David from Madrid,

Stick to what your country does best. Taking siestas and bullfighting. Dont be jealous because your country has not been to the moon or done anything great in the last few centuries. I take offense to your incompetent remarks about our accomplishments. If you think everything is so fake and Iran poses no threat, talk to those British sailors that were held hostage for a while, or was that fake too?

Chris, Tampa, USA

It's a fake, just like the moon landing in 1969. America has been built on false film footage and a fantastic government marketing PR dept.

david, madrid,

Isn't it a wonderful discussion? I love all these varying opinions...so passionate in their views. It seems a wonder that we don't all conclude....all of us with our righteous opinions.... that the reason the conversation is even taking place is because the only FACT we know is that we do not have all the facts.

Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't.... all speculation.

How about we admit that we only believe what we allow ourselves to believe. And we choose our news sources accordingly, to verify our hatred of one side or the other.

Conclusion - any issue with this many variables: political, idealogical, cultural, and religious, requires further investigation. Hello..... innocent until proven guilty.... on BOTH sides. We simply don't have enough information to judge adequately....yet.

Shea, TX, USA

Should have blown them out of the water. Or maybe should have taken them prisoner and then paraded them around on television, only to then let them go in a public show of mercy.

Scott, Houston, Texas, USA

This is just as bad as someone driving at high speed on to an airport runway ignoring all orders to stop.  We all know they would be neutralized as soon as possible before anything happened.
I was in the Navy on board a Destroyer and because of the times we live in, a war ship can never be too careful. They don't assume anything.  And they shouldn't.  Don't forget the USS Cole. To Dean in Toronto, Canada, it doesn't matter who they are. They should have not been playing games with those ships.  The Navy and the sailors on those ships didn't know what may be on those small crafts and whether they would try and get close enough to blow up or shoot a RPG at them. The captain on my ship would have had his finger on the triger and I'll bet the captains of these ships did also.  

Three cheers for the Navy. 

Skip St.Sauveur, Lakeland, Florida

The Navy shouldn’t have given the oncoming ships repeated attempts to disengage when they were within 200 yards of the fleet. We are NOT responsible for the lives of those who wish to potentially kill Americans. We are responsible for the welfare of Americans, not the Iranian idiots who wish to have conflict with us.

Joshua , Memphis, United States of America

Without trying to sound facetious, who are the US military trying to kid? The so called Iranian voice in the clip sounds more like the dialogue was lifted from a Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode. I don’t doubt that the craft were buzzing the US ships, but I advise the US military to review this botched amateurish propaganda attempt and come up with something more credible that doesn’t insult the public’s intelligence.

Rachel, Rochester, UK

This is obviously staged by the US, the same way Hitler and Mussolini justified their invasions in WWII.... The coincidences smack of media doctoring: Bush already in the Mid East or on his way with a speech prepared...Fake Iranian accent on the radio from the speedboats...video cameras ready in the command center of the warship to capture the event... a clearly coached response by the US ship XO... an Aegis UIS warship just in the right spot with no commercial merchant ships. It doesn't happen in real life and the US slouches another step closer to fascism.

jschwartz, New York, NY, USA

This video is a poorly orchestrated fake.

I think it would be highly unorthodox to have a video camera on the bridge of a US Navy ship, particularly at the very moment the so-called "provocation" by the Iranians took place.

The desperation with which the Bush Administration is trying to start a war with Iran is pathetic, but it is also extremely troubling. Someone is carelessly playing with the lives of US service members, and it isn't just the Iranians.

Frankly, it is a shame that a vote of "no confidence" cannot be applied to the current American regime.

William B, Seattle, USA

Posters who suggest that skeptics on this issue are paranoid left wingers have either VERY short memories or no recollection at all.
America's history in the middle east is a complex litany of lies, dirty arms deals and cover-ups.
Previous posts on the technical merits (or lack thereof) of the DoD clip are correct. The navy may say in hindsight that the sound clip has been stripped of background noise and enhanced, but I won't be buying that unless I see the original tape with the video in sync. Those ciggy boats are LOUD.
Why was a chopper was not launched against these boats if they were seen as such a threat? Assuming that each warship had it's full compliment, the US had six SH-60 Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System Mk III type helicopters on hand with over half an hour to deploy. These choppers are set up to handle just this sort of attack..M-60 Machine guns, hellfire missiles, and of course- mounted video cameras. I could go on---Nothing adds up.

