by Nat South for The Saker Blog
I have taken the opportunity to look at the recent incident involving two outbound tankers in the Gulf of Oman. I have got some questions or two, (or three) about certain parts of the incident, from a civilian mariner’s perspective mostly.
There are various conflating aspects to the event, and questions need to be asked, yet journalists do not seemingly wish to ask the awkward but necessary questions these days.
Background
The two tankers identified as the ‘Front Altair’, a Marshall Islands flagged vessel and the ‘Kokuka Courageous’, a Panama-flagged vessel.
| Front Altair | Kokuka Courageous |
| Managed by Frontline, (Norway – Bermuda) | Managed by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (Singapore/ Japan) |
| 23 crew
(11 Russian, 11 Philippine, 1 Georgian) |
21 crew (Philippine) |
| Aframax – 86% loaded | Handy – fully loaded |
| 75,000 MT of Naphtha | 25,000 MT Methanol |
| Ruwais, UAE | Qatar & KSA |
| Taiwan | Singapore |
| Hyundai Dubai rescued crew | Coastal Ace rescued crew |
| Transferred by SAR boat to Iranian port | Transferred to USS Bainbridge |
| Radio message: “torpedo attack” | Japanese CEO: “flying objects” |
| Hit on starboard amidships – “in fire’ | Hit on starboard Twice over 3-hour period – engine room fire |
| Stopped at 02:47GMT | Stopped at 06:20GMT |
Both tankers were outbound (south east) of the Strait of Hormuz. Both suffered from explosion on the starboard side, (the side facing international waters). Past AIS tracks of both vessels shown here. The U.S. Navy reported receiving distress messages at 06:12am and 07:00am.
We’ve captured the activity of the vessels that raced to the area to help the crew of #FrontAltair & #Kokuka Courageous.
Watch the vessels #Hyundai Dubai, #Etwo, #CoastalAce & #NAJI10 in this past track video. #MarineTraffic #GulfOfOman #OOTT #tankers #rescue #Iran pic.twitter.com/RQSCmZRd9Z— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) June 14, 2019
Contradictions and questions
The US military released a video claiming to show an Iranian naval boat removing an unexploded limpet mine from the hull of the ‘Kokuka Courageous’ in an apparent attempt to recover evidence of its participation. I will comment more about the video later on, but we have already the ludicrous situation where the information provided by the US contradicts the statement made by the Japanese ship management company, who did not believe the ship was damaged by a mine, but by flying objects. The president of Kokuka Sangyo Marine, (shipowners), Yutaka Katada, said “there is no possibility of mine attack as the attack is well above the waterline.”
https://twitter.com/nhk_news/status/1139114208463872001
タンカー運航の国華産業社長「砲弾による攻撃を受けた」https://t.co/Skhn4GQBxH#nhk_news #nhk_video pic.twitter.com/LkeH7Xzggi
— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) 13 June 2019
Questions, questions: then there is the question of timing of an attack of a Japanese owned tanker at a time when the Japanese PM was in Iran for talks.
To add to the confusion, there were reports that the Dutch crew of the ‘Coastal Ace’ who first noted a suspicious object on the hull of the tanker. This then morphed into reports that the USS Bainbridge seeing a suspect device, as shown in the timeline provided by the US Navy.
Regarding the other tanker, ‘Front Altair’, the ‘Hyundai Dubai’ was the first ship on scene who responded to the distress message and rescued the crew. Subsequently, it seems the master of this vessel gave a report on VHF: video & audio (unconfirmed).
The audio is rather telling & factual (it is a Russian speaker apparently), as he relays information from the ‘Front Altair’, ‘torpedo attack” is mentioned. (I am assuming is it is pan, pan or urgency message; it is not a distress message).
The U.S. by releasing a grainy black & white video segment, accused Iran of removing a mine from the other tanker, ‘Kokuka Courageous’, as apparent evidence of its involvement in the attacks of the two tankers. The video raises more questions than provides answers.
If both the civilian crew of the ‘Coastal Ace’ and the ‘USS Bainbridge’ both saw the ‘mine’, late morning, then why leave the important evidence in place on the hull of the tanker for several hours? For the Iranians to pick it up later?
“USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) was operating in the vicinity and provided immediate assistance to the M/V Kokuka Courageous.”
Immediate? Note that assistance didn’t extend to making safe a suspicious device ‘immediately’.
