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originally posted by: Patriotsrevenge
Now we hear the men were not treated well. Our Sailors had more than a few parting words for the Iranians. With those two gun boats loaded with weapons they could have taken out every boat they sent out against them before help showed up. Every former Spec ops or military personnel who knows that boat have all said this is the dumbest thing they ever heard of.
No way even ten Iranian Boston Whalers with one .50 cal on their bows got any advantage over these Gun Boats with two mini guns, three 50cal, countless SAWs, Mark 19 grenade launchers and M16s on each boat. Never mind the missiles tucked away for distant larger threats. These things are tanks for the water. You cant tell me this happened like they say, especially since more than a few F-18S would have provided cover for them until helicopter gun ships could show up and turn anything left into splinters.
The only way this went down is a direct stand down order was given to the gun boats but the U.S. and French Carrier group acted in a hostile manner according to the press. Maybe we will learn about more Captains being relieved of command soon for wanting to destroy everything on that island and rescue the men before the boats could make it back there. The Navy does NOT leave its men to fall into
enemy hands like this.
originally posted by: JacKatMtn
a reply to: MrSpad
Call me dumb... but... did the Iranians return all of the weapons, ammo, commo gear, sim cards etc etc?
Or were the sailors and stripped boats what was released?
originally posted by: roadgravel
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
I think that is more likely tied to end of sanctions and the US dropping over a billion in money on them. Of course there could have been mention that if the sailors are not released quickly, all bets on the economic changes on the way are off.
The United States is to repay Iran a $400 million debt and $1.3 billion in interest dating to the Islamic revolution,
The repayment, which settles a suit brought under an international legal tribunal, is separate from the tens of billions of dollars in frozen foreign accounts that Iran can now access after the end of nuclear sanctions.
He went on to say all of the US claims against Iran at the tribunal had long been settled
Thats not out of the US tax payers pockets, it not out of anyones pockets.
originally posted by: ReadLeader
This is concerning to me, more to follow - what in the world were they thinking, and what will our military make of this...
www.nbcnews.com...
Iranian military forces seized two U.S. Navy boats and are holding them on the Irans Farsi Island in the middle of the Persian Gulf in custody, U.S. officials told NBC News.
Officials said it's unclear whether the 10 American sailors who were aboard one of the small riverine boat had strayed into Iranian territorial waters before they were captured. But
The officials said the Americans were on a training mission when their boat experienced mechanical difficulty and drifted into Iranian-claimed waters and were seized by Iranian Coast guard.edit on 12-1-2016 by ReadLeader because:
According to the report, the sailors originally set out from Kuwait for Bahrain but quickly -- and unknowingly -- went off course and headed almost directly for Iran's Farsi Island in the middle of the Persian Gulf.
The report found that several factors may have contributed to the failure:
The sailors had never made the trip before.
They had been up most of the night before conducting maintenance on one of the boats that had broken down.
They had to "cannibalize" parts from a third boat in order to have two working vessels.
They then experienced problems with their satellite communications gear.
All of this led them to leaving port later than planned.
In addition, they did not conduct a standard operational briefing for themselves prior to setting sail, during which they would have had fully reviewed their route and navigation plan.
The approved navigation path would have had them sail in international waters between the Iranian coastline and the eastern side of Farsi Island as they moved south toward Bahrain. Instead, they were significantly off course, sailing on the western side of the island.
The report also indicated that the sailors were not aware of Farsi Island's location.
Link