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Speeding Boats Nearly Trigger World War III

TUESDAY JANUARY 8 2008 9:00 AM

Submitted by Zarth. Edited By Zarth.

TAGS: Iran

Five Iranian speedboats intimidated three American warships on Sunday morning in the Straight of Hormuz.

"Five boats, suspected to be from the Islamic Republic of Iran Revolutionary Guard Navy, maneuvered aggressively in close proximity of the [guided missile destroyer USS] Hopper," a Navy news release says.

"Following standard procedure, Hopper issued warnings, attempted to establish communications with the small boats and conducted evasive maneuvering."

The Iranians typically operate close to U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but in this incident the Iranian boats maneuvered aggressively, even passing between U.S. ships in the formation, a Navy official said Monday.

According to Pentagon officials, the boats radioed threats ahead of them:

The U.S. Navy also received a radio transmission that officials believe came from the Iranian boats. The transmission said, "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," the U.S. military officials told CNN.

American seamen took battle stations and were reportedly on the verge of firing upon the boats ("the Pentagon will neither confirm nor deny . . .") when the Iranians veered off. The ranking American naval commander in the region also told the BBC that the Iranians "dropped floating 'box-like objects'" in the water at some point before their departure.

On the one hand, I have to admit that I'm embarrassed as a citizen to see three American ships of the line scared shitless by a handful of speedboats dropping boxes ("mysterious boxes!") into the water, but it also must be conceded that, in the aftermath of the Cole Incident, the American vessels were actually facing a credible potential threat.

Yet that fact in and of itself serves only to underscore just how far out of our depth we really are in this "War on Terror." The warships involved were a guided missile cruiser, a guided missile destroyer, and a frigate. These are seriously powerful and expensive machines, crewed by highly trained and professional personnel, deployed halfway across the world at great cost to American taxpayer - and vulnerable, as this incident shows, to a much smaller number of fanatically dedicated men putatively equipped with inexpensive explosives, delivered in commercially-available vehicles. Future historians, no doubt, will mark the invention of the AK-47 as the death-knell of the capacity of conventional military forces to project political power, and the development of the IED as the final nail in the coffin of conventional warfare. That said, I must confess to some dismay that our leadership and military establishment have yet to actually recognize this fact - even some three decades after the d�nouement in Vietnam, two after the spectacular failure of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and despite the encouragement of "dirty little wars" by both superpowers against their rivals throughout the Cold War - and yet I suppose the directors of the military-industrial complex cannot be blamed for blinding themselves to their own obsolescence. Selah.

Meanwhile, the Iranians are treating the entire incident as a tempest in a teapot.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the Iranian action "provocative and dangerous".

Iran played down the event, describing it as an "ordinary occurrence".

"This... happens for the two sides every once in a while and, after the identification of the two sides, the issue is resolved," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.

Official media also reported the US statement about Iran's allegedly threatening behaviour with scepticism, implying that Washington was exaggerating the incident.

While Washington's nose remains out of joint:

Although Tehran dismissed the incident as routine, Ms Rice told the BBC's Arabic service in an interview there was nothing normal about it.

"At least I hope that's not what the Iranians consider to be normal behaviour, because it was provocative, and that kind of provocation is dangerous and I would sincerely hope that the Iranians would refrain from any such activity."

It may yet signify a raising of tensions, but honestly I doubt that even Bush is (still) arrogant enough to think he could win a confrontation with Iran at this juncture - the Neocon clique has been severely chastised by reality (with its well-known liberal bias) these past two years. Even so, had the incident resulted in actual gunfire being exchanged, we all might have woken up in a very different world on Monday.

61 Comments

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J24U

Danvers, MA

February 2006

JAN 08, 2008 09:06 AM

Not waiting long at all to try out the new Newswire title huh?
Good article my friend. I caught a quick blurb on the radio about this this morning and was looking for more details. Thanks.

Kindle

Seattle, WA

March 2006

JAN 08, 2008 09:15 AM

Mysterious boxes intrigue me. I can't help but want to touch them.

hk85

Guerneville, CA

October 2007

JAN 08, 2008 09:22 AM

Iran played down the event, describing it as an "ordinary occurrence".

This is likely closer to truth than I am comfortable with. The US managed to sink six "armed speedboats" in 1988 (in retaliation), a couple months before Iran Air 655 was shot down.

The Iranians typically operate close to U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but in this incident the Iranian boats maneuvered aggressively, even passing between U.S. ships in the formation, a Navy official said Monday.

I'm afraid that this is what it's all coming down to. The control of The Strait of Hormuz. And preventitive engagement.

MrCrisp

Charleston, SC

August 2004

JAN 08, 2008 09:31 AM

Zarth said:

Yet that fact in and of itself serves only to underscore just how far out of our depth we really are in this "War on Terror." The warships involved were a guided missile cruiser, a guided missile destroyer, and a frigate. These are seriously powerful and expensive machines, crewed by highly trained and professional personnel, deployed halfway across the world at great cost to American taxpayer - and vulnerable, as this incident shows, to a much smaller number of fanatically dedicated men putatively equipped with inexpensive explosives, delivered in commercially-available vehicles. Future historians, no doubt, will mark the invention of the AK-47 as the death-knell of the capacity of conventional military forces to project political power, and the development of the IED as the final nail in the coffin of conventional warfare. That said, I must confess to some dismay that our leadership and military establishment have yet to actually recognize this fact - even some three decades after the d�nouement in Vietnam, two after the spectacular failure of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and despite the encouragement of "dirty little wars" by both superpowers against their rivals throughout the Cold War - and yet I suppose the directors of the military-industrial complex cannot be blamed for blinding themselves to their own obsolescence. Selah.

after the cole, we take this "speed boat run amok" shit very seriously in the navy. in boot camp we're not only trained to handle the aftermath of such a situation, but also how to identify and deal with potential terrorist or insurgent threats, including IEDs (albeit on a smaller scale than the rest of our naval schtick). i can only imagine the level of training that other branches receive, but i'm sure that they (especially those directly involved with boots-on-ground operations) are more prepared for dealing with guerrilla tactics. as much as i agree that current insurgent tactics and methods have greatly changed the way we view and participate in warfare (or, as you say, hammer the final nail in the coffin of conventional warfare), i'd have to disagree with you that the military is wholly unprepared to deal with those modern developments. sure, maybe we're not making the adaptation as quickly as convention is evolving, but don't count us out yet.

the government, though? they're ass-backwards on everything.

plus, this is the navy. aside from individual augmentees, seals, seabees, and dropping warheads on foreheads, we kind of want to stay out of this whole ordeal, sit back, and relax. those speedboats were just harshing the crew's cool. keep that shit away from our steel picnics, yo.

also, good article. next time, less hatin'. shit.

Colinism

Atlanta, GA

July 2005

JAN 08, 2008 09:37 AM

Awesome article, but as Crisp said don't count conventional armies out just yet, altho conquoring and holding a country is difficult, simply using your forces to either exterminate the entire civilian population or move them off the land you want is still an effective tactic and has been used successfully throughout history.

I'm not advocating it I am simply pointing out that it works exceptionally well.