Obama Sends SWAT to Inspect Oil Rigs in Gulf

I didn't see this posted yet.

Source

Video

I personally believe that Obama had SWAT on that oil rig on Earth day to send a message and help shape his next agenda.

www.realclearpolitics.com...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: "Earlier today, DHS Secretary Napolitano announced that this incident is of national significance and the Department of Interior has announced that they will be sending SWAT teams to the Gulf to inspect all platforms and rigs. And I have ordered the Secretaries of Interior and Homeland Security as well as Administrator Lisa Jackson of the Environmental Protection Agency to visit the site on Friday to ensure that BP and the entire U.S. government is doing everything possible, not just to respond to this incident, but also to determine its cause."


SWAT teams? Why would he send SWAT teams? My guess is they will find `serious problems` with our off shore oil fields and the government will step in to control all drilling with say , a new oil field czar or something.

reply to post by bluemooone2


I completely agree. I went and looked up the definition of SWAT to make sure I understood what it meant:

A SWAT (special weapons and tactics)[1][2] team is an elite paramilitary tactical unit in American and some international law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers. Their duties include performing hostage rescues and counter-terrorism operations, serving high risk arrest and search warrants, subduing barricaded suspects, and engaging heavily-armed criminals

I don't see where oil rig inspection fits that. I could understand sending in engineers or scientists. It seems to me that this is an admission of sabotage.

The oil is out of control in the Gulf. It is trying to effect an escape and leave a controlled environment.
The SWAT teams are obviously going in to try to negotiate a peaceful resolution to this situation. If not, it will blow it all up....

I am obviously being sarcastic to a ridiculous idea. I just can't understand why they would be needed there..
What don't we know?

....wait a minute...maybe they are there to blow it up. They have said they want to set it on fire.

Unless there is a lot more to this. And this was not an accident. There was a story about explosions being heard 3 hours before the rig went up. I posted THIS on the 22nd. Then it was covered up. The statement about the explosions was pretty quickly retracted and then IGNORED by the MSM.

If there was an intentional sabotage to our oil rigs it would be huge. Seems like that's still a job for the military instead of SWAT teams. Oh wait...they are all in Afghanistan and Iraq.



[edit on 29-4-2010 by webpirate]

Originally posted by webpirate
....wait a minute...maybe they are there to blow it up. They have said they want to set it on fire.

The problem though is that homeland security was sent to bomb the oil leaking out. The SWAT is being sent to OTHER oil rigs in the gulf to inspect their operation. I am POSITIVE that there are federal agents tasked with inspecting oil rigs so I guess they didn't get the job done and now the "inspection" needs to take place at gun point with the oil rig employees tied up, stripped down, and with hoods over their faces.

reply to post by ararisq


Yeah. I realized that after initially posting. Was editing my post when you posted your reply..see above again...sorry

[edit on 29-4-2010 by webpirate]

reply to post by webpirate


I think SWAT in this case just means 'guys that know how to keep their mouth shut'. Of course for progressives this is a dream come true. They so screwed the oil rig that stopping the leak is like stopping the oil wells burning in Iraq. Difficult. This is probably more difficult. They somehow did what hurricanes could not even do when they destroyed oil rigs. I smell conspiracy all over this and Obama is doing nothing to alleviate that -- rather the contrary.

BY the way. The post I referenced above had a link to that story which I quoted from in my thread. That story is now gone from that link. Like I said...It has been totally ignored by the MSM. The reports of an explosion 3 hours prior to the big one came from a crew member who was rescued off the rig. Apparently before he was told to keep his mouth shut.

reply to post by ararisq

Agreed.
Total covered up conspiracy.


[edit on 29-4-2010 by webpirate]

Is this the first step in the "Hugo Chavez" nationalization plan of off-shore drilling. Declare an emergency and infer that the well was sabotaged and then confiscate it for the public good.

Why is there no outcry at the Obama administration for dropping the ball and thereby creating an "Eco disaster" by not acting when this "accident" first occured? If GW was still in town the "Pravada Press" would be crucifying the guy about this, just like they did to GW when Katrina hit. Hell this clown hasn't even flown over the disaster site to have a look yet.

I'm calling "Shenanigans" on this fiasco. This is a setup or at the very least they are taking advantage of a horrible drilling accident and moving to crush any hope of more domestic oil production. It will put that last coffin nail in to kill all off-shore drilling and this "accident" was just what they needed to shut it all down. How convenient!

Originally posted by webpirate
BY the way. The post I referenced above had a link to that story which I quoted from in my thread. That story is now gone from that link. Like I said...It has been totally ignored by the MSM. The reports of an explosion 3 hours prior to the big one came from a crew member who was rescued off the rig. Apparently before he was told to keep his mouth shut.

I read that thread when it came out. What happened to the survivor? Has he spoken at all or were his injuries such that he probably 'won't recover'?

I will re-post here the info I had posted on the 22nd about the initial explosions. Since that is now the only place I can find on the web about them at the moment.

Oil rig reported explosion 3 hours before fire

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A crew member from an oil platform that sank off the Louisiana coast Thursday reported an initial explosion three hours before the rig went up in flames in a second, larger explosion, the Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry told The Associated Press that according to their internal reports, the first blast was reported at 7 p.m. CDT Tuesday. Three hours later, the rig sent an emergency signal that's "like a panic button," he said.