Mike Graham, Sydney,

They were probably after their iPods.

David Masu, Zürich,

If this is all a conspiracy...why has the Iranian Government not denied that the incident too place?

Well done USN.

Hugh, London,

u.s. war ships attacked by.......water skiers?????? yea....what a joke.....and that voice....sounds like a grade eight making a prank call........everyone needs to get a grip........ is this the best bush and co. could come up with?????

dean, toronto, canada

Could it have been tourists trying to capture American Grandeur!

I am starting to find this sensational news as becoming to repetitive could the US give the rest of the world a break from its anti-US paranoia.

Perhaps the US ought to concentrate more on China (China is a better match to an ailing super power with an absent President) China could be a real threat considering its growth rate and its ambitions. I would not consider a lunatic Iranian PM, who has scarce cards to play as a threat. Seems like Iraq repeated.

Dru, Bastrop,

USSR and USA have had a lot of such incidents in neutral waters and air. They have not used the weapon though. Iranians have a right to patrol their borders and identify aproaching ships. The "iranian voice" is absolutely fake.

Alexander, none, Russia

Rick,

I for one have absolutely no problem in saluting the performance of the USN and contrasting this with last years abysmal and embarassing display by the RN.

Mark, Berkhamsted, UK

Regarding the clarity of the voices: if the camcorder was at a distance from the crewman, the omni-directional mike would have picked up poor quality sound from him, just like you hear poor quality when someone speaks into a cheap speakerphone. If you've ever listened to home videos, the audio for voices is notoriously bad. The clarity of the response was probably due to the excellence of the warship's audio system that most likely had multiple speakers set a high volume to ensure incoming messages could be heard clearly by all, and it's possible the camcorder was very close to one of those speakers.

Dave, An Engineer, Germantown, USA

No R.Zakeri - the 'Strait; is in INTERNATIONAL waters, so anyone is allowed to be there, and be there unthreatened regardless of homeland and distance to homeland.

And yes that also means that Iran can monitor the waters - but not act in this way. In International Law acting in a threatening way does allow your target to defend themselves .

Iran is wrong on this one - and lucky that the US didn't react

Dave, London, UK

How convenient that this "incident" occurs only a day before Bush's planned trip to the Middle East to promote peace...
That was the worst bit of staged run-up-to-war propaganda to be released and sucked up as gospel by the western world media yet. Does anyone honestly believe that these ships do not have ultra sophisticated video surveillance that is being recorded all the time? Yet we are expected to believe a handheld cheap video camera that could have been shot from the deck of any fishing boat in lake Michigan.

TerD, Wasaga Beach, Ontario Canada

Hopper is leading the group and is preparing to fire, from where?.. beyond a cruiser and a frigate?. Video of very low quality(phone?) shot from the second -in- line warship of speedboats behind the last frigate. Clearly audible Iranian dialogue from an open-decked speedboat under high speed manouvres, almost inaudible American. Yeah, right.

Dubious, Munich, germany

Would Iranian warships 'patrolling' the US coastline, monitoring the vast shipments of military equipment to the Middle East, be regarded by Washington as a natural and normal state of affairs? I hardly think so.

henry laycock, kingston, canada

Dear Mr. R.Zakeri in Tehran
Yes, I can tell you WHAT the American ships were doing..... they were passing through international waters that were deemed as such some fifty years ago by the international community. Insofar as WHY the ships were there....you surely must have been reading the news over the past three years about the invasion of Iraq and the substantial US military presence in Iraq? You may consider that the US shouldn't be in the region .... that's another story/debate .... but I hope that the above has helped to explain what those US ships were doing in the region.

Chuck, in the UK....Please don't tell me that you have another conspiracy theory about the filmed events in the Straits of Hormuz (i.e. the wives and children of the US sailors were dressed up in orange jumper suits, dropped into a number of dinghies and ordered to drop 'suspicious packages' into the sea so that George Bush and his Haliburton cronies could cash in on the ensuing hike in oil prices).

Paul , Kingston, UK

Des - The reason the radio voice is so much louder is because it's coming thru an amplified speaker into the bridge of the ship, the US officer's voice is not amplified and he's not yelling into the radio.

