Nah, I’m not a China shill.
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Then you unleash a smackdown no one in the middle east will forget.
It shouldn’t be allowed to come to that. The President should have a press conference showing video of what’s been going on, state unequivocally that this is unacceptable, and state that the policy is warning shots will be fired beginning at X meters, and shoot to kill starts at Y metres. This is a worldwide policy. Then nobody can claim ignorance.
Please explain why you don’t think that’s reasonable
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Our MSC and commercial guys are vulnerable. Kraken, who would you trust if threatened ? Pelosi , Chuck, or Hillary. Bengazi comes to mind. Kill them with kindness, tried that for years.
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Sounds about right. The “Tweet” is giving a hint, don’t mess with us.
Because mock attacks has been standard practise during the cold war and up until now. What message do you send if you are that spooked by a shithole nation like Iran? Are we going to shoot down Russian jets simulating attacking Norway next?
Problem is this is more than mock… It’s been done (Cole). Have bombers near Norway actually delivered their payload? No, so your comparison is invalid.
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Those trips through Hormuz are often intentionally provocative but not always. The Iranian response is often provocative but not always. Heck, everyone provokes everyone else to some extent. The Russians overfly our ships and encroach Alaska and Hawaii. We perform ‘freedom of navigation’ runs through Taiwan Straight. The Iranians run boats around our ships in their EEZ/national borders.
It’s a form of co-dependency. Both sides get something from the affair. Sometimes one side will say to their own people ‘Look how tough we are!’ or they can say to other countries ‘We’re not weak!’ or ‘Boo-hoo-hoo the Russians stepped on our pussies and now we’re sore!’ It all plays to an audience, foreign, domestic, inter/intra-political…
So, am I surprised that the Iranians did something in response to us doing something because they did something which caused us to do something which they had to respond to because we responded blah blah blah? No. I’m not.
You treat harassing vessels the same as incoming missles. You announce a safety perimeter of say 1000 meters and blast anything that encroaches. It won’t be tested too many times.
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If you think they are shithole (which they are), how about Yemen (Cole)? How about the Taliban, which is not even a nation for God’s sake?? Shithole status does not have bearing on threat status.
I admire your bravery as due to your forum name, I assume you’ll be on deck and thus have a front row seat if one of these
turns out to be the real deal.
al Qaida a Non-state actor, financed by elements in Saudi Arabia your ally in the region.
How about them? Do they have the capability to do anything outside Afghanistan?
You forget 9/11?
How could I? Watched it live on the news, was also al Qaida a Non-state actor, financed by elements in Saudi Arabia your ally in the region.
Exactly what will be in the Iranian press release after the suicide attack.
Look, I understand your point of view… You and your country have nothing at stake and nothing to lose. So just keep staying on the sidelines, keep welcoming in the refugees, and soon enough you, your culture, and your way of life as it’s been for generations will be a thing of the past which MIGHT be allowed to be taught in schools by the new Norway.
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It’s big brain time I see. Did you read about this in a tweet from Drumpf?
I’ve seen Iranian boats. I’ve seen a few. I’ve seen lots. I’ve seen them passive. I’ve seen them aggressive. I’ve seen them in the Arabian Gulf, in Hormuz and in the Gulf of Oman. So has everyone else. If anyone spends enough time there they will be seen. We all have seen them. Their homeland is right there so why wouldn’t we see them?
The fact that there were Iranian boats around our ships isn’t news. That’s like getting worked up over wet water or stinky skunks.
What is usually interesting is the intentionally distributed responses. Remember, the United States can say nothing (the usual response) or it can say something - usually for a purpose. In this case the United States decided to distribute a press release which was followed by a tweet from President Trump. That’s interesting.
The next question is why that happened. What reason would the United States and the President decide, metaphorically speaking, to point out that the blue sky is blue and the green grass is green?
It’s my opinion that it was done for the domestic American audience to drum up patriotism to distract from COVID and economic troubles. (In Iran the same incident is likely being used for the same exact purpose. Distract the domestic Iranian audience from their COVID and economic troubles.)
Both the United States and Iran are codependent on each other to play their parts to make the storyline real. Now the question is, how far will each side take it?
Iran has no reason to play it out till the shooting gets bad (a little shooting would be good for ratings). However the United States, specifically President Trump, could benefit handsomely from a good old fashioned bombing campaign against Iran in September. This could bump his ratings in time for the elections.
So, @Hawespiper, it’s not that I like or dislike President Trump, it’s that I see it for what it is: politicians playing the games politicians have played for thousands of years.
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WTF does the Cole have to do with Iranian gunboats driving by US Navy ships in international waters underway? The Cole was at a dock in Yemen and got a hole blown in it by an al Qaeda suicide bomber [second try]. Perhaps Iran or Sudan provided support to Al Qaeda but by that reasoning we should go to war with Saudi Arabia for 9-11 first as that is way past due.
Little bitty boats driving by big bad ships of the biggest navy in the world in international waters is of little concern. Russian ships have played chicken with US ships for decades. If Trump hadn’t issued a tweet about this it would not even be an issue in the news.
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Does it really matter where and when or who? Terrorism is terrorism, no matter what flavor,country or method. Our guys are at risk,. You can’t see that? Sending a box of chocolates is the correct way to remedy this. I don’t think so. Those hostages in Iran during Carters Presidency would disagree. My neighbor was on one of the helicopters in the botched mission to rescue them. He would not send chocolates.