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Well, this is interesting. Is Obama about to have his Jimmy Carter moment?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35295766

This happens on the same day Obama is giving his state of the union address. Coincidence?

Seems like a pretty good non-event?

 d-usa wrote:
Seems like a pretty good non-event?

Iran has been thumbing its nose at the USA for quite a while, now...

Maybe we'll get to see another red line from Obama

So they detained them, and it seems like they let them go? Did i miss read the story?

 Easy E wrote:
So they detained them, and it seems like they let them go? Did i miss read the story?

You're missing the point. That sailors from the world's most powerful military were detained in the first place, speaks volumes at how low American might has sunk in the eyes of Iran. That they even had the nerve to do this tells its own message.

Nobody did this to Britain in the 19th century without a gak storm heading their way in retaliation.

Sailors from the world's most powerful military (were they Navy vessels or private vessels?), who were experiencing mechanical problems and were stopped in the water, were detained?

The linked story also says they don't know when they will be released.

Its a massive insult.

President is weak. No one would do that with a stronger leader.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
So they detained them, and it seems like they let them go? Did i miss read the story?

You're missing the point. That sailors from the world's most powerful military were detained in the first place, speaks volumes at how low American might has sunk in the eyes of Iran. That they even had the nerve to do this tells its own message.

Nobody did this to Britain in the 19th century without a gak storm heading their way in retaliation.

Gak storm. That act would trigger a Royal Navy hammer down if not released immediately back in empire days. No one fethed with the RN back before in history.

 jhe90 wrote:
Its a massive insult.

President is weak. No one would do that with a stronger leader.

And Turkey blew up a Russian bomber with little repercussion. Isn't Putin supposed to be the poster boy for "tough" leaders?

By the way, whats up with all the hawkish British posters in this thread? Go rile up your own people, limeys.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
So they detained them, and it seems like they let them go? Did i miss read the story?

You're missing the point. That sailors from the world's most powerful military were detained in the first place, speaks volumes at how low American might has sunk in the eyes of Iran. That they even had the nerve to do this tells its own message.

Nobody did this to Britain in the 19th century without a gak storm heading their way in retaliation.

Well, the article did say this happened after one of our ships had mechanical problems, and the Iranians said the sailors are safe and will be allowed to continue as soon as possible.

For all we know, the Iranians were helping them with whatever the nautical equivalent of a flat tire is.

Because it really seems unlikely that they're going to be thumbing their nose at us in that particular region. I'm sure there's got to be a carrier group or two within a day's sail of the gulf, given the region's instability.

It's one thing for an ayatollah to yell 'death to america' in their capitol, and quite another face down a carrier group with that same bad attitude.

http://www.ibtimes.com/iran-us-navy-dispute-live-updates-iranian-military-holds-10-american-sailors-irans-2262162

And it sounds like they were, in fact, in Iranian waters.

 jhe90 wrote:
Its a massive insult.

President is weak. No one would do that with a stronger leader.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
So they detained them, and it seems like they let them go? Did i miss read the story?

You're missing the point. That sailors from the world's most powerful military were detained in the first place, speaks volumes at how low American might has sunk in the eyes of Iran. That they even had the nerve to do this tells its own message.

Nobody did this to Britain in the 19th century without a gak storm heading their way in retaliation.

Gak storm. That act would trigger a Royal Navy hammer down if not released immediately back in empire days. No one fethed with the RN back before in history.

Agreed. Let's not forget that it's only been a week or so since they were firing rockets/missiles near US ships.

The Iranians clearly feel that they have nothing to fear from a President who has one eye on the exit door.

 d-usa wrote:
Sailors from the world's most powerful military (were they Navy vessels or private vessels?), who were experiencing mechanical problems and were stopped in the water, were detained?

Seems they were Riverine Command Boats (also used for coastal ops) if what I saw is true.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:

 jhe90 wrote:
Its a massive insult.

President is weak. No one would do that with a stronger leader.

And Turkey blew up a Russian bomber with little repercussion. Isn't Putin supposed to be the poster boy for "tough" leaders?

By the way, whats up with all the hawkish British posters in this thread? Go rile up your own people, limeys.

Putin's not stupid enough to take on a NATO member over that level of incident.

The USA Vs. Iran is a completely different ball game, unless Iran can call on help from it's fellow WARSAW Pact members

You've discovered Britain's secret plan: get the USA and the rest of the world to fight it out, and when it's over, Britain can take advantage and forge a new British Empire

 jhe90 wrote:
Its a massive insult.

President is weak. No one would do that with a stronger leader.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
So they detained them, and it seems like they let them go? Did i miss read the story?