Mr Zakeri - The warships were escorting the frigate which is a freight ship and if unescorted could be subject to attack since it has minimal defense

Paul Smith, Boston, Ma, USA

Nice job US Navy, you did what you were trained to do. Truly professional your the best. I kind of now understand why some British are jeaous.

Rick O'Shaughnessy, Bratislava, Slovakia

Americans should have captured the Iranian vessels and humiliated the crew on Jerry Springer

Chris, Alabama, USA

I am sorry but speedboats, at least in this video, in my opinion weren't particularly close to US ships to pose a real threat.

Igor, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Chuck, UK.
Sorry but it's called been there done that and sailed the seven seas. Remember the size of the boat and the disregard in the USS Cole incident?

ExPat, Virginia, USA

Lets not forget, even though the craft may be small, they could still have packed them out with explosives. Look back a little more than 60 years to the Naval battles with Japan, some boats then were rigged for the pilots to perform suicide attacks. Death comes in all shapes and sizes.

Personally, I thought it looked like they were trying to provoke the American Warships into opening fire, thus creating an international incident. That of which they could spin any way they like. It's only through good judgement that they didn't open fire on the craft, seeing as they were "Thought" to be of the IRGC. That could easily become "Speed Boat Enthusiasts gunned down in cold blood by American Naval Forces".

Well done on part of the USN in their restraint and professionalism.

Lawrence, Manchester, UK, Greater Manchester.

After the attack on the USS Cole I might have expected the US navy to be a little more reactive towards a declared enemy racing at them in a small boat.

Our enemies must realise by now that virtually no amount of provocation will make us defend ourselves. Even the UN are under attack in Lebanon and Somalia but would rather die than fire a shot.

Ellen Morris, Leeds,

I'm always in awe of the conspiracy theorists who label every event like this one as something "scripted" and a "BIG LIE" generated by the US. This incident is both scripted and a big lie -- but the script was written by destabilizing elements in Iran in the hopes of marketing their BIG LIE about the "aggressiveness" of the US military. Even if you ignore the audio, there's no peaceful interpretation of the video showing the men on the blue speedboat dumping cartons overboard while they zigzag among the warships. If the US Sailors had responded with force (as they would have been fully justified in doing), then the incident would have been presented to the rest of the world as "proof" of US "aggression." It failed as a provocation -- but rest assured that some hate-filled Revolutionary Guardsmen will tell their terrorist friends to watch the video as proof of how close you can get to the US Navy with a boatload of explosives. "Scripted," yes -- but not by the US government...

Mark, King George, Virginia, USA

Right. So, nothing America says will ever be true. Further, nothing said in English will ever be true to a good portion of the posters here. Was the USS Cole true, or did Bush and Blair jump off the small speed boat before it detonated? Your Ameri-phobia is hilarious.

stefan, NYC,

This is not very convincing. Rather than convey a sense of urgency, the shots of a US sailor on the bridge of the USS Hopper issuing warnings from inside the bridge look tame and scripted.

The footage is then of tiny speedboats buzzing the US ships.

My guess is that the threat heard at the end of the tape was overlaid. It is louder clearer and has less background noise than the audio of the sailor on the bridge (who, again, sounds as if he is reading from a script). This interpretation is made more likely by the loss of video during the alleged threat, consistent with the hypothesis that the original video would have given away the fact that the threat was not heard by those on the bridge (and was therefore overlaid) because it would have shown their behavior to have been inconsistent with hearing such a threat.

Michael Ibison, Austin, Texas

Actually small speed craft are very difficult targets for major warships. You can't hit them with any major armaments at close range. You'd have to use something like 50 caliber machine guns. And it's a tough shot with both boats not only moving but pitching and rolling.The speed boat can pobably do 60 knots easy. Also, they can be a very real threat. They can be outfitted with small missle launching systems, or loaded up with explosives. I think the officer on deck may have shown a bit too much restraint. Had it been me, I would have manned the 50 cals and given them just one warning burst.

Herbert Brown, Lone Jack, Mo, USA

This is just new scenario by USA.

When will American people understand what their politicians and military done to other countries like Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Iraq, Avganistan and more...

You started war in Kosovo by bombing sovereign country due to "mass killings" which later is proven like a BIG LIE.

