Americans prepared to fire on Iranians, unlike the Brits who surrendered - UPDATES

After Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats provoked three U.S. Navy ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, threatening to explode the American vessels, the U.S. ships prepared to fire on the Iranians. No way would the U.S. allow their sailors to be taken hostage like the 15 Royal Navy Brits were last year. The capture was an embarrassment to the Brits. The Iranians tucked tail and ran "literally at the very moment that U.S. forces were preparing to open fire" in self defense.

... a Pentagon official said. "It is the most serious provocation of this sort that we've seen yet," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said: "We urge the Isranians to refrain from such provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident in the future."

The incident occurred at about 5 a.m. local time Sunday as a U.S. Navy cruiser, destroyer and frigate were on their way into the Persian Gulf and passing through the strait — a major oil shipping route.

Five small boats began charging the U.S. ships, dropping boxes in the water in front of the ships and forcing the U.S. ships to take evasive maneuvers, the Pentagon official said.

There were no injuries but the official said there could have been, because the Iranian boats turned away "literally at the very moment that U.S. forces were preparing to open fire" in self defense. (continue reading)

UPDATES:

The near-shooting incident Sunday, Jan. 26, in which 5 IRGC speedboats made threatening passes against three US Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, was timed precisely by Tehran for the eve of President George W. Bush’s Middle East tour. "You will explode in a couple of minutes." Michelle Malkin has the Lefty comments.

Comments

[sadaf]

its enough ....dont spread more shit on earth.. everyone has seen why did US attack iraq and afghanistan....its not what muslims say this is what your own anaylsts say..

[PALADIN]

WELL 'IRAINIAN ' (DIRTBAG). I WOULD SAY YOU SUFFER FROM A SEVERE CASE OF RECTAL CRANIAL INVERSION!!!!!!!!!!! IDIOT FOLLOWER OF MOHHAMED (DEATH AND SUPERIOR FIREPOWER BE UPON HIM!!!) THE PEDOPHILE. LEAVE THE WORLD ALONE????? YOU IGNORANT GOAT FORNICATING A**HOLE!!!!!!!! LEAVE AHMADINEJIHAD ALONE SO HE CAN MAKE THE NUCLEAR THREAT A REALITY. ONE THING YOU GOTTA UNDERSTAND YOU IGNORANT MUSLIM MORON , IS THAT WE ARE AT WAR WITH YOUR EVIL DEATH CULT OF ISLAM. GET IT IN YOUR EMPTY HEAD THAT WE WILL DEFEAT YOUR UGLY ASSES AND THEN MAYBE FINALLY THERE WILL BE SOME PEACE IN THE WORLD. IT,S MUSLIMES NOT THE U.S.A. THATS MAKING ALL THE TROUBLE IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. SORRY ABOUT MY OUTBURST DEB, BUT THESE MUSLOMANIACS .......... I JUST CAN,T TALK NICE TO EM. IN FACT I,M DONE TALKING NICE TO ANY MUSLIME THAT SUPPORTS ANY RADICAL AGENDA.

[Iranian]

Yeah you could fire and bomb anything anywhere you like, eh? WTF is the US navy doing in this part of the world anyway? I don't approve the stupid move the boats made but don't you worry maybe next time the esteemed US troops kill quite a large number of Iranians so that you guys feel safe thousands of miles away! Just like when USS Vincennes shut down an Iranian civilian jet-liner flight IR655 back in 1988 killing 290 people on board and the US Navy decorated the brave American soldier! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655) Don't you worry, Uncle Sam is taking care of you all and human rights by starting wars all ove the world! Counterterrorism, eh? Fighting wars for peace is like fu**ing for virginity, ain't it? Maybe it was us who started wars and coups and intervened in Chile, Panama, Cuba, Elsalvador, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam et al? Ever heard of Operation Ajax? Where US intelligence staged and orchestrated a coup like 50 years ago and ousted the true democratically-elected Iranian prime minister and brought Shah back to power? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax) Why don't you guys leave the world alone and start thinking about your own domestic problems like racism and racial discrimination? Child Abuse? Why doesn't the USA ratify and join the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)? Back off and leave the world alone, time to stop playing big brother to the world. You're not the sheriff of the world. All you care about is oil and a market for 30 year old technology and weaponry, and who better than Mid-East Arabs who pay millions of bucks for that purpose. US govt. needs to keep the tension up and running here in the region so that it can justify its military presence and it can sell weapons to the nations in the region; weapons that will rust in peace.

[Debbie]

I think this was a dry run. The Iranians wanted to see how the US would react, if they would react as the Brits did.

The boxes they dropped in the water COULD have been bombs, mines, whatever. I think the US should have fired. The next time the boxes may no be empty. Better safe than sorry.

[PALADIN]

PREPARED TO FIRE ON THE IRAINIAN DIRTBAGS???? THEY SHOULDA FIRED ON THE @#$%^&*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY DID,NT THEY????? DON,T CONFUSE GEORGE BUSH WITH A STRONG LEADER. INFACT I THINK HE,S A GIRL SINGER. HE,S GOT TO THE POINT WHERE HE IS A LAME DUCK. THE MORE I SEE OF THIS GUY THE MORE I SHAKE MY HEAD. ONE OF THESE IRAINIAN SPEEDBOATS CAME TO WITHIN 200 METERS OF ONE OF THE SHIPS!!!!!!! THE ADMIRAL IN CHARGE OF THAT BATTLE GROUP IS GONNA GET A LOT OF PEOPLE KILLED. BELIEVE IT!!!!

[Jack]

It does make you wonder what they're thinking.

[Mushy]

Man, don't they know you don't tug on Superman's cape?

Kind of wish they had learned that lesson the hard way!