You're missing the point. That sailors from the world's most powerful military were detained in the first place, speaks volumes at how low American might has sunk in the eyes of Iran. That they even had the nerve to do this tells its own message.

Nobody did this to Britain in the 19th century without a gak storm heading their way in retaliation.

Gak storm. That act would trigger a Royal Navy hammer down if not released immediately back in empire days. No one fethed with the RN back before in history.

Of course, when Iran did this to your sailors in the recent past, you guys were not so tough...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6484279.stm

 CptJake wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
Sailors from the world's most powerful military (were they Navy vessels or private vessels?), who were experiencing mechanical problems and were stopped in the water, were detained?

Seems they were Riverine Command Boats (also used for coastal ops) if what I saw is true.

Yeah, when the article was originally posted I couldn't tell if they were sailors or 'sailors'.



Interesting little boats. If they were in fact having mechanical problems I could see how they wouldn't want to be stuck anywhere.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 jhe90 wrote:
Its a massive insult.

President is weak. No one would do that with a stronger leader.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
So they detained them, and it seems like they let them go? Did i miss read the story?

You're missing the point. That sailors from the world's most powerful military were detained in the first place, speaks volumes at how low American might has sunk in the eyes of Iran. That they even had the nerve to do this tells its own message.

Nobody did this to Britain in the 19th century without a gak storm heading their way in retaliation.

Gak storm. That act would trigger a Royal Navy hammer down if not released immediately back in empire days. No one fethed with the RN back before in history.

Agreed. Let's not forget that it's only been a week or so since they were firing rockets/missiles near US ships.

The Iranians clearly feel that they have nothing to fear from a President who has one eye on the exit door.

What a strongly worded press conference.
Persian gulf fleet and bases are probbly on high alert and bringing systems warm if not hot.

Its a small one but, if they can get away with small, what next. It gets dangerous with weak leaders and such. Those things can lead to wars.

 CptJake wrote:

Of course, when Iran did this to your sailors in the recent past, you guys were not so tough...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6484279.stm

You gonna get the hammer for that!

 Kap'n Krump wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
So they detained them, and it seems like they let them go? Did i miss read the story?

You're missing the point. That sailors from the world's most powerful military were detained in the first place, speaks volumes at how low American might has sunk in the eyes of Iran. That they even had the nerve to do this tells its own message.

Nobody did this to Britain in the 19th century without a gak storm heading their way in retaliation.

Well, the article did say this happened after one of our ships had mechanical problems, and the Iranians said the sailors are safe and will be allowed to continue as soon as possible.

For all we know, the Iranians were helping them with whatever the nautical equivalent of a flat tire is.

Because it really seems unlikely that they're going to be thumbing their nose at us in that particular region. I'm sure there's got to be a carrier group or two within a day's sail of the gulf, given the region's instability.

It's one thing for an ayatollah to yell 'death to america' in their capitol, and quite another face down a carrier group with that same bad attitude.

You can have all the carrier groups in the world, but if the commander in chief doesn't have the guts to make a decision when it's crunch time...

 d-usa wrote:

Yeah, when the article was originally posted I couldn't tell if they were sailors or 'sailors'.



Interesting little boats. If they were in fact having mechanical problems I could see how they wouldn't want to be stuck anywhere.

Actually, I think they were these:

Yes. But Royal Navy is a weak shadow of itself.

USN is ment to be the all powerful US big stick.

So the latest tl:dr version of current events:

Two American ships enter Iranian territorial waters and have a mechanical problem near one of the Iranian naval bases, so they get picked up by Iran.

I can see how Iran is the great Satan here...

 CptJake wrote:

 jhe90 wrote:
Its a massive insult.

President is weak. No one would do that with a stronger leader.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
So they detained them, and it seems like they let them go? Did i miss read the story?

You're missing the point. That sailors from the world's most powerful military were detained in the first place, speaks volumes at how low American might has sunk in the eyes of Iran. That they even had the nerve to do this tells its own message.

Nobody did this to Britain in the 19th century without a gak storm heading their way in retaliation.

Gak storm. That act would trigger a Royal Navy hammer down if not released immediately back in empire days. No one fethed with the RN back before in history.

Of course, when Iran did this to your sailors in the recent past, you guys were not so tough...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6484279.stm

It's not news to Brits that we're no longer the world's most powerful military or superpower. We've been in decline for a long time. I know it, you know it, and everybody in the UK would say the same.

Still, we're not the nation with the 600 billion dollar defence budget


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 d-usa wrote:
So the latest tl:dr version of current events:

Two American ships enter Iranian territorial waters and have a mechanical problem near one of the Iranian naval bases, so they get picked up by Iran.

