Last Friday, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, spoke to reporters at the Pentagon about the recent incident
in the Strait of Hormuz where five Iranian speedboats were alleged to
have harassed three major U.S. warships.
An immediate White House statement urged the Iranians to “refrain
from such provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident.”
Mullen uttered the same talking points in his press conference, claiming
he had never seen something as “provocative and dramatic.”
But just five minutes later, Mullen conceded he hadn’t actually
seen the full tape of the encounter:
MULLEN: The — there have been other situations
where certainly ships transiting the Straits of Hormuz have been approached.
To my knowledge, I have not seen one as both provocative and dramatic
as this.
[…]
Q: Is there any reason why the full videotape of the entire episode
can’t be released?
MULLEN: I know the secretary’s got it. We’re considering
it, and I can’t say it will be addressed this afternoon, but
I know that request is there. From my perspective, first of all, I
haven’t seen the full video myself. But I’ve been told
about it and I’m told there’s nothing, you know, particularly
inconsistent or alarming with it from that perspective.
Watch it:
In the days following the initial media reports of the
Iranian encounter in the Persian Gulf, the Bush administration has offered
a dissembling response to three key elements of the alleged threat:
1. The Dangerous Verbal Threat. Initial media reports said that a
“threatening radio call from the Iranians” warned that
the U.S. “ships would explode.” Later, we learned that
the verbal threat may not have come from an Iranian, and may instead
have been the voice of a famous heckler.
2. The Boxes In The Water. After the verbal threat, the Iranian boats
were observed “dropping objects in the water.” But as
the Washington Post reported, U.S. ships at the time of the incident
determined the boxes “posed no threat to the American vessels.”
“After passing the white objects, commanders on the USS Port
Royal and its accompanying destroyer and frigate decided there was
so little danger from the objects that they did not bother to radio
other ships to warn them.”
3. Boats Coming At The Ships. Initial media reports
said “the Iranians ‘maneuvered aggressively’ in the
direction of the U.S. ships.” But as the video shows, “the
only boat that was close enough to be visible to the U.S. ships was
unarmed.” “The footage of the boats maneuvering provides
no visual evidence of Iranian boats ‘making a run on U.S. ships.’”
Piggybacking off the media reports of the “provocative”
encounter with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, Bush has sounded the urgent
need to confront Iran at almost every stop along his Middle East journey.
UPDATE: Newshoggers has more. Watch the full video of the incident
here:
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