What to make of this?
There was the earlier report from ABC saying that the threatening statements on the US Navy/Iranian confrontation video may (or may not) have come from the Iranian boats. I didn't blog it because it was kind of vague.
BUT, tell me this version from the NYTimes doesn't sound curious.
This could easily be nothing, but there have been other questions raised about the recording (like no background noise on an open speeding boat.) Just putting it on the radar. (Here's the WaPo version.)
BUT, tell me this version from the NYTimes doesn't sound curious.
The list of those who are less than fully confident in the Pentagon’s video/audio mashup of aggressive maneuvers by Iranian boats near American warships in the Strait of Hormuz now includes the Pentagon itself.
Unnamed Pentagon officials said on Wednesday that the threatening voice heard in the audio clip, which was released on Monday night with a disclaimer that it was recorded separately from the video images and merged with them later, is not directly traceable to the Iranian military.
This could easily be nothing, but there have been other questions raised about the recording (like no background noise on an open speeding boat.) Just putting it on the radar. (Here's the WaPo version.)
posted by mikevotes at
10:15 PM
4 Comments:
Are we seeing an internal conflict in the administration and/or Pentagon. Have the usual insider chicken-hawk suspects concocted this "provocation" and now the establishment/career personnel are dousing the embers of war-lust?
By
-epm, at 1:13 PM
I have no idea what's going on with this. My guess is that figures within the Pentagon didn't know about the "merging" of audio and video and are trying to regain some credibility.
But, I would say this, if you read all the articles, there's nothing yet that clearly says there was intent to deceive.
It sure smells that way,but so far, no reporting has taken that leap.
By
mikevotes, at 1:19 PM
As some level there was an intent to contrive a level of crisis -- a dangerous and provocative military situation -- and get this in the press. I say agents of the gotta-get-me-some-war crowd had there fingers in it. Bush escalated the rhetoric in his usual knee-jerk fashion.
Is it Cheneyites looking for conquest, blood and money? Is it the Bushians looking to show the Olmert government that we too fear and hate Iran, on the eve of his Middle East trip?
I don't know. I'm pretty sure, however, that this ended up in the news media -- and was spun as a crisis-- by political hacks and Major T. J. "King" Kong's.
By
-epm, at 2:44 PM
Oh, it was definitely intended to inflame against Iran, a day or so before Bush headed to the middle east.
My guess is that it had something to do with the all the alliances but I can't figure out the "play."
Allow Fatah to separate from Iran? The "Gulf states?" Plus to Israel as you propose?
By
mikevotes, at 3:02 PM
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