You started war in IRAQ as your politicians said Sadam had Nuclear Bombs. Then it is proven as a LIE...

The same is in Avganistan and other countries.

Now you want a war with IRAN. IRAN is not IRAQ. They will give you a big punch on your noses.

So many WARS for nothing (I apologise, for OIL), so many innocent vicitims of your bombs, A lot of BLOOD on your HANDS.

Take your head out of a sand.

Marco, Belgrade, Yugoslavia

Why do we always look for intentions, organisation, and deliberate action. May just as well be a some rich teenagers having some "fun". A bit like students making fun of the police during demonstrations.
Result: they don't know procedures about 'identification'

And there is also the issue of language: the American has a very strong accent. I doubt whether the average Iranian or even Iranian soldier would actually understand what he was saying (especially with the sound of speedboats....) - Am I naive to assume that on such ships there permanently is someone who speaks the language. Apparently not...

Finally, if this is deliberate, I perfectly understand it: there is a threat against Iran. They don't have the weaponry the US has, so no chance to destroy warships with equally potent warships. So you resort to other techniques - speedboats. By repeating such actions you can train your troops, and may succeed in convincing the US speedboats are not dangerous.... till you need them..

peter, Birmingham,

While I am an American, I guess im a little partial when speaking of my blessed homeland and country.
I believe that most foreigners have a failing memory of attacks on large US military ships by tiny "pleasure boats" - U.S.S. Cole anybody?
Please understand that we as conservative Americans believe that the world is a better place with the USA involved in the fights we are invested in. We are a leader, we are a watcher of the good lands of the world and we feel good about our fight. Please remember the past, when America was heralded as the leader of the free world. With all the evil out there, we will be tested again - soon.
-

Scott Morse, Orlando, USA, Florida

There is nothing dramatic about the footage, it is a badly made fake. First it shows speed boats petroling, nothing dramatic about that, it happens daily over there. the conversation from the warship to the boats again normal, everyday thing. Conversation from the speed boat to the ship....FAKE, no background noises such as wind ans so on. If we look at the film again, we hear lot of background noises when the camera is outside showing other warships. The same wind noise should be present at much higher degree on conversation from the speed boat to ship. It is clear that the vooice was added on later and slowed down so it would last the same lengh of time as the origenal conversation. The reporters present should have questioned this simple fact before they report this bit of rubbish as fact.

Antonio, Brighton,

Not too far away from this location, USS Cole was attacked by a small, fast craft resulting in the death of many sailors and massive damage.

In this incident the US Navy showed restraint and professionalism - what a pleasant surprise.

The video quality was poor but one of the craft looked very pretty in a whizzy blue colour - not the sort choice one associates with "elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps". They may have rented it for the day or borrowed it from a playboy ayatollah.

I have to say if I were commanding this flotilla I would have ordered warning shots followed by sinking the nearest boat if they continued their provocative actions.

R Bingham, Lauzun, France

sorry just wondering when all ' this so called action ' was happening it seems as if one of the crew just ' happened to have a ' video camera ,and for such a stressing period ,,,,,, well the seem very relaxed...
Is this yet again another stunt by the American Goverment to show the people that they are under threat????..................
Answer should be only from G.BUSH & Co ........thats the people they should be scared of..

Chaz, Wigan, England, Greater Manchester

some people need a reality check. DO NOT aproach a warship unless you have bisiness with that vessel !

coyle, kettering, uk

What looks strange to me is that the ships on the footage don't have any flags or identification. On both sides. This is like boys playin pirates, stupid and provocative for both sides. I guess Iranians have more authority to claim rights and wrongs near their territorial waters. How would they know this is not Alkaida transporting weapons through their back door?

Don , Boston, US,

I can understand the iranians being a bit gung ho. remember USS vincennes and the civilian iranian airliner shot down with 290 aboard.

And George Bush Sr said then that he would never apologise for the US whatever the facts. Go figure.

NR, Bristol, UK

It seems people are prepared to believe anything they're told. "We are expected to believe that five minuscule speedboats "menaced" the USS Hopper, a destroyer armed with missiles; the cruiser USS Port Royal; and the USS Ingraham, a frigate. That's rather like five gnats "menacing" a trio of elephants."
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12176

Notice the 'threat' is an audio file and is tagged on the end. The voice is robotic and not at all what one would expect considering the noise and vibration that riding in those craft at that speed would provoke. With all that technology and this is the only thing they can come up with - a handheld video cam on deck? No, in fact there are several videos tagged together and taken by different cams.