I can see how Iran is the great Satan here...

Iran is playing the long game, testing the waters here for a reaction

I suspect with the tension between Iran and other Gulf States, their anti-ISIS involvement, and the Iran Nuke deal, they won't be doing much to antagonize us. They probably want our help in all of the areas listed above.

I suspect that as soon as those sailors get their boat moving, they will have them on their way.

 CptJake wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
Sailors from the world's most powerful military (were they Navy vessels or private vessels?), who were experiencing mechanical problems and were stopped in the water, were detained?

Seems they were Riverine Command Boats (also used for coastal ops) if what I saw is true.

Doesn't matter if it were a rubber duck floating along. If it's under the US navy flag, that should mean something.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 CptJake wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
Sailors from the world's most powerful military (were they Navy vessels or private vessels?), who were experiencing mechanical problems and were stopped in the water, were detained?

Seems they were Riverine Command Boats (also used for coastal ops) if what I saw is true.

Doesn't matter if it were a rubber duck floating along. If it's under the US navy flag, that should mean something.

It probably means that if a foreign navy flying a foreign flag with foreign soldiers hangs out inside your territorial waters near one of your military bases you are going to pick them up and ask them a couple questions before you send them on your way?

Is the UK cool with Russian ships and planes and such flying inside their territorial waters?

 Easy E wrote:
I suspect with the tension between Iran and other Gulf States, their anti-ISIS involvement, and the Iran Nuke deal, they won't be doing much to antagonize us. They probably want our help in all of the areas listed above.

I suspect that as soon as those sailors get their boat moving, they will have them on their way.

I would probably agree.

Weak or strong leadership of the US doesn't matter in this case. No reason why a sovereign power shouldn't ask a few questions of a foreign powers armed forces tootling around its territorial waters

Pretty troubling that Iran feels emboldened enough to detain our military personnel...simple malfunction or no.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 CptJake wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
Sailors from the world's most powerful military (were they Navy vessels or private vessels?), who were experiencing mechanical problems and were stopped in the water, were detained?

Seems they were Riverine Command Boats (also used for coastal ops) if what I saw is true.

Doesn't matter if it were a rubber duck floating along. If it's under the US navy flag, that should mean something.

The US would have picked up anyone in waters they aren't cleared to be in flying any flag of anywhere, as would any nation with any naval presence whatsoever. You seem to have quite the hard-on for seeing the US in another military action. Compensating for something lacking in your national character, perhaps?

 Mr. Burning wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
I suspect with the tension between Iran and other Gulf States, their anti-ISIS involvement, and the Iran Nuke deal, they won't be doing much to antagonize us. They probably want our help in all of the areas listed above.

I suspect that as soon as those sailors get their boat moving, they will have them on their way.

I would probably agree.

Weak or strong leadership of the US doesn't matter in this case.

It's all about perception. Iran fires missiles near US ships. No response. Iran detains US sailors. No response.

Iran is sending a message to American allies in the Middle East that American won't lift a finger to protect its own assets, never mind your stuff.

Syria is in trouble, so its ally Russia sends in help.

Who do you want on your side? America or Iran/Russia?

That's the message here, folks. Do you think it's a coincidence this is happening this year? One President heading for the exit door, and an unknown new guy/woman coming in.

Iran is trying to make America's allies nervous.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 jasper76 wrote:
Pretty troubling that Iran feels emboldened enough to detain our military personnel...simple malfunction or no.

At last, somebody gets it!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Psienesis wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 CptJake wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
Sailors from the world's most powerful military (were they Navy vessels or private vessels?), who were experiencing mechanical problems and were stopped in the water, were detained?

Seems they were Riverine Command Boats (also used for coastal ops) if what I saw is true.

Doesn't matter if it were a rubber duck floating along. If it's under the US navy flag, that should mean something.

The US would have picked up anyone in waters they aren't cleared to be in flying any flag of anywhere, as would any nation with any naval presence whatsoever. You seem to have quite the hard-on for seeing the US in another military action. Compensating for something lacking in your national character, perhaps?

Not at all. Remember how peaceful the world was in the 1990s when the Soviet Union collapsed and America had no rivals for the top spot? I do, and I enjoyed that peace. History shows us that wars tend to happen when people think that the number one guy is no longer number one.

Germany sensed weakness in Britain pre-WW1 and pre-WW2.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Is the UK cool with Russian ships and planes and such flying inside their territorial waters?

No, we chase them out, when we can get a ship out of mothballs, but we're not daft enough to detain them.