“At 11:05 a.m. local time USS Bainbridge approaches the Dutch tug Coastal Ace, which had rescued the crew of twenty-one sailors from the M/T Kokuka Courageous who had abandoned their ship after discovering a probable unexploded limpet mine on their hull following an initial explosion.”
“At 4:10 p.m. local time an IRGC Gashti Class patrol boat approached the M/T Kokuka Courageous and was observed and recorded removing the unexploded limpet mine from the M/T Kokuka Courageous.”
Timings put in bold for emphasis by author.
The poor quality of the video, apparently taken from a P-8 US navy aircraft, is astounding, given that it took place at 16:00, on a sunlit day. Compare the quality and availability of the metrics between what happened during the encounter between the ‘Admiral Vinogradov’ and the ‘USS Chancellorsville, last week:
I know that optical quality is downgraded for security reasons, but this is beyond a joke in the days of HD and high-quality images on mobile phones.
Not exactly covert, to retrieve a ‘mine’ right under the noses of the US Navy? Especially when you can see in the video people on the Iranian boat looking towards a ship (?) and quite possibly the US aircraft as well. Anyway, does it take 10 people all crowded on the bow to remove a ‘mine’? Unusual EOD method there.
Does it occur to anyone that it might be a person releasing something so that the boat can leave the tanker’s side, a mooring line attachment, a magnetic device? There is no proof to suggest it was a limpet mine removed from the tanker.
The other thing that really bugs me as someone with maritime experience, is the fact that the US Navy was quite relaxed about a fully loaded tanker with methanol with an apparent explosive device attached to the hull amidships.
I personally wouldn’t be calm, due to the implication of having a toxic, polluting and highly flammable cargo, possibly seconds from being ignited. I’d be getting an EOD team over quickly to ID it, to make it safe and hand it over as a crucial piece of evidence. Yet, I cannot ascertain that any of that actually happened while the USS Bainbridge was in the vicinity of the tanker. I guess it was better to wait a few hours and let the Iranians do it. Surreal.
Instead, it seems that the US Navy stood by idly for hours, watched and let the Iranians approach the tanker, so as to gather ‘evidence’.
Another thing, this PowerPoint from the US is rather remarkable:
I guess using a telephoto lens wasn’t appropriate, to get a close-up of the darned ‘mine’ thing. Again, compare this with the US naval person on the ‘USS Chancellorsville’, merrily snapping away at the ‘Admiral Vinogradov’.
Just on this point, I like the witticism on social media:
“the Pentagon should start using Huawei cameras for better video quality”.
This a good ‘un too:
“Breaking: The US Navy has confirmed that there has been a reported attack on US tankers in the Gulf of Oman.” Posted by SkyNews at 12:37 am 13 June
Credibility has gone down the drain, as the tweet is still live as I write this a day later.
I know it seems little silly observations, but some of these observations could have been made by journalists when presented with official statements. Yet the most obvious question is:
“Why would Iran attack two tankers near to the Strait of Hormuz, in the vicinity of US naval forces”? Some comments provided by this Military Times article. I’ll leave that for others to comment and analyze.
I’ll add more in the comments section.
This from Zerohedge, so please read with caution – and wait for verification:
Japanese Tanker Owner Denies Ship Hit By Mine, Says Crew Saw “Flying Objects” Before Attack
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-14/japanese-tanker-owner-denies-ship-hit-mine-says-crew-saw-flying-objects-attack
And for background, the discussion that Shinzō Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, had with Ayatollah Khamenei on the morning of the 13th. Shinzō Abe was carrying a message from Trump.
I don’t consider Trump worth sending a message to, we won’t negotiate with U.S.
http://english.khamenei.ir/news/6844/I-don-t-consider-Trump-worth-sending-a-message-to-we-won-t-negotiate
Yes, exactly as I mentioned in the article, strangely enough.
Qui bono ?
What is striking is that US and ME allies do not care.
US is oil and gas self sufficient.
And increased oik price benefits KSA and UAE.
On the other hand Iran retaliate as previously officially declared. If Iran cannot sell oil then others in PG Will not either.
Who suffers from the situation ?
Other industrialized countries who have no Oil.
Japan, Germany and China and others Europan countries.
Therefore current stand off is truly all about Europe and Japan. As China Will buy Iran oil anyway.
