Iran and the boat incident

[Major]

Am I the only person who thinks too big of a deal was made out of this? Our soldiers were detained and held for 14 hours and were not harmed. That's it. Imagine if Iranian naval boats entered American waters. Conservatives would be calling Obama a coward if less action than that was taken. Can't we just be thankful this didn't end up the same way as when Russia's fighter jet entered Turkish airspace?

 

[Knight_of_Albion]

I thought Mr Kerry handled the situation very calmly and wisely. If that was GWB he would have been threatening to nuke Tehran!
Some unedifying pictures of the sailors being arrested, but that was for the home market. That's what they like out there.
But other than that, it all blew over with little fuss.

 

[Hilander]

I'm happy they weren't harmed and we have them back. I just feel like there is more to the story than we know. I think its strange that two boats would malfunction at the same time if that is even what happened.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Am I the only person who thinks too big of a deal was made out of this? Our soldiers were detained and held for 14 hours and were not harmed. That's it. Imagine if Iranian naval boats entered American waters. Conservatives would be calling Obama a coward if less action than that was taken. Can't we just be thankful this didn't end up the same way as when Russia's fighter jet entered Turkish airspace?

Proper protocol would be to send out the Coast Guard and assist in a boat that is disabled. It does not include taping the individuals on the boat and basically forcing an apology. Comparing an Iranian boat would be completely different as 1) we don't go around blowing people up; 2) Iran doesn't have a naval presence around the world like we do.

So we should be thankful now for people not acting worse? That's the expected behavior? As long as their not killing people we should be thankful huh?

I also love the counter factuals, the pretending to know how "conservatives" would react. Someone also brought up W. It's funny because we pretend to know how people would react when there's no factual basis to base it on. It's pure conjecture.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Feel free to show me the pictures of you, or Trump, or Cruz, or Rubio, or Christie receiving medals after serving our country.

I'll dumb this down as simply as I can so YOU might understand it.

1) why am I being lumped with them? You may not understand how this works but I only answer for MY statements and they answer for theirs.

2) you don't know a damn thing about me and you never will. This is the internet chump. I'm not about publish too much information about myself.

3) I know you're reading comprehension is pretty bad but a) I suggest you read up on some commentaries about those awards; and 2) those medals don't negate my statement. Being brave in ONE situation doesn't make one brave in ALL situations. Simple logic should tell you that.

 

[Major]

Comparing an Iranian boat would be completely different as 1) we don't go around blowing people up; 2) Iran doesn't have a naval presence around the world like we do.

Iran goes around blowing people up? We don't? If you would like to compare the number of bombings that each country has been directly involved in, we can go there. You go first and list the bombings that Iran is directly responsible for since you made the claim.

So we should be thankful now for people not acting worse? That's the expected behavior? As long as their not killing people we should be thankful huh?

Or we could overreact and risk increasing tensions over a situation in which nobody was harmed.

I also love the counter factuals, the pretending to know how "conservatives" would react. Someone also brought up W. It's funny because we pretend to know how people would react when there's no factual basis to base it on. It's pure conjecture.

I'm sure you're never guilty of this.

 

[MenInTights]

I'll dumb this down as simply as I can so YOU might understand it.

1) why am I being lumped with them? You may not understand how this works but I only answer for MY statements and they answer for theirs.

2) you don't know a damn thing about me and you never will. This is the internet chump. I'm not about publish too much information about myself.

3) I know you're reading comprehension is pretty bad but a) I suggest you read up on some commentaries about those awards; and 2) those medals don't negate my statement. Being brave in ONE situation doesn't make one brave in ALL situations. Simple logic should tell you that.

4) Kerry gave false testimony before Congress damning his fellow soldiers and accusing them of all sorts of horrendous acts against the Vietnamese. When you hear Vietnam vets talk about being spit on and yelled at after they came home, be sure to thank your hero John Kerry for that.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Iran goes around blowing people up? We don't? If you would like to compare the number of bombings that each country has been directly involved in, we can go there. You go first and list the bombings that Iran is directly responsible for since you made the claim.


