According to the Pentagon, five Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats maneuvered in a provocative manner and dangerously close to three US navy ships in the straits of Hormuz, connecting the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. The incident had the potential of escalating into a diplomatic crisis as the commander of the US ships nearly opened fire, and returned to mind memories of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, which was manufactured to provide former president Lyndon B. Johnson with pretext for Viet Nam War, especially as it was followed by a video-slinging session of he said she said.
What do you think? We asked the KABOBforum to weigh in:
Fayyad: The Iranian ships approached the Americans in order to return several “gays” whom were recently found in Iran and President Ahmedinejad is convinced are American.
Nadeem: Never mind. A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that this display of provocation actually occurred in 2003, and that since then Iran ’s sinister program of box-dropping has for the most part remained frozen. Needless to say, this contradicts assertions by the Bush camp that Tehran has been working relentlessly toward building a super mega giant anti-Semitic box since 2005.
Nimr: Ahmadinejad misread the secret memo from Bush. They are supposed to collude to start WW VI next month!
Chaim: Enough with the jokes; clearly the US ships are on the defensive here. The Iranian boats are the aggressors, coming to within three miles of US territorial waters. It’s not like those white boxes they dropped were make up presents.
Nabeel: The incident was blown out of proportion; US sailors are a little nervous and edgy, and reacted a little anxiously; they were between The Arabian Sea and The Persian Gulf for fuck’s sake. Might as well call it dire straits.
The BBC: Official media also reported the US statement about Iran’s allegedly threatening behaviour with scepticism, implying that Washington was exaggerating the incident.
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The crazy thing about all this is that you Kabobers know what happened. Regardless of ideology, everyone understands this event took place and was a clear provocation by the Iranians.
Yet, due to your hatred for this country, its leadership and policies – which have rewarded many of you quite handsomely – you play this game of equivocation and faux contextualization.
It’s dissapointing; You philosophy on the world is not much removed from the 80 year old felahe women who spend their days in the kitchen, preparing maklubeh and trading conspiracy theories.
Posted by Victor | January 11, 2008, 1:01 amThat’s what you should expect when you bring your troops and war ships and settle a military base in a foriegn country. These stupid Americans have been showing there nusceles in the arabian gulf for decades. It’s absurd that they’re surprised by the Iranian provocation. Americans are intruders in the area. That’s how they should be treated.
Posted by bassel | January 11, 2008, 5:38 amIf Bush cried when he talked about this event, I’d believe him.
Posted by Will | January 11, 2008, 6:30 amSure, I’d say this is a clear-cut case of Iranian provocation, but really, hasn’t Tehran and Washington spent the past year or so trying to piss the other off?
Really, this incident seems like the geopolitical equivalent of “Nyah nyah look what I’M doing!!”
Posted by Lawrie | January 11, 2008, 8:20 am