Trump is throwing Europe and Japan under the bus with such policy against Iran.
With the tanker attack Iran makes its point clear to Japan : Iran will not self sacrifice (stay iddle) just to satisfy Germany and Japan cowardice to stand up to the US. Whereas the US unilaterally engage in international banditry with their long harm juridiction.
Time is ticking… Europe and Japan will hurt and need to make choices : hurt as free nation or hurt as slave To anglozionist…
That is the question…
As such German and Japan declarations after visit to Iran was truly shamefull of cowardice.
Rohani declaration at SCO meeting is meaningfull.
“Rouhani tells SCO summit: US poses ‘serious threat’ to world”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/06/14/598490/Iran-Rouhani-world-stability-trump-SCO-Summit
And Zarif declaration is the same.
“Zarif: US unilateralism existential threat to entire world”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/05/01/594825/Iran-Zarif-US-unilateralism-existential-threat-Trump
“We need to collectively address the alarming unilateralism of the current US administration. The imposition of the will of a single power over all other nations is an existential threat — sooner or later — for everyone,” Zarif said.
It seems Japan tankers Begin to understand that much…
As conclusion. Who cares about pictures and proof ?
And who even care about the real culprit ?
World powers policies are fully open for everyone to see.
Micro events and blurred pictures truly are propaganda and trash consumption for the sheep. To be manipulated and engineered as they should.
In addition regarding the notion of being slave or free…
“Ayatollah Khamenei then responded to remarks by the Japanese Prime Minister on how the Americans have always wanted to impose their own beliefs and views on other nations and stated: It is good that you acknowledge this fact, and you should also know that the Americans will observe no limits in imposing their views.”
“Referring to the forty years of hostility that the U.S. has shown to the Iranian nation and the continuation of the hostility, the Supreme Leader maintained: We believe that our problems will not be solved by negotiating with the U.S., and no free nation would ever accept negotiations under pressure.”
And surely this specially resonate with the Abe… As Japan is the only country that cas been nuked…. by the US.
“The United States has no competency, by any means, to speak out about what country should or shouldn’t have nuclear weapons. Because the United States possesses arsenals of thousands of nuclear warheads.”
Surely that speech makes it clear what the Japanese are.
Cowards slaves who have been defeated into submission by being burned with nuke by their anglozionist master…
That was pretty cruel truth and lecturing poured by Iran into Abe ear… livestream.
Not sure it has been transmitted on Japan TV…
I am Rather sure it was not !!!!
However surely Abe appreciated the chalice of poison.
Choose your path Mr Abe.
Choose wisely.
When Shevardnadze came to visit Imam Khomeini with a message from the soviet leaders, he had a paper in his hand and he was shaking like crazy! Imam Khomeini just got up and left!
Sorry I couldn´t find the video to show it to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Fz11Zcrf4
LOL, selling this very obvious zionazi false flag is quite a challenge…even for a professional.
“With the tanker attack Iran makes its point clear to Japan”
The actual point of that “comment”, the rest is designed to reinforce that line.
@ vor tak
Neither do I consider very highly your usual comments.
IMHO They are fully loaded of prejudice and lack balance and nuance.
Typical manichean hatred.
Unfortunate that such prejudice colored comment compromise what could have been smart and intelligent thought.
“Neither do I consider very highly your usual comments.”
Whew, that’s a relief.
“IMHO They are fully loaded of prejudice and lack balance and nuance.”
“Humble opinion”? LOL. You’re correct about the prejudice. I admit it. I’m prejudiced against zionazis, nazis and other criminal elements who both honestly and dishonestly exploit others for asocial and criminal gain. Or try too. That means we cant be friends. :-D
“Typical manichean hatred.”
Typical israeli/rightwing slander and libel.
“Unfortunate that such prejudice colored comment compromise what could have been smart and intelligent thought.”
Oh, gosh, bernhard, that really hurt! Ouch! Think I’ll go commit seppuku, or something like that.
there is no doubt whatsoever who did that attack
our common Friends from zion
(Removed,don’t attack others.MOD)
The NPR ‘guests’ instantly declared Iran guilty, of course, with one psychopath declaring that it had to be them, because they ‘enjoy doing it’. That is the intellectual and moral level of The Gods Upon the Earth.
NPR. How sad public radio has become propaganda stream #1
But with an interlocutor like Thanatopia, that lies and lies and lies, and whose ‘word’ is worth ZERO, why would the Iranians demean themselves?
