Two More Vessels Attacked in Gulf of Oman

[DrunkenSano]

Nice image. What's the source?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48671319

Image was also shown on this BBC article. However, source appears to be US Department of Defense so take it with a grain of salt. The hole does seem more in line with a planted explosive than something like a missile or shell striking the side of a ship, looks like the hull bent inward than outward.

 

[fskimospy]

It's kind of amazing to see Trump demand that Iran adhere to the nuclear deal he reneged on. Like, we had a deal where we suspended sanctions and they stopped making nuclear weapons. We then reimposed sanctions and were shocked when they moved to start making nuclear weapons again.

The dumbness of our leadership right now is just unbelievable.

 

[Jhhnn]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48671319

Image was also shown on this BBC article. However, source appears to be US Department of Defense so take it with a grain of salt. The hole does seem more in line with a planted explosive than something like a missile or shell striking the side of a ship, looks like the hull bent inward than outward.

I remain highly skeptical. The damage to the Kokuka Courageous is not consistent with a limpet mine but rather with an EFP or EFP array. It's the only way to explain the multiple irregular holes in the hull. The left image is only one of those holes. The sharp upper right image is clearly from the same blurry B&W footage originally released, so why is the first footage so blurry & the still image so sharp?

 

[DrunkenSano]

US Drone Shot Down by Iran.

Well shit. Definitely not good news on the tension between US and Iran. I am sure the finger pointing will go on and wouldn't be surprised if DoD will bring up some sort of tracking map that shows the drone is over international waters. Hopefully this isn't enough to escalate it to the point where US strikes back, targeting the SAM site that downed the drone.

 

[Jaskalas]

Hopefully this isn't enough to escalate it to the point where US strikes back, targeting the SAM site that downed the drone.

Why shouldn't we return fire when attacked?

*If, and BIG IF, we were operating in international waters / airspace?

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Why shouldn't we return fire when attacked?

*If, and BIG IF, we were operating in international waters / airspace?

As much as it pains me a proportional response is in order. Striking the missile base that launched or something comparable if it was a mobile unit.

 

[kage69]

Is this where it starts? We flatten an AA site, then Iran launches missiles at where the sortie came from?


Oh boy.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I said over and over while Trump was running he would get us into WWIII. Never wanted to be so wrong.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Why shouldn't we return fire when attacked?

*If, and BIG IF, we were operating in international waters / airspace?

Because it escalates. We respond and they will feel that they must respond to our response, and few iterations of this and we are at war. At the very least is makes it much more difficult to negotiate with them. Negotiation is the proper response here. We can find a diplomatic solution. Most of this is due to us backing out of our deal, and we are going to have to pay for that in the fact that we are now going to get a worse deal.
Either that or we end up in another pointless and expensive war in the middle east that we won't be able to extricate ourselves from for decades. Do we really want that?

 

[DrunkenSano]

Why shouldn't we return fire when attacked?

*If, and BIG IF, we were operating in international waters / airspace?

I didn't say a return strike wasn't justified but as others have said, it escalates and will most likely result in a full blown conflict. Which is exactly what those who organized the attacks on the oil tankers want (Most likely either Saudi Arabia or Israel). When I posted the news, I had a bad feeling it will move in that direction. The US can play it better though by using this as a major bargaining chip and also get the world to side with us more. It seems unlikely we will take the more diplomatic path though with this administration and with Trump who feels image is more important than anything else.

I feel we at least have the diplomatic option since it was an unmanned drone that was shot down. If it was a manned plane with US personnel on it, then yes, we would have to flatten the AA site and possibly more.

 

[DarthKyrie]

I said over and over while Trump was running he would get us into WWIII. Never wanted to be so wrong.

I've been saying for a few years now that World War 3 would start in Persia. There is a reason no one has succeeded in conquering Persia since Alexander the Great.

 

[pauldun170]

Why shouldn't we return fire when attacked?

*If, and BIG IF, we were operating in international waters / airspace?

If they shoot down an unmanned drone that was sent down to spy on them and may or may not have been over their territory, what should we return fire on?
Should we kill Iranians because they shot down a reconnaissance drone that was spying on their territory?

Which country has an established track record of violating Airspace using drones? Which country has an established track record of baiting other countries in an effort to launch major air strikes and imposing sanctions?

