Iranian boats vs. US warships?

Despite the hype over the primaries, I’m sure you have heard about the alleged altercation between five Iranian boats and three US warships in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. President Bush has called it “a provocative act,” and I’m sure will use it to support the war against Iran that he so badly wants.

But let’s take a look at what really happened. This footage was reeleased by the Pentagon and distributed by the Associated Press.

What I am seeing here are some blue cigarette boats driving somewhat near some US warships. I can’t see at any point in this video how this could seem like a provocative act… unless you would consider a fly buzzing around your head a reason to declare war on flies.

And let’s not forget the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which also involved US warships allegedly being attacked by North Vietnamese boats. President Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin incident as justification to escalate US troop presence in Vietnam, and to really kick off the Vietnam War. And we all know how well that went.

Let’s also keep in mind that there is widespread speculation that the Gulf of Tonkin incident didn’t happen as reported, or quite possibly didn’t even happen at all.

So while the mainstream media is busy hyping up this stupid little nothing of an incident (that occurred in international waters, I might add), keep in mind that this is one of the oldest tricks in the book.