I peaceful video has a threatening audio track "pieced together" with it and presented to the American public as real-time reality, with Bush posturing and threatening in response...and anyone can see that as even potentially harmless??? My God, we're all completely anesthetized if that's the case.

JimBob:

I peaceful video has a threatening audio track "pieced together" with it and presented to the American public as real-time reality, with Bush posturing and threatening in response...and anyone can see that as even potentially harmless??? My God, we're all completely anesthetized if that's the case.

Well, we have to be anesthetized, in order to get past the basic situation; that our warship is off their coastline while our legislators discuss the possibility of attacking them, and we are considering ourselves just the innocent bystander being harrassed. Imagine the reverse, if an enemy warship was standing off the east coast while their parliament was debating a first strike, and they started screaming "act of aggression" when our coast guard ships came around to see if they could shoo them off.

JimBob:

I peaceful video has a threatening audio track "pieced together" with it and presented to the American public as real-time reality, with Bush posturing and threatening in response...and anyone can see that as even potentially harmless??? My God, we're all completely anesthetized if that's the case.

I wouldn't call that a "peaceful video" by a long shot. There's a very narrow channel that large ships can navigate vice the huge expanse of shallow water that the speedboats have. And any time two or more speedboats drive straight at a warship, even in our own harbors, it causes a lot of concern. At those speeds, a couple of seconds can mean the difference between making the best or worst decision of your life. When your split-second decision could mean the difference between life and death for more than 300 people or potentially starting a war, you start seeing things differently.

As for the audio/video disconnect, someone should have been more upfront about that, but it's not a conspiracy. The two systems aren't connected - the audio is voice-activated from the radio and the video was probably from a hand-held camera kept on the bridge for just such purposes - they'd have to be put together manually or else played individually which would remove some of the context.

You idiots. You accept what the US military releases on such volatile issues?

Did you read the Taguba interview, where this highly decorated and revered general is effectively reduced and limited to being a window washer and then forced to retire. And they do that all the time with their own generals. Ever heard of Shinseki, the general who said before Congress that Rumsfeld would need 100s of 1000s more troops, and he was lampooned and forced to retire?

But these admirals and DOD are reporting on this incident truthfully?

In fact, America has been using black ops to infiltrate Iran for years, including training rebel groups in Kurdish territory to wage war within Iran, according to independent media. America is the evil empire in this story. You may love GI Joe and Pvt Billy Bob, but the DOD is the House of Lies.

Wake up.

BTW, American corporate media suck. They can only be trusted with the time and weather, and maybe sports scores.

Bitter truth.

Real threat to vessels? Phalanx, GAW and Fast Fives get to Rock.

Tonkin Gulf Jive-A-Thon 2 with the Admirals in complete obeisance.

CIA and State still haunted by the Dulles brothers.

Drooling Chitter Monkey, and his Organ Grinders, still blindly eager for more Oil Country.

Duh, where's the Iraqi oil going ?

Deluded Lemmings still support, co-dependently, their abusers.

Decline of Empire not pretty.

Too late to Awaken?

Too late to Rise?