DescentBB

...and just a few hours before his last state of the union...

Washington (CNN)Ten American sailors were being held in Iranian custody after two small U.S. naval craft entered Iranian territorial waters, defense officials said Tuesday.

Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN's Dana Bash that he expected the sailors to be released "very soon" but would not be more specific. He was speaking at the Capitol ahead of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

A senior administration official said there is nothing to indicate this was anything hostile on the part of any entity in Iran, adding that the U.S. has received high-level assurances that the sailors will be released promptly.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/politics/ ... index.html

I'm betting Obama will still say his nuclear deal with Iran is rock solid and the sanctions should be lifted after Iran mashes their shoe heels on Obama's forehead.

He is the 'double down on failure' president.

Sooooooo you'll willingly admit to being a fool when they're released within a day?

Top Gun wrote:Sooooooo you'll willingly admit to being a fool when they're released within a day?

Even if they're released in 15 minutes, the Iranians did it to further humiliate the United States.

You're a fool for trying to suggest otherwise.

so, if a foreign boat runs aground on Assateague Island(as an example), you don't expect the US Coast Guard to check things out overnight? Geez, you look like a fool, NS.

callmeslick wrote:so, if a foreign boat runs aground on Assateague Island(as an example), you don't expect the US Coast Guard to check things out overnight? Geez, you look like a fool, NS.

This is their reaction to Obama summed up in one picture:

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/ ... eaky_0.png

callmeslick wrote:so, if a foreign boat runs aground on Assateague Island(as an example), you don't expect the US Coast Guard to check things out overnight? Geez, you look like a fool, NS.

I suspect the foreign govt. wouldn't be getting their top diplomat out of bed to handle it either.

you can bet they would, were there tensions already between the two nations. In fact, quite a few years ago, just that sort of thing happened with Russians running aground or drifting into coastal waters here in the East. Same exact scenario, but damn it, with Obama in charge the loony right has to drum it up into some sort of 'show of weakness' or other simpleminded drivel. This is and was standard International nautical protocol. Are some in Iran likely, just like their radical counterparts in the US right wing, going to make this out to be something significant? Sure, propaganda works in both directions.

Haha! How dare they defend their territorial integrity. Don't they know these conventions don't apply to the almighty United States?

Update: Resolved overnight, all released.

Foil wrote:Update: Resolved overnight, all released.

I like that headline. I'm going to post it because it reads so nicely.


"Iran’s Swift Release of U.S. Sailors Hailed as a Sign of Warmer Relations"


Finally.

vision wrote:"Iran’s Swift Release of U.S. Sailors Hailed as a Sign of Warmer Relations"


Finally.

[youtube]A_6HGuSFf2g[/youtube]

How can the liberal media make claims of warmer relations when they forced our boys to PUT THEIR HANDS ON THEIR HEADS?!?! I can hardly think of anything worse. That Obama hasn't bombed Tehran yet is just another example of his feckless "leadership" that puts western civilization at risk.

now stop that, Vander. I nearly spilt my coffee!

One can clearly see what I meant above, when I wrote that propaganda goes in all directions. I note the actual mainstream GOP, who sent their girl out last night with a clearly targeted and scripted message, avoided ANY mention of the incident in the SOTU response.

Vander wrote:How can the liberal media make claims of warmer relations when they forced our boys to PUT THEIR HANDS ON THEIR HEADS?!?! I can hardly think of anything worse. That Obama hasn't bombed Tehran yet is just another example of his feckless "leadership" that puts western civilization at risk.

Obama's too busy paying them over 100 billion for killing our citizens in Iraq.

Come on TB, even you have to admit that Iran handled this pretty fairly, and that that is a good thing.

A natural reaction of the army by one state against the invasion of their territory by the army of another state. It's not "boys," and soldiers.
And this is not an attempt to humiliate the USA, but a preventive measure from the endless "jokes" and "mistakes" of the U.S. army, too used to make excuses for violations of international laws - "Oh, sorry, we mistakenly bombed a hospital in Syria, or our submarines "accidentally" ended up in the Arctic ocean within the territorial waters of Russia, or... or... or...

