Trump says US will ‘destroy’ Iranian gunboats that harass American ships

Trump says US will ‘destroy’ Iranian gunboats that harass American ships

I wait to see Iran's response.

In the meantime, earlier Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched its first military satellite into space, following a series of failed launches by Iran's civilian space agency. The latter (considering the fact Iran had previously successfully put several small satellite into space since its first successful launch of a satellite in 2009) widely believed to reflect sabotage of the program by the US (possibly through the access gained by the US from information provided under the fraud perpetuated against Iran aka as the JCPOA).

The satellite was put into orbit by a 3 phased space launcher the US (at least based on its publicly released information regarding Iranian missiles and SLV's) didn't know anything about nor that it existed. I think the importance of this action, putting this type of a military satellite into space, isn't lost to the US -- and probably helped Trump find himself in a sour mood when he got his morning briefing.

https://apnews.com/0b45baa8a846f55e058e98905e290ce5
Iran’s Guard says it launched satellite amid US tensions

 

Incidentally, when I alluded to Trump's morning briefing possibly putting him in a sour mood, I should have clarified that it could have been his briefing from FOX:

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/trump-us-navy-iranian-ships-tweet/index.html

 

Good move by Trump and he should blow those annoying ankle biters out of the water. Can't hurt the price of oil either which would go up when the Iranian boats went down.

 

Trump to US Navy: Blow up the next Iranian gunboat to challenge us in international waters



Enough is enough.

Iran has been escalating its provocations in the Persian Gulf, which entails aggressive and provocative acts by Iranian gunboats around American ships in international waters. Eleven Iranian boats circled US Navy ships at close quarters last week, with guns unsecured, in an unsafe and unprofessional interaction:

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The Iranians issued a statement after the US Navy went public with these complaints:

“They should be assured that the Revolutionary Guards navy and the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran sees the dangerous actions of foreigners in the region as a threat to national security and its red line and any error in calculation on their part will receive a decisive response.”
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It was to that threat that Trump responded.

 

Iran had just this week bragged that it had a faster and more powerful fleet than the US, and seem to be itching to test that out:

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said Monday that his forces now “have a variety of surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 700 km [more than 430 miles] produced domestically.” He also touted the production of new warships, such as the 55-meter catamaran-style helicopter carrier inaugurated in 2016, along with other vessels that are said to be capable of reading speeds of up to 90 knots, or “three times faster than American vessels.”

“Wherever the Americans have been present, insecurity has arisen, and we do not know where the presence of the United States has led to security,” Tangsiri said.

He referenced the recent encounter in which up to 11 armed Revolutionary Guard fast-attack craft approach and circle ships of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf, arguing that “contrary to international regulations, the Americans blocked the way for our vessels and refused to respond to the radio, which was met with a powerful confrontation by our forces.”

The Fifth Fleet informs that it was Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that initiated an “unsafe and unprofessional interaction,” ignoring repeated warnings for more than an hour and a half.
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If Iran wants to provoke a military conflict as a means of distracting Iranians from their terrible leadership, Trump could oblige them — as he demonstrated with the strike on Soleimani. These gunboat runs are clear threats to the security of the American ships, which have every right to sail in international waters without being harassed by Outlaw militaries.

Iran’s testing Trump with these provocations. This warning might be enough for them to pull back. Let’s hope that’s the case, but we can’t wait for Iran to get the message before they start hijacking American shipping in the Gulf. If Soleimani’s sudden achievement of room temperature didn’t teach them any better, it might unfortunately be time for another lesson.

 

Even before he was elected, Trump was ranting about how he would order these Iranian speedboats blown out of the water if they even looked the wrong way at America's 'beautiful warships'. So it is not his rantings that matter, but whether the usual suspects that have been pushing him in a direction that will eventually make a war inevitable, succeed in their efforts?

As for the real facts, and not the propaganda many of you are regularly exposed to, in case the US does shoot at any of these gunboats, Iran will either have to lose all credibility (and consequently, its regime find its legitimacy genuinely compromised) or it will have to shoot back. And if Iran shoots back, it will have plenty of options to sink America's 'beautiful warships' and send them under the sea. Of course, the regular Iranian navy will be quite exposed in that dynamic, as Iran's major warships are pretty much sitting ducks (which is why you don't see them around when Iran's speedboats approach US naval vessels). Put differently, in case Trump's penchant to listen to FOX for his understanding of the world, as opposed to paying better attention to his military advisers, sees him take stupid actions which provoke a war, I wouldn't want to be sitting in any US or Iranian naval warships anywhere in the area. They are both going to find themselves sunk quickly in case of any shooting war. If that happens, of course, the whole thing will escalate out of either party's control and, while Iran will definitely have more to lose (but no real choice in the matter), the US will be suffering its losses for no good reason other than being unable to stop trying to be a bully.

 

Inevitable? I doubt it but you had better hope not.

If only you could stop from being a terrorist country.

 

So Trump is provoking a war because Iran's ignorant ass 'supreme leader' is harassing U.S. ships with gunboats? Your government best go on back to shooting down commercial planes full of Iranians because yall will be better off.

 

Please... The US sat there and saw waves of Iranian ballistic missiles hit its bases, doing nothing but sitting in their bunkers, with the propaganda outfits initially trying to pretend Iran had 'hit sand' to avoid blushes for the US not carrying out its threats to respond to any Iranian retaliation of the sort.