 

[DarthKyrie]

If they shoot down an unmanned drone that was sent down to spy on them and may or may not have been over their territory, what should we return fire on?
Should we kill Iranians because they shot down a reconnaissance drone that was spying on their territory?

Which country has an established track record of violating Airspace using drones? Which country has an established track record of baiting other countries in an effort to launch major air strikes and imposing sanctions?

Can I answer the question, please? It is so obvious that the answer is Iran....... er that would be the United States of America you dumbass.

 

[Jhhnn]

I'm of the opinion that this whole thing is an elaborate hoax by the US. The newer information about the supposed limpet mine & its supposed removal by a supposed Iranian patrol boat merely deepen my suspicion.

Check these images from CENTCOM-

https://www.defense.gov/observe/photo-gallery/igphoto/2002146275/

Nailed to the side of a steel hulled ship... also with big honking magnets. The Iranians supposed pried the limpet mine off & didn't even scratch the hull. Oh, and they ripped thru a big honking piece of steel to get the mine off because the magnet was so strong-

https://www.newsbook.com.mt/artikli...-point-to-iran-in-gulf-tanker-attack/?lang=en

While hanging from the side of a boat with no stable purchase or leverage.

If you believe that you probably believe in Bigfoot.

I figure the footage of the Iranian patrol boat supposedly removing the mine was fabricated in advance while the ship was still in port in the UAE. All the extra people on board provide visual clutter & the graininess is contrived to fit the script.

If the crew of the Kokuka Courageous supposedly abandoned ship because they thought they saw a limpet mine on the hull, why aren't we seeing them telling their stories? Because it's a lie.

 

[K1052]

Why shouldn't we return fire when attacked?

*If, and BIG IF, we were operating in international waters / airspace?

Until this part is addressed conclusively I'd not support any action.

Even then we once shot down an Iranian airliner full of civilians with a cruiser that had fired the missiles from inside Iranian waters and have since refused to even apologize for it. I'm not really that sympathetic to a drone shoot down as a cause for meaningful action.

 

[Jaskalas]

Good points raised. I'll stand by my prior committed response for the tankers being bombed.

That the US / Nato / UN need to step up surveillance in the region, so that no one party may lay claim without being fact checked by the others. Plus, if Iran continues to attack international surveillance, then it is beyond obvious who has bombed the tankers. Draw a line and test them, and let all the world see.

* Attacking the drone could already be Iran failing that test.

 

[K1052]

US now saying the drone was 21 miles from the Iranian cost, sovereign airspace extends 12 miles. Iran saying US is lying and wants to present evidence to the UN.

Given how the RQ-170 thing played out I think we should wait till both sides show their cards.

 

[Sunburn74]

As much as it pains me a proportional response is in order. Striking the missile base that launched or something comparable if it was a mobile unit.

No. This is stupid. A drone was shot down. Why go to war and have people die over that? The reality is the US is the direct cause of many of our problems in the middle East.

 

[DarthKyrie]

US now saying the drone was 21 miles from the Iranian cost, sovereign airspace extends 12 miles. Iran saying US is lying and wants to present evidence to the UN.

Given how the RQ-170 thing played out I think we should wait till both sides show their cards.

Agree 100%.

 

[ivwshane]

Thank god Hillary didn't become president because we'd be at war already! Thank god trump de-escalated tensions between Iran and the US by reneging on the nuclear weapon agreement!

/s


Fuck you dumb ass trump supporters!

 

[UNCjigga]

I'm of the opinion that this whole thing is an elaborate hoax by the US. The newer information about the supposed limpet mine & its supposed removal by a supposed Iranian patrol boat merely deepen my suspicion.

Check these images from CENTCOM-

https://www.defense.gov/observe/photo-gallery/igphoto/2002146275/

Nailed to the side of a steel hulled ship... also with big honking magnets. The Iranians supposed pried the limpet mine off & didn't even scratch the hull. Oh, and they ripped thru a big honking piece of steel to get the mine off because the magnet was so strong-

https://www.newsbook.com.mt/artikli...-point-to-iran-in-gulf-tanker-attack/?lang=en

While hanging from the side of a boat with no stable purchase or leverage.