Vander wrote:Come on TB, even you have to admit that Iran handled this pretty fairly, and that that is a good thing.

moreover, two more points jump out: first off, the treatment of the matter by the extremists among us completely illustrates the exact sort of BS that Obama called out last night in the SOTU. America the victim, America not respected, etc,etc. Gloom and Doom. Second,the real message here is that Iran detained people on their sovereign waters, treated them fairly and sent them home the very next morning, when it was safe to do so. The whole incident is a tribute to how far we've come in building bridges and working on cooperation with nations, even those who still maintain adversarial stances. Does anyone think this would have happened on this arc 8 or even 20 years ago? Remember how the Brits were treated over a similar situation? Seriously, TB, it's time to get outside and smell reality. The blind Obama-stupidity has gotten to your brain, and based upon what I've read here, I'm giving you credit in saying that much.

A couple of questions. If one of the boats broke down, why didn't the other tow it towards Bahrain, away from Iranian waters? They weren't full sized ships and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to tow a disabled boat. Also, has Iran given the boats back to us as well, or are they going to keep them as a prize like North Korea did with the USS Pueblo?

tunnelcat wrote:A couple of questions. If one of the boats broke down, why didn't the other tow it towards Bahrain, away from Iranian waters?

they haven't yet declared the cause, but I suspect the communications went down, or they ventured into waters that were not properly charted. Probably not as simple as an engine breakdown. Those are little boats, neither was about to tow the other in open water.

They weren't full sized ships and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to tow a disabled boat. Also, has Iran given the boats back to us as well, or are they going to keep them as a prize like North Korea did with the USS Pueblo?

both boats were returned by US Navy personnel, who were invited to the island to recover them, this morning. Why is it that so many people wish to jump to some terrible conclusion, with such immediacy?

further, and this ALWAYS puzzles me. Given that all the info above is available, at this point, in about 100 major news outlets, why on Earth seek an answer to that question HERE? Just Google it, or use whatever search method you prefer.

callmeslick wrote:...use whatever search method you prefer.

I think this is the problem. Too much self-reinforcing search. Doing a Google search will give most a filter bubble with results tailored to what they want to hear, and even if it didn't, they would only click on headlines that confirmed their bias.

but, vision....if you have a question, such as TC had, which seemingly had no real bias within it, why not just look it up. I mean, I'll answer here, and so will many, it just isn't where I'd go for a quick response.

callmeslick wrote:further, and this ALWAYS puzzles me. Given that all the info above is available, at this point, in about 100 major news outlets, why on Earth seek an answer to that question HERE? Just Google it, or use whatever search method you prefer.

Because, I was already logged in here and I figured someone like you would probably know.

EDIT:

I Googled. No mention of returning our U.S. Navy property. Found a CNN video of one of the crewman apologizing to Iranian officials. Most of the links were at least 12 hours old.

well, thanks for the show of confidence in me. It's odd that I can find more recent news articles and they don't show up on your search. Then again, I don't get search algorithms, and am a technical luddite.

Maybe Google hates me.

callmeslick wrote:further, and this ALWAYS puzzles me. Given that all the info above is available, at this point, in about 100 major news outlets, why on Earth seek an answer to that question HERE? Just Google it, or use whatever search method you prefer.

In other words - "Guys, why do you need me, if you have Google?"

precisely,sigma.....although it is bracing to know I'm a more trusted and reliable source.

Well here's a little tidbit that no one seems to have broached. why was the female sailor forced to wear a head scarf? Trying to humiliate her? I'll bet she didn't think her treatment was all that wonderful.

Wood, I want to say you're joking. I heard the sailors asked for the red happy meal toy, but their captors gave them the blue toy.

Vander, so being forced to conform to another persons religion is a joke? I see nothing humorous for a american woman being subjugated to 2nd class status as women are in Iran. I'd really like to get TC's opinion on the matter instead of a male chauvinist

Vander, so being forced to conform to another persons religion is a joke?