Since you bring this up, yesterday the US military released a report on the attacks by Iran against its bases. I think the incident should have made clear that US threats and bullying (even when combined with the assassination of an Iranian general) aren't going to cow Iran, but instead will merely force the US to engage in even more propaganda to pretend the world looks like what FOX prefers to broadcast for its audiences.

https://www.militarytimes.com/flash...ballistic-missile-attack-heres-what-they-did/
American troops had only hours to react to Iranian ballistic missile attack. Here’s what they did.

So what is that they did? They basically put their faith in God, drew lots as to who would stay to be bunkered down and who would be evacuated.

 

It's a Darwin thing. Screw around with someone bigger than you maybe you will get your ass kicked. It's been like that for thousands of years. Iran isn't in a position to start any crap right now. I hope they try the resolve of the US Navy but I bet the Iranian Navy stops doing idiotic **** like this but it's Iran so who knows.

 

The fact that thousands of years of human evolution has not changed the 'dog eat dog' nature of the world, is no reason to stop hoping that we will eventually show that humans can evolve into something better and more enlightened.

 

Human nature is what it is and will never change. That's a fact. It's also a fact that it's stupid to intentionally go out of your way to harass someone that can kick your ass and not expect to get your ass kicked.

 

The incident in the Persian Gulf that supposedly prompted this morning's tweet by Trump was from several days ago, but this morning, the news that probably made Trump really upset was the one about Iran's revolutionary guards launching a military satellite into space. I need to expand on this a bit for some of you to understand what I mean.

Iran had many successful launches of civilian satellites in space from 2009 until recently. After Iran negotiated the JCPOA, as part of the treasure trove of information collected by the US under the excuse of trying to establish the non-military nature of Iran's space programs, the US found itself in possession of a treasure trove of information about that program, including its supply chain, its computer systems, etc. From that information, the US was able to infiltrate Iran's space program and its systems, making sure the supply chain would have defective (but harder to detect) components to hurt Iran's space launchers. Since then, Iran had found itself failing in its recent satellite launches by its space agency, with Trump tweeting with pleasure pictures taunting Iran's failure in one instance where he even used what appeared to be a ground photo from the intelligence files provided to him.

In this context, the fact that the revolutionary guards were able to launch this satellite into space was significant for several reasons. First, it was a message to Trump that he shouldn't be too assured of the success of US efforts to sabotage Iran's space launchers. Second, the launch used a space launch vehicle the US didn't even know anything about. Third, the military satellite Iran put into space isn't the smaller observational satellites Iran had previously launched successfully into space. It is multi-function military satellite that gives Iran eyes into what is happening without having to rely on drones and such to take photographs of the military environment around it. Fourth, putting up a heavier satellite like this one in space using a 3-phase launcher also has ramifications for how quickly Iran could develop longer range missiles including ICBMs. Finally, the space launch further underlined that the US 'maximum pressure campaign' has had no effect on Iran's ability to develop its military technologies and capabilities.

That is what really got Trump in a sour mood this morning.

 

50 years from now, give or take a few years, none of us on this thread (assuming none are juveniles here), will be around. Nor will Trump or any of the leaders at issue. What will remain is whether we have done anything to make this world a better place for our children and grandchildren (and whether they will have done anything to do their part in that endeavor)? And part of that is what we have done to make this world a place where bullies no longer bully others around. That brute force and other violent ways to prove your worth are replaced by other things. Things more noble and lasting than the bullies you like to applaud and encourage.

In the meantime, what really irritates me even more than bullies, are those who engage in lies and propaganda. To me, the only thing in this world that has any permanence is the quest for truth. And the real evil is found among those who perpetuate falsehoods, including those who do so to advance their political objectives. When that is done, liars are promoted and those who aren't, get demoted. And that dynamic does not bode well for any society.
The rest is part of the story of human evolution and the tales and narratives that each will fade in their significance (and even from anyone's memory) with the passage of time. What remains (but which neither one of us will be around to see) is whether my conception of the 'overman/superman' (derived from Iran's different philosophical tradition than the one encouraged by Nietzsche and in many aspects of Western philosophy) will see us indeed develop better humans than the ones we have now?

 

This is our future:



And our present

 

Well, then I guess Iran should feel free to harass those "paper tiger" US warships, they're all show and no boom! Just between you and me, maybe they fear the brave Iranian lions in their motor boats.

 

You've already explained that we are rich spoiled trustfund drug dealers and you are the boot straps puller. So big smiley face over you and frowning face over us. Quite noble of you. I stand in awe.

 

Sure. Soon you will defeat us in "The Mother Of All Battles!"

 

I am more hopeful than you are.

 

Harassing international shipping is how you illustrate that? Who knew?

 

Great. We haven't had any decent naval battles in a long time. The U.S. Navy probably could use some target practice.

 

Iran has yet to "evolve" to the basic step of respecting Embassies. And don't worry about Trump, he's all bluff. Attacking US Warships with motor boats is the best idea you guys have had in a long time. Now's a great opportunity to show the world how there's is nothing to fear from the US Navy.

 

I hate to burst your balloon but philosophical traditions don't affect the quality of human beings. Nature handles that. I am irked by falsehood as well. Every government on the planet lies. At least it is universal.

 

That's because you are a highly evolved boot straps puller with highly effective gunboats and we are but spoiled soft trust-fund drug dealers with a paper Navy.

 

A New Hope:

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