Breaking: Two Iranian Fast Boats Aproach US Military Cargo Ships; US Fires on Boats

I'm guessing these were just warning shots that did their job.

Update [Gabe]: The ship was a contracted cargo vessel called Westward Venture. It had a security team on board which fired on the fast boats when they closed to 100 yards and wouldn't respond to flares or whistles.

This happened in the Strait of Hormuz, the same bottleneck that saw a similar confrontation in January (Coblogger Purple Avenger wrote about it). In that case, the Iranian fast boats played chicken with bona fide U.S. Navy warships. The Iranian Foreign Ministry later played down the incident, calling it "something normal taking place every now and then."

There was conjecture at the time that elements of Iran's Revolutionary Guard were attempting to increase tensions ahead of President Bush's visit to the region. I suppose something similar could be going on now, as Iran tries to save face following its recent losses in Iraq.

Also, let's not forget that the last time this happened, the absolute loons on the left said "what's the big deal, it's just a speedboat." As if a little boat is simply harmless.

posted by Ace at 11:27 AM

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