She wasn't forced to convert to Islam, she was told to wear a head scarf for a couple hours. The joke is how far you're going to perceive some sort of offense, when all reports suggest our sailors were treated pretty well. They were caught somewhere they shouldn't have been, held for a short while, fed, and promptly released. That is pretty decent treatment considering this is a country we routinely speak of as an enemy in dire need of bombing.

We f'd up, and Iran basically let us off the hook. Why can't you be happy with that? What's next, are you going to complain they didn't get bacon with their meal?

woodchip wrote:Well here's a little tidbit that no one seems to have broached. why was the female sailor forced to wear a head scarf? Trying to humiliate her? I'll bet she didn't think her treatment was all that wonderful.

Well, if I'd been that female sailor, I'd have LOVED to have told them they could take that headscarf and shove it where the sun don't shine. Better yet would have been to shoot first and say "OK" later. But since I'm a prisoner in their country with their cultural restrictions, I'd have to humor them. Beside, why give a bunch of sexually repressed Muslims the thrill of seeing my face, if that's all it takes for them to get a hard on. Sexual assault would not be on my short list. Of course with my nearly 60 year old face, it probably wouldn't be a turn on anyway, covered or uncovered.

I just knew there was a disingenuous reason for conservatives to harp on Obama about this little incident, and lo and behold, it happened to good ol' Bushie too, and HE also apologized for an incident with China. Tsk, tsk. Bush, a Republican, had to eat a little crow too, so who's been made a fool of?

http://theweek.com/articles/599066/gop- ... y-incident

So do you think the “he did it too” defense would work for you in court?

“You are charged with murder”
“Yea but, that guy over there murdered somebody too…”

woodchip wrote:Well here's a little tidbit that no one seems to have broached. why was the female sailor forced to wear a head scarf? Trying to humiliate her? I'll bet she didn't think her treatment was all that wonderful.

that is the norm in their society. So what, she had to wear a scarf for 7 or 8 hours? Geez, you would be funny were you telling jokes, but I suspect you actually believe this drivel.

Spidey wrote:So do you think the “he did it too” defense would work for you in court?

“You are charged with murder”
“Yea but, that guy over there murdered somebody too…”

No, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. So if you don't like what our president does, keep your mouth shut when your president did the same thing and you never uttered a peep in outrage about it. NS needs to keep this in mind when he trolls liberals about the failings of their president.

If the USA picked up a boat in our waters full of sailors from a nation of people who don't wear pants, would it be cruel to have them wear a towel around their waist?

something else regarding Islam--in their eyes, it isn't about the woman covering up for her own sake. It is about exposing the eyes of devout me to an uncovered woman. It is THEM who would be sinning, and they had to have her around for a few hours.

Also, to follow up on vision's comment above: This was a island outpost for a branch of the military(the Rev Guards). Thus, the actual analogy that I could relate to on the East Coast, was to imagine if a couple of small Iranian vessels(or Russian, or Chinese) came towards Wallops Island, off the coast of Virginia. Home to NASA, NOAA and you can bet, every spy agency we have. I will be willing to venture that it would have been well over 24 hours before ANYONE in those boats were released, and the Coast Guard would have aggressively intercepted them.

Vander wrote:... I heard the sailors asked for the red happy meal toy, but their captors gave them the blue toy.

I'm sure they know better. Average American citizens climb through drive-through windows overt a measly McNugget. You'd better not switch the toy on one of our boys in uniform.

callmeslick wrote:

woodchip wrote:Well here's a little tidbit that no one seems to have broached. why was the female sailor forced to wear a head scarf? Trying to humiliate her? I'll bet she didn't think her treatment was all that wonderful.

that is the norm in their society. So what, she had to wear a scarf for 7 or 8 hours? Geez, you would be funny were you telling jokes, but I suspect you actually believe this drivel.

So you would see no problem if a Iranian boat landed on a baptist island run by the Phelps family and forced any of the female Iranians to take off their head scarves as the scarves were offensive?