Just who is provoking whom? What if Iranian ships were in the Channel, on some pretext or other – say, keeping the sea lanes open for the transport of material deemed necessary to Iran's "national security" – how would we feel about it?

David Sketchley, Seville, Spain

They were probably checking to see if the ships were British. If they had been - they would have been able to board them, have a bit of a laugh - drive the ships round in circles for a bit, then imprison the crew and take the whole lot back to Iran - thus equipping their navy with some more UK kit.

paul, Milton Keynes,

I am so sorry , But could you please tell me what the hell are those American warships doing thousands of miles away from their homeland ?!!! Strait of Hormuz is a neighbor of Iran and Iranian guards have the right to monitor it.

R.Zakeri, Tehran,

Iran trying just to embarrass US the same way they embarrassed Brits a couple of months ago. Iranians have good intelligence; they probably know what orders were given to the military personal and in which case they can open fire. So, the situation was just pushed to the limit, and as a result it looks embarrassing for US.

Michael, Tel-Aviv, Israel

How come the 'heavily accented' voice, coming over the radio, is much clearer than the voice of the US naval officer, considering the latter was speaking in the same room as the camcorder? The Iranians must have developed super-fantastic mobile radio transmitters.

Des, Dublin,

Well done ExPat USA.

It is amazing how gullible some people can be to believe anything that a corrupt US regime feeds them.

Chuck, UK,

I don't suppose anyone bothered to gather up one or two of those boxes the Iranians were dropping in the water?

That would tell us pretty quickly if the Iranians meant business or if they were just bluffing.

Further anyone who approaches a large ship while in a small craft is taking their life in their hands. That alone tells me these people weren't too bright.

Steve, USA,

The Iranians say "This happens for the two sides every once in a while and, after the identification of the two sides, the issue is resolved". I think they need glasses - how hard is it to identify a dirty great big US warship?

William McIlhagga, Ilkley,

They american navy has proved its metal in many wars but to be frigten of a hot air balloon carrying pea shooters how the mighty have fallen.(all captured on home movies) oh dear oh dear

michael joseph heavey, cahersiveen>adams towns, madness

Where were the US Naval Aviator Fighter Pilots when the speedboats fast approached the warships? They should have chased and blasted them out of the waters - it's the only language these savages understand.

SK Lin, HongKong,

Fascinating story / article / video.

It was interesting to get some insight on US Naval proceedures in such circumstances, and they seemed well drilled in what to do.

A clear and predetermined set of rules seemed to be in place, with communications officer broadcasting their legal status/rights to be there, then the US warships warning sirens giving a clear, (seeimingly univeral) tone of imminent danger to the darting small Iranian craft, which were making unclear, possibly hostile manouvres. Also, smart move to have a serviceman filming situation.

My only surprise was there was no US Commissioned Serviceman on bridge with ability to speak Iranian/Iraqi language - which may prove useful when on operations in that part of the world. Warnings broadcast in those languages as well as English could have covered United States in event of fully proving circumstances if things turned more serious.

I take it US warships still have suitable weaponary capable of stopping small fast craft?

David S, manchester, uk

I could have made a more convincing video at home. The sound effect was horrible...

Mark Gallagher, Washington, DC

Phssstt,could have been a dad and his two kids out for a cruise,They don't actually show a antenna or other communication device being used.Who's voice is that anyway?

But by all means sink any small pleasure craft that approches.
Yay War.

Gulf of Tonkin, canada,

Even if the US regime isn't faking the evidence (as it did with the "Iraqi WMD" and "Iranian nukes" warmongering stories our media reported as fact), doesn't the above story make clear that the US side was the first to threaten to use force and the garbled Iranian message (whatever it was intended to mean) came in response?

Just who is being provocative here? Iran or the US regime which has already been threatening to start another illegal war, this time against Iran, on a variety of excuses?

Richard Cheeseman, Wellington, NZ

To be quite honest I feel warning shots were justified. I think the USN showed civility and restraint but any closer from what I saw in the video and lights out. Bravo Zulu USN.

ExPat, Virginia, USA