Iranian Games
Mullahboats play tag with the US Navy. NBC:
WASHINGTON - Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats harassed three U.S. Navy warships in the Strait of Hormuz Sunday, in what the U.S. military considers a “significant provocative act.”
Military officials told NBC News that two U.S. Navy destroyers and one frigate were heading into the Persian Gulf through the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz when five armed “fast boats” of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard approached a high speed, darting in and out of the formation.
At one point a radio message from one of the Iranian boats warned, “You are going to blow up within minutes.”
The Navy warships went into defensive mode, radioed the usual warnings to steer clear, and in the end no shots were fired. U.S. military warships believe the Revolutionary Guard boats were “testing our defenses,” the officials said.
In more ways than one. Iran has been testing U.S. defenses since 1979, and in almost every case has found them wanting. The exception, to some extent, has been Iraq, where Iranian agents have been held and Iranian goals for the present frustrated. Despite the existence of a Shiite-dominated government, Iraq has agreed in principle to a long-term strategic arrangement with the United States to include military bases. Short-term Shiites are dancing to an American tune, with al-Sistani long a voice of moderation, al-Sadr playing nice, al-Hakim talking up the Sunnis, and some elements of Shiite tribal leadership engaged in their own awakening.
None of that, long term, means any more than the notion that Iran has given up on nukes, which is to say, sure, if you think so. Iran is biding its time. Iran remains the elephant in the room of U.S. foreign policy, currently hidden under the throwrug of misrepresented NIE findings and surge-bought security. Imagine the possibilities under an Obama or a Huckabee presidency.
So why mess with success? It’s a minor incident, maybe just intended to remind the Americans re pending Iraq talks they still can be a nuisance. Maybe just to remind themselves exactly how complacent and short-sighted Americans really are. Maybe for domestic purposes. Maybe the Revolutionary Guard was just bored.
Or maybe … uh, let’s see … what else is going on this week that would make Iran want to call attention to itself, when all anyone in America cares about is the election and that’s going so well?
Oh yeah, that:
Gulf Daily News: Iran to overshadow Arab-Israeli Conflict
Ha’aretz: Hamas says Bush visit is about Iran, not Mideast peace
VOA: Bush says he will discuss Iran as well as Mideast peace
Sounds like Iran wants to be involved in the conversation.
Kevin Sullivan notes some people are already calling this a Persian Gulf of Tonkin. Hey, great idea, but don’t we need to exchange fire with the ghost boats first?
Gateway’s got your Iranian boat art, links.
UPDATE: via CBS/AP, RevGuard denies aggro approach, Mullah Foreign Ministry calls it “normal.” MFM has a point. Aggressive brinksmanship, absurd denials are entirely normal for Iran.
Prior:
Iranian Atomkraft? Nein Danke!
Topics: Iran
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:00 am on Monday, January 7, 2008
19 Responses to “Iranian Games”
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January 7th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Iran Wants in the Game
Bush visits Israel this week, and Iran tweaks our Navy.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Iran remains the elephant in the room of U.S. foreign policy, currently hidden under the throwrug of misrepresented NIE findings and surge-bought security.
Apologies, but the throw rug reminded me of a little mentioned Iranian strategy , which has been ordering up Persian carpets with the likeness of various guys they want to cajole woven in.
So far (at least) rugs with their own mugs have been given to Mohammed El Baradei (IAEA negotiator), Ban Ki Moon (UN head) and Iraq’s still hanging on leader, Nouri al Maliki.
Such a very slimy approach to influence, worthy of A’jad and friends.
These American ships were in international waters. Frankly, I’d like to see one of those Iranian boats follow through on that threat.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Frankly, I’d like to see one of those Iranian boats follow through on that threat.
I meant attempt to follow through on that threat.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
*CRUNCH*
Captain, I think we hit something.
We did? Oh, darn. Hey, what happened to that Iranian gunboat that was just off our bow?
January 7th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I’ve heard some pretty crazy stories about the stuff that goes on in the Straits of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf from friends and colleagues in the surface Navy. Just highlights the perils we face to keep the shipping lanes open for the oil supertankers. Oil is swell, but we can’t keep this up forever. We need a serious re-examination of our energy structure in America, just a thought.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
We effectively subsidize our fuel costs (high as they are, they are still cheaper than most of the world) through our military as LT points out. And since it is a global market, we effectively subsidize everyone else’s too. The globe also inadvertantly subsidizes terrorism through oil profits to otherwise failed states and thug regimes which aid and abet terrorism. I think most people right and left agree that we need to re-examine our energy structure, but I’m here to tell you, the available solutions will only work if they are market based and give serious consideration to sources (coal and nuke) that are otherwise off the table subjects with about half of us. Renewable technology is fine and we all support it, but its not there yet and there are tradeoffs that our friends on the political left are not prepared to accept (vast wind farms and solar arrays to mention two) when those are proposed.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Next time, blow the bastards out of the water. No more pussy footing around.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
The Persians do not understand the word, lethality
January 7th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
It was a dry run for suicide bombers. You need to create a 2 mile exclusion zone around all you ships and ours. Anything that enters has to be sunk without warning. the Iranians still have a couple of royal Navy boats they have ’stolen’ recently. You cannot be complacent otherwise you WILL lose a boat.
January 7th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Excellent point, Theo Spark.
January 7th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
No question about it, theo. Time to take the weapons from “safe” to “full auto”.
January 7th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
“Hey! You scratched my destroyer!”
January 7th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday the confrontation was “something normal” and was resolved, suggesting the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels.
It would be hard to top this for disingenuous statement of the year.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8U16UGG0&show_article=1
January 7th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
“suggesting the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels”.
I would love to hear the CNO say: “and we didn’t recognize theirs. And we sank them as hazards to navigation. Next question…”
January 7th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Put a five-inch, high-explosive shell into one of those little, bitty speedboats, next time. Don’t sink it, vaporize it. Video tape it, add the warnings to keep away as a sound track, and post it on Al Jazeera and YouTube. The video will go viral in about 3 minutes, and no such incident will happen, again. That’s called “information operations.”
January 7th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden has the latest on the Iranian idiots at sea. [...]
January 8th, 2008 at 4:17 am
I agree that we ought to have blown them out of the water. On principle.
Perhaps they were doing their bit to go along with our own Lord Haw Haw’s, wazisname Shazzam or whatever, to make war against Americans.
(I admit I burst out laughing when he told his fellow idiots to assassinate President Bush when he comes to the Middle East. The guy is from America, after all, and ought to realize that it would mean that Cheney would then become president at a time when American’s were really po’d. Of course, I get the idea that ths kid didn’t really pay attention to his civics classes.)
January 8th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I have long admired the Persian art of rug making.
There is a — possibly apocryphal — precept that all rugs approaching perfection are purposely made defective (out of deference to a higher power) .
This notion is a worthy nod to humility, and one which I commend to the Commanders of our brave Sailors, Airmen and Marines in the Gulf.
An approach of high-powered vessels such as that recently recorded for the world to see was too perfect — perhaps a leaf should be taken from book of the weavers of Isfahan and an element of “imperfection” introduced to ensure the humility of man before G-d is maintained.
Something along the lines of Peyton’s suggestion above, where he demonstrates that brevity is indeed the soul of wit — perhaps too perfectly……?
January 9th, 2008 at 1:30 am
[...] at 01:24 EST on 09 JAN 2008: Jules Crittenden has more good [...]