boats kept coming closer.</p>