Miscellaneous News

P

PanAsian

Major
Equation said:
I don't think that was what Jeff meant or imply. It's just there's more to it than that. I think there were warning shots were fired from both side only that the Iranian naval boats had the upper hand in numbers and speed and quite possibly be chasing the Americans into Iran territorial waters know full well the other American boats had an engine problem. I don't know, that's just my theory.
Click to expand...

Jeff Head said:
Is your question serious? Of course I do not "prefer" combat, or war.

But I do want the truth.

And I will tell you some other things I want.

I want US Navy operations to be conducted professionally and skillfully, and for those personnel to be able to defend themselves if set upon, and to understand that their comrades will come to their aide whenever necessary.

I believe those desires are common for any nation's citizens as regards their personnel.

So, please, lets not make something out of this that it is not.
Click to expand...

I just don't think anyone should presume to know what happened and make a mountain out of a mole hill. I am sure whoever needs to know about the truth knows and will deal with it appropriately beyond defusing the immediate situation.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
PanAsian said:
I just don't think anyone should presume to know what happened and make a mountain out of a mole hill. I am sure whoever needs to know about the truth knows and will deal with it appropriately beyond defusing the immediate situation.
Click to expand...
You are free to think whatever you wish...and that's fine.

But you are drifting into passing judgment based on your own subjective view of things...and I do take issue with that.

What you may consider to be a mole hill, particularly if you are not involved with the US Military and its personnel (and I have been on numerous occasions in my career) and what you presume to be a mountain, may not be at all what others think they are..
 
Brumby

Brumby

Major
Blackstone said:
Problem is, I can't believe the patrol boats wouldn't fire in self-defense, had the incident clearly occurred international waters, because it would have been either piracy or an act of war. Given that, I lean towards the official story from DoD that our boats accidentally strayed into Iranian waters and the Iranians had the legal right to detain them.
Click to expand...

If we take a step back and understand the situation from a macro perspective, the actions of the Iranians and the US timid response is actually troubling regardless of the details that may eventually emerged. Even if the two vessels had accidently entered into Iranian territory, whether due to mechanical problem or navigation error it is nevertheless a sovereign warship of the US. Under international law it is protected by innocent passage provisions and not subject to being commandeered under threat. The fact that the incident happened greatly undermined the prestige and power of the US - period.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Reports now of over 20 dead in Burkina Faso's

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


3035A6DE00000578-3401845-image-a-15_1452916599728.jpg​

Daily Mail said:
Commandos stormed a four-star hotel and freed 33 hostages in an attempt to end an hours-long siege after masked jihadi gunmen killed at least 20 with 'foreigners among the dead' in Burkina Faso's capital.

Of those who were freed was Clément Sawadogo, a government minister, Remis Dandjinou, Burkina Faso’s minister of communication said on Twitter, adding that the operation to retake the Ouagadougou's Splendid Hotel is ongoing.

Approximately 40 Burkinabe soldiers with the help of 30 French troops and an unknown number of American troops stormed the hotel in Ouagadougou's business district more than five hours after it was attacked by the jihadists.

It is unknown how many hostages remain trapped inside the hotel, which was accidentally set on fire during the rescue attempt.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement released on an encrypted messaging app. The group said the fighters have killed as many as 30 hostages.

The organization claims that the operation was 'revenge against France and the disbelieving West', according to New York Times foreign correspondent Rukmini Callimachi.

Soldiers were not met with gunfire as they entered the building, though part of the lobby was on fire. Soon after, witness Sumudu Dhanapala said loud bangs and gunfire could be heard from the street,
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
reported.

Troops were still trying to retake control of the building eight hours after the hostage situation began.
Click to expand...
 
P

PanAsian

Major
Jeff Head said:
You are free to think whatever you wish...and that's fine.

But you are drifting into passing judgment based on your own subjective view of things...and I do take issue with that.

What you may consider to be a mole hill, particularly if you are not involved with the US Military and its personnel (and I have been on numerous occasions in my career) and what you presume to be a mountain, may not be at all what others think they are..
Click to expand...

Who here isn't passing judgment based on their own subjective view of things? Everything else you said is fair enough. I am still unsure what you think happened which seems in your opinion to not be getting due attention.
 
MwRYum

MwRYum

Major
Brumby said:
I suspect is a case of being blind sided by the details rather than the meaning of "just what happened". Give it some time for the implications of it to sink in and we might see some reaction in that direction. I don't think the US would just let this pass without responding in some manner especially if the implications of it is understood in its proper context. Basically, Tehran challenged Washington to a game of chicken and the US just blinked.
Click to expand...
This is 2016, not 1916, and people either pounce all over it within 24 hours or it just gonna sink, side-lined and forgotten...unless Wikileak blew the story wide open sometime down the road and The Guardian run a juicy story of it 12 hours before the Democratic Party convention...