@ vot tak
Well I will not engage in ad hominen attacks.
Let s say that you surely know better the Russian world.
And that I am much more knowledgeable in ME affairs.
The point is you better know your own limitation.
And avoid arrogance.
That maybe support my point of view.
https://ejmagnier.com/2019/06/15/trump-offered-to-suspend-sanctions-while-negotiating-with-iran-khamenei-rejected-the-offer-more-attacks-expected/
And again only idiots focus on such micro events as the tankers
The point is the US is in collision course with Iran and they will find out whatever argument is they want war.
And Iran is ready for war.
Therefore the point is who will blink first.
Thus no need to show your frustration over your lack of knowledge…
The magnier article is speculation, just like the moa nonsense your earlier “Iran did it” propaganda was based upon. Neither provide credible analysis on how Iran could have attacked the tankers, just wishful thinking about Iranian motives. No solid evidence in either. Come back when you have some solid evidence to back your claims.
Also, using other people’s work without attribution is dishonest. If you write a comment based upon the analysis of someone else, you should at least have the decency to give them credit.
How about drones, not “mines”? Yutaka Katada, owner and operator of the Kokuka Courageous, said he believes the vessel wasn’t damaged by a mine, but by some kind of projectile like a torpedo. The crew of the vessel apparently saw a “flying object” just before a second blast on board. “A mine doesn’t damage a ship above sea level,” said Katada… hmmm?
The fact that the lying Zionist controlled media actually reports this obvious false flag as facts without even a rebuttal from anyone with a half a brain is beyond infuriating.
It is time for a revolution in the US. The mask has fallen completely off the naked agenda of the Anglo-zio empire. These sloppy attempts at false flags to lie is into another treasury depleting war are for the cheap seats only.
Unfortunately most Americans are too busy stuffing their faces, dealing with sicknesses, addicted to working, or addicted to pharmaceuticals or illegal drugs and drink, scared and hateful of the world and foreigners (especially brown ones or Russians), hateful of the poor, envious of the rich, and inundated with some of the most garbage hypocritical and disgusting popular culture that has ever seen the light of day.
It will be a long time before Americans wake up to what their elite have been doing in their name all over the world for centuries. Only when the elite agenda has also been unleashed on the American nation itself (as it is now with censorship, illegal laws against free speech, and banning of counter narratives) will people begin to see what has happened but the divide and rule agenda is so prevalent for so many years there will never be agreement about the solution to these issues.
As an American, I can say with 100 confidence…we are well and truly fucked.
I must to say that you are damn, sadly right.
Poor Amierican people.
Many thanks for your comment.
Regards..!
poor american people indeed!
death penalty for antisemitism.. the courts to decide with no appeal of court decision
death penalty also for homophobia or what the courts decide on any day is homophobia. incest legalized..you can marry your mother..and far, far worse..legal pedophilia and legal harvesting of body parts by medical authorities..no permission required
medical laws to enforce inoculations and such like mandatory health practices
Torture widespread and routine
no food but GMO everywhere. illegal to grow anything but GMO
‘Bantustans’ already taking shape in american cities where the poor and homeless congregate. only
the fences need to be erected now and electrified
soon the open all seeing camera ‘eye’ built into all homes
oh man!!! and I suppose there is a lot more where those come from
Most Americans want no part of a war with Iran. In fact, the percentage is overwhelmingly against it.
But “most Americans” don’t matter. The Zionists are in charge, and they will have their war, come what may.
This isn’t new. Most Americans wanted no part of WWI or WWII.
Didn’t matter then, doesn’t matter now.
As a fellow American, I’ll have to agree with you on many respects. That said, it ain’t over ’til it’s over. There are many of us who are willing to fight back against the Neocons and their demonic agenda of world domination. If it comes to the point of a civil war to remove them, then so be it. I’d rather have a quick civil war in the US than a nuclear war and then more war for thousands of years to come.
I don’t think there’s a fight left. Too many distractions, too many problems and it’s all happening thousands of miles away. Till it physically hits home, it dont matter. Fighting a war is a job for the south. They’ve been conditioned for decades/century to just do that.
I believe you are correct.
As said later in this thread divide and rule has reached exceedingly deafening proportions. It is employed around the globe to devastating effect.
