RSSIranian Threats A “Prank”?
J.J. Jackson* | January 16, 2008
Sometimes I wonder if people have too much time on their hands and have their imaginations running wild. Last week I commented on a couple Iranian speedboats that harassed U.S. Naval vessels and the story has taken a turn with people postulating if the transmission was just a “prank”:
CAIRO, Egypt - Sailors in the Persian Gulf have known him for years: a radio operator who taunts and insults passing ships. The rants are heard and logged, then mostly forgotten.But now the phantom voice has taken center stage in the latest flurry of claims and counterclaims between Iran and the United States following a tense high seas confrontation — raising new questions about whether Washington could have gotten a key element of the story wrong.
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I ran has called the U.S. recordings fabrications. Tehran’s rebuttal received fresh attention after a newspaper that focuses on Navy issues said veteran U.S. sailors believe the threats could have been a well-known Gulf gadfly who has been pestering Gulf ships since at least the 1980s. There is also the possibility that more than one broadcaster has been contacting ships over the years.
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Washington released a tape of a radio transmission of a male voice speaking in heavily accented English on an open frequency: “I am coming to you. … You will explode after … minutes.” The White House called it a dangerous act, adding that the Iranian sailors also dropped boxes into the sea near the U.S. vessels.
“Inbound small craft: You are approaching a coalition warship operating in international waters. Your identity is not known; your intentions are unclear,” the unidentified Navy crew member says on the tape. He then cautions the Iranians that they would be “subject to defensive measures” if they did not pull back.
The airwaves on the sea are full of rogue broadcasts. Many are dismissed as harmless snippets or remarks, but the one heard during the encounter with the Iranian craft was taken seriously.
Still, the Navy has said it cannot pinpoint the source. Over the decades, neither the location or the nationality of the Gulf radio prankster — or pranksters — has been determined.
Other evidence also has cast doubt on whether the threat came from the Iranian boats, including a lack of background noise — such as boat engines or wind — on the audiotape. Other analysts have noted the voice does not sound like an Iranian accent.
Ok, that speculation is all well and good, but it doesn’t explain away the boats approaching at the same time and dropping packages in the water and basically harassing the ships in international waters.
So are we to believe that the prankster not only has a radio, but also Iranian speed boats as well at his disposal?
Listen, maybe this description and theory turns out to be true. But something doesn’t add up. Anyone can come up with theories to explain away something they don’t want to deal with because the reality of it is too painful. The 9/11 Truthers are prime examples of that.
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I’m glad I was not the only one to think this might be stretching just a bit too far in search of an explanation that excuses Iran.
We had similar experiences in Vietnam. Every now and again some smart ass would get on our frequency and start talking smack. But that is all it was. They never actually had weapons and arms and came at you with speed boats.
There were two guys in my squad that once were convinced that the landing lights on a C130 which you could tell were from a C130 were actually a UFO. Just because someone thinks something doesn’t give it credence. This report Jeff cites is based on poor reporting. There needs to be more facts to back up such a claim otherwise like you said Ron this is how conspiracy theorist make their living.