Or we could overreact and risk increasing tensions over a situation in which nobody was harmed.


I'm sure you're never guilty of this.

C'mon man, seriously? I know people LOVE to portray the U.S. military as terrorists and the U.S. as imperialists, which is nonsense. We don't go around making comments about taking out entire nations, like Iran has done about Israel. In 2012 we received information Iran has been planning suicide boats and intend to bomb our Navy. Recently Iran has tested bombs, some as close as 1500 yards. Once again, and it's a point you purposefully ignored, IF our standing in the world is SOOOO great now, and IF they are SUCH an allay of ours now, why is this happening? Why are we ok with OUR sailors forced to get on their knees and forced to apologize? This happened not too long ago with Mexico, in the Gulf of Mexico, and nothing like this happened.

Because those are the only two options? Be thankful or overreact? We can't demand answers without it escalating? Is that how you handle personal issues, when someone wrongs you? You're thankful they don't screw you over worse and not risk it escalating? You don't speak up for yourself in fear of the other person escalating it?

I do when it's a comparable situation. Since this has NEVER happened, an Iranian boat mistakingly coming into US waters, I fail to see how anyone without a crystal ball would know how anyone would react.

 

[Major]

C'mon man, seriously? I know people LOVE to portray the U.S. military as terrorists and the U.S. as imperialists, which is nonsense. We don't go around making comments about taking out entire nations, like Iran has done about Israel. In 2012 we received information Iran has been planning suicide boats and intend to bomb our Navy.

I certainly don't believe it's nonsense to portray the US as imperialists considering the fact that we control territories overseas, have over 600 military bases on foreign soil (compared to zero foreign bases on US soil), and impose our authority in foreign affairs both militarily and diplomatically.

I'm not sure about comments regarding taking out entire nations, however we do take out regimes as we see fit, and we have presidential candidates talking about "carpet bombing" ISIS, finding out "if sand can glow in the dark," taking out families of suspected terrorists, and seemingly advocating large-scale killings of civilians as an any-means-necessary approach to destroying ISIS.

As for Iran's planned suicide boat attacks against our Navy, I find it hard to blame them for feeling threatened considering our military presence in the region as well as the sanctions imposed against them. If Russia or China started amassing forces in North America, do you not think threats from the US would be justified?

Recently Iran has tested bombs, some as close as 1500 yards.

How many people were blown up as a result of the tests?

You said, "Comparing an Iranian boat would be completely different as 1) we don't go around blowing people up," which, to me, indicates that Iran does go around blowing people up. Please provide some specific examples of Iran blowing people up.

Once again, and it's a point you purposefully ignored, IF our standing in the world is SOOOO great now, and IF they are SUCH an allay of ours now, why is this happening?

I never made any of those statements, so I don't feel compelled to answer the questions.

Because those are the only two options? Be thankful or overreact? We can't demand answers without it escalating? Is that how you handle personal issues, when someone wrongs you? You're thankful they don't screw you over worse and not risk it escalating? You don't speak up for yourself in fear of the other person escalating it?

I believe the State Department said they were continuing to assess the situation, which one would assume means gathering more information and getting answers as to what really happened.

I am not sure why you need to make this personal and I don't see how my handling of personal issues is relevant here.

I do when it's a comparable situation. Since this has NEVER happened, an Iranian boat mistakingly coming into US waters, I fail to see how anyone without a crystal ball would know how anyone would react.

It's absolutely a comparable situation. Considering that nearly all, if not all, of Obama's foreign policy decisions get slammed by conservatives for being too weak and cowardly, it is therefore reasonable to predict that the same would also hold true for just about any given scenario, hypothetical or otherwise, especially one involving a country that is perceived by conservatives as one of our biggest threats. It's politically advantageous for politicians, financially advantageous for the media, and people will be people sheep, blindly following along.