At the same time, a nearby rig called to report the Deepwater Horizon was engulfed in flames, O'Berry said. The rig did not ask for help during the initial call, but the Coast Guard sent crews after the emergency signal came.

The Coast Guard is investigating what happened during that span.

"That three-hour window is obviously stuff being investigated - what happened during that time," O'Berry said.

This even cites a Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer as the one who gave the info about the first explosions.
Then..it was all gone......

There is no info on that specific crewman. There is talk of another crewman mentioning all the missing were on the same place in the rig.

I didn't post the original article link in my reply a couple minutes ago because the one I had had was no longer valid. I did however find it again in a different place: www.washingtonpost.com...

It's the same story from the AP that I had found. This was only ever mentioned briefly though by the MSM. Then it was said it didn't actually happen. Then nothing about it at all. I knew this smelled fishy when I first posted it several days ago....now I am positive it is fishy.

[edit on 29-4-2010 by webpirate]

Originally posted by webpirate
This even cites a Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer as the one who gave the info about the first explosions.
Then..it was all gone......

I just found this and all I can think is HOLY *. This is a cover up in the making.

NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard has retracted its statement that a second explosion occurred on an oil platform that sank off the Louisiana coast.
Petty Officer Tom Atkeson says a computer time-stamp problem created a mistaken impression that a crew member reported an initial explosion three hours before the rig went up in flames Tuesday.
Atkeson and two other spokesmen, including Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry were mistaken when they told The Associated Press that crew members reported the first blast at 7 p.m. CDT.
He says only one report was sent and that was at 10 p.m. Central.

It says he was mistaken that no report was actually filed at 7pm. I am trying to contemplate how as Mike O'Berry I might find a report that says that an explosion occurred on an oil platform and send the Coast Guard to investigate -- but that it never actually happened. Would I be a day dreamer, maybe I got confused with all the other oil rigs reporting explosions? Seems absolutely implausible.

reply to post by ararisq


Yeah. I remember seeing that article too right when it came out. I was going to post a thread on it then, but it was so absurd sounding that I was left catatonic for almost a week by the sheer stupidity of it, and have only just recently recovered.


I wish more people would flag this thread and chime in on it. I want more opinions.....

[edit on 29-4-2010 by webpirate]

reply to post by ararisq


How about this?

The blowout theory surprised at least one industry expert. Rigs have complex safeguards to keep gas from escaping in case of an accident, including mechanisms that can physically shear the pipe to stop the flow.

"As soon as an incident takes place, a number of valves both underwater and on the rig will shut down the flow of hydrocarbons," says Jorge Pinon, former president of Amoco Latin America. "It's the same mechanism where if you hit a gas pump with your car, a valve will close the pipe that goes into the underground gasoline storage tank."

I found another 2 page article that talks about how the survivor was reunited with his family, how the family had to drive a long way to meet him, how they felt when they received the news. From him, a single line “It blew out and we had like zero time from the time the alarm went. It was all in flames." and for some reason I just imagine him saying it over and over and over as if he was programmed. He even said that no one else would be found that they are all dead. Seemed like a pretty callous thing to say.

reply to post by webpirate


I guess we'll have to follow the story for a bit longer and see what the SWAT teams uncover and if there is any type of formal investigation. I suspect there will be hearings because its a political sledgehammer but they won't be of any substance about the actual cause. I'm sure some stupid BP executive has already shot off an embarrassing e-mail which will become the sole focus of the entire fiasco.

reply to post by ararisq


Perhaps they are in negotiations with some entity holding oil wells hostage? The present burning oil well was just a demonstration. Of course this is all being kept from us. But why BP first? Janes Bond off to gulf cost America see what you can dig up....

reply to post by webpirate


Yes, you did...and I posted this more than 20 minutes before you did, on ATS..... Hmmmmmm




posted on 22-4-2010 @ 09:03 PM single this post "quote"REPLY TO:

"Oil rig reported explosion 3 hours before fire"


"Oil rig reported explosion 3 hours before fire"

www.google.com


NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard says a crew member from an oil platform that sank off Louisiana reported an initial explosion three hours before the rig went up in flames in a second, larger explosion.

Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry says the first blast was reported at 7 p.m. CDT Tuesday.

Later, the rig sent an emergency signal. O'Berry says a nearby rig at the same time reported the Deepwater Horizon was in flames.

He says the rig didn't ask for help during the initial call. The Coast Guard sent help after the emergency signal came.

The Coast Guard is inves
(visit the link for the full news article)

I have a nagging feeling this was a terrorist plot. I hope I'm wrong....

But with SWAT now going to check each OTHER oil rig worries me. An order like that doesn't get made unless they have some type of info that tells them it may have been a deliberate act.

I think they are keeping it quiet, not wanting to tip off OTHER terrorists on other rigs (IF there are any that is), because they would take them selves out or try to destroy the oil rig right then and there. (Or at least try)

I sure hope I'm wrong.
My MAIN question is this:

SWAT isn't trained to check oil rigs for safety. They are there to secure the rig. That alone tells me they suspect something is up...

And let's drop the whole 'Obama wants to control the oil rigs'... That's nonsense.