If you believe that you probably believe in Bigfoot.

I figure the footage of the Iranian patrol boat supposedly removing the mine was fabricated in advance while the ship was still in port in the UAE. All the extra people on board provide visual clutter & the graininess is contrived to fit the script.

If the crew of the Kokuka Courageous supposedly abandoned ship because they thought they saw a limpet mine on the hull, why aren't we seeing them telling their stories? Because it's a lie.

Meh, that seems like quite a stretch. I think it’s quite believable that Iranians removed the limpet mine, did not want it discovered that the mine could be traced to them, but also didn’t attach it in the first place (or else it was attached by rogue elements/militias without Iran’s direct military involvement.)

It’s just so incredibly stupid for Iran to risk jeopardizing a Japanese vessel when Shinzo Abe is in Tehran, or risk polluting their own waters with a major oil spill. I can’t believe a rational nation state in such a precarious situation would act this way. But it’s not impossible.

 

[Jhhnn]

Good points raised. I'll stand by my prior committed response for the tankers being bombed.

That the US / Nato / UN need to step up surveillance in the region, so that no one party may lay claim without being fact checked by the others. Plus, if Iran continues to attack international surveillance, then it is beyond obvious who has bombed the tankers. Draw a line and test them, and let all the world see.

* Attacking the drone could already be Iran failing that test.

You actually believe CENTCOM after all the obvious bullshit they've been spreading? Really?

 

[IronWing]

We have no more evidence than we had a few days ago. A lie repeated becomes the truth.

 

[Jhhnn]

Meh, that seems like quite a stretch. I think it’s quite believable that Iranians removed the limpet mine, did not want it discovered that the mine could be traced to them, but also didn’t attach it in the first place (or else it was attached by rogue elements/militias without Iran’s direct military involvement.)

It’s just so incredibly stupid for Iran to risk jeopardizing a Japanese vessel when Shinzo Abe is in Tehran, or risk polluting their own waters with a major oil spill. I can’t believe a rational nation state in such a precarious situation would act this way. But it’s not impossible.

It's no greater a stretch than what CENTCOM is putting out. A limpet mine nailed to the side of a steel hulled ship? Make sense out of that. Make sense of the notion that a magnet is strong enough that some substantial steel on the back side gave way before the magnet let go. It's ridiculous. Anybody who ever worked with steel knows it's bullshit. Make sense of the idea that several other magnets were supposedly pried loose while leaving the hull immaculate. More bullshit.

Where's the crew statements? If they backed the CENTCOM version of events we'd already have heard from them. And if it was limpet mines that caused the damage, do you suppose that they were applied while the ships were still in port or while doing 12-15 knots under way? Nailed to the side of the ship! If such mines did cause the damage, then they were applied while the ships were still in port, meaning anybody could have done it.

 

[herm0016]

I'm of the opinion that this whole thing is an elaborate hoax by the US. The newer information about the supposed limpet mine & its supposed removal by a supposed Iranian patrol boat merely deepen my suspicion.

Check these images from CENTCOM-

https://www.defense.gov/observe/photo-gallery/igphoto/2002146275/

Nailed to the side of a steel hulled ship... also with big honking magnets. The Iranians supposed pried the limpet mine off & didn't even scratch the hull. Oh, and they ripped thru a big honking piece of steel to get the mine off because the magnet was so strong-

https://www.newsbook.com.mt/artikli...-point-to-iran-in-gulf-tanker-attack/?lang=en

you can easily nail something to a steel hull with a ramset. there is a cheap trailer in my driveway with the wood deck nailed to the steel supports for example.

that looks like cast aluminum or zinc, not steel by the grain structure and how it broke. not that strong of a material, easily broken with a little leverage.

do you even know how tough the paint on a ship like that is?

looks like there are plenty of marks left by the magnets anyway.

do you also believe jfk was shot by the CIA and 9/11 was an inside job? how about the USS cole?



I do not think Iran's government is responsible but I also am not on the conspiracy train.

Iran made a stupid move shooting down our drone weather it was in international airspace or not.
They would have been much further ahead to make a media show out of it for the world to see, pictures and maps of it spying on them. where it went, what it saw. the world would loose even more respect for the current pres and it would have given them way more leverage on the world stage.