So you could be right, if this one gonna sink and sidelined before the end of this month, we'll just have to wait who's gonna blew it open with a juicy story, sometime down the road...
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
PanAsian said:
That sounds suspiciously like a self-proclaimed right to gunboat diplomacy by the US which I doubt anyone subject to it would willingly agree to.
Click to expand...
No, it would be nothing like that at all.

The fact is...a warship has the right, under international law...to innocent passage.

If these vessels had a navigation error (which I do not believe for a moment), or if they broke down and drifted (which I also do not believe for a moment) they would have had every right to either depart on their own accord, or to be towed away by their own vessels.

The Iranians boarding them and having the sailors kneel with their hands up is a gross violation of international law, and, in fact can easily be construed as a hostile act. Both the Iranians and the US have stated reasons for this action which simply do not add up, either logically, or according to law.

That it happened, and that such excuses were given...flies in the face of reason and every norm of international law on the high seas. That is why my friend who is a retired US Navy SEAL command officer said what he said. It is also why I have said that something different happened. We do not know what...but it is as clear as day that something much different occurred here.

So...

Speculating at this point what that might be is senseless and would result in a meaningless argument and discussion which violate SD rules.

Until we have more information that is credible...let's just let it rest at this point. Further speculation and discussion regarding it, unless something new is brought forward should stop now. It will only lead to accusations, arguments, emotion, flame wars, etc.

DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS MODERATION
 
Blackstone

Blackstone

Brigadier
It's Official: DPP's Tsai Ing-wen Is Taiwan's Next President
Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party is the opposition no more – the DPP won the presidency in Saturday’s elections in a landslide victory that resets Taiwan’s political landscape.

DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen handily defeated both candidate Eric Chu of the Kuomintang (KMT), the party of current President Ma Ying-jeou, and third party candidate James Soong to claim victory.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, with 98 percent of the results in, Tsai and running mate Chen Chien-jen had claimed 56.2 percent of the votes, with Chu at 30.9 percent and Soong at 12.8 percent.

Tsai will be Taiwan’s first female president and only the second DPP president, following Chen Shui-bian’s 2000-2008 tenure. Unlike Chen, who managed only a plurality to eke out a victory in 2000, Tsai was elected by a convincing margin that will give her a clear mandate going forward. Ma won election in 2008 with similar numbers, claiming 58.4 percent of the vote. In her victory speech, Tsai said the election results proved the strength of Taiwan’s democracy.

Chu has already conceded defeat and congratulated Tsai on her victory. He also announced his resignation as chair of the KMT,
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
having “failed” the voters and Taiwan. It’s the second time in just over two years the KMT has had to look for a new chair; Ma Ying-jeou resigned
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
after a sweeping defeat in November 2014’s local elections.

In the legislative elections, results were slower to come in, but early results showed another victory for the DPP. As of 8 pm local time, the DPP had wrapped up 41 out of the 113 seats, with the KMT having only secured 14. At a DPP victory rally, Tsai declared her party had successfully won its first-ever legislative majority, which Chu conceded as well in his resignation speech.

The
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, meanwhile, were crystal clear. With 99 percent of results reported, the DPP had 44.1 percent of the votes, with the KMT at 26.9 percent. Soong’s People First Party was the top performing third party, with 6.5 percent of votes, closely followed by the New Power Party at 6.1 percent. Thirty-four seats in the Legislature Yuan will be divided up according to the at-large results.

Update: The DPP is now reported to have won 68 out of the 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan, with 35 for the KMT, 5 for the New Power Party, and 3 for the People First Party.

The results, while widely anticipated given Tsai’s consistent double-digit leads in the polls, will nonetheless be worrisome for Beijing. Mainland China has never really given up its image of the DPP as a pro-independence party, despite Tsai’s repeated promises that she will maintain the “status quo” in cross-strait relations. Chinese officials have warned that, unless Tsai accepts the “1992 consensus” holding that there is only on China, cross-strait relations could falter.
Click to expand...
 
AssassinsMace

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
CZColoqUwAAxbu_.png Black Lives Matter organization just blocked all lanes in one direction of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge and chained themselves and their cars blocking all lanes. Those that don't know the Bay Bridge is the main artery for traffic travelling through the Bay Area and one of the busiest in the world.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top