Our fragmentation is our weakness and never have we been so divided down and fragmented by BS identity politics, social issues, racial hatred, and the sickening push for the acceptance of the new agenda the media and Hollywood have been hitting us over the head about.
We are few. The distractions are many. Bread and circuses and divide and rule seem to me to be the most broad descriptions for the life we find ourselves living in most of the first world.
I think most Americans do not realize..<= the massive difference in privilege and power that exist between the elected government and themselves. (425 house + 100 Senate members <=article I elected, salaried persons + the executive 2 person members of Article II elected, salaried persons) power and intentions of the 527 elected, salaried persons that constitute the constitutional USA manipulator government ………………………..______________and the _______________……………………….
and the 350,000,000 completely power deflated, highly manipulated Americans the USA governs.. ……..
<= Each nation state is a named, configurable, people container..an object with attributes, methods, functions, domains, classes and typing. Each people contained within, is a 64 bit (person) object, configured by default, at birth, to be totally contained, restrained, and detained within a nation state container object (structure) and configured to respond to the commands made by persons in a superior class of people objects.
So in each nation state, we have two classes of contained people: those fully contained and restrained, called the governed, and those middle privileged persons (the elected or the eligible to be elected), who use the nation state structures and tools made available to them by the external elite to manipulate those not only without the tools, but also who have been configured since birth to serve the nation state (people container) with the knowledge to question..
But there is a super class of person objects <=they control the nation state and direct the manipulator classes <= These externals are known as the global wealth holders; the so called external elite: the bankers, private holders of monopoly powers and private holders of public sector goods and services franchised to private control and ownership (i.e. electricity, communications, garbage, sewer, infra-structure construction <= public sector goods and services, transferred to private hands, that direct massive public wealth to the bank accounts of a privileged few). Generally they hold and enjoy the privilege and wealth of these things in many different nation states (people containers); under different names and with different partners and such.
The masses of the world possess and contain all of the power; without the masses there would be no information to organize, without the masses their would be no work done, no births and no deaths, no humans to labor, no humans to fight the wars, no corporations to exploit contained humanity.. Without the masses the elite have noting. All power vested in the elites whether it be wealth, status or privilege is derived from, and or taken from, the masses. The only way the Elite can make themselves relatively stronger than the masses is to weaken the masses.
The nation state system has divided the power of, and contained the persons of, the masses. The entire human occupable portions of the earth have been divided into people containers. The nation state system has separated the mice (contained humans) into one of many different rooms (Nation States), each room is full of cages, and each person occupies one of the numbered cages. The divide and conquer strategy that has been so successful since before Roman times depends on keeping information locked in vaults that require permission and the means to access it and using currency to control the masses (a hot dog $ dangles off a string attached to a pole the string end of which is held in front of the donkey; the dumb donkey pulls the cart but rarely gets the hot dog).
To control the masses of the people of the world the external elite have divided the masses into segments called nation states, and appointed a crew of a few to manage each one of the nation states. Its time to realize, there is no difference between humans in Russia, China, Iran, Yemen, Brazil, Venezuela, or any (people container) nation state, except where the nation state itself has molded the people contained there in to be different.. If one exchanges a baby born in Iran to Shea family with a Baby born same day and time in NYC to a Jewish Family, 20 years later the two children will speak different languages, have different religious beliefs, and hate each other. That is because they were victims of being containerized.
What is needed is a common language.. about the containers.. Each human needs to be educated about the container he or she finds him or herself in. and understand how the other containers are configured. IMO..
Pitting the people of one nation against the people of another nation is not in the interest of humanity.
Brilliant comment.
Languages are funny things tho and prone to lots of interpretations. I fear we would end up exactly as we started.
@Hornswaggler,
Same here in Europe,beyond recognition, but We insist we are & over some more than you, we have to take yours and ours if you understand what I mean ? Must be a kind of trickle down.
Our Leaders insist/beg on it (they don’t like Trumpie(not gay enough) but nonetheless take it hoping for the better to return again soon, that keeps em wet), so we have to swallow it all added up thick.
I found out why all the people seemingly like their smartphones so much, it’s a cover, they don’t need to look each other into the eyes anymore, because they couldn’t stand it for long anymore – to depressing.
Brilliant comment.
Languages are funny things tho and prone to lots of interpretations. I fear we would end up exactly as we started.
“It is time for a revolution in the US.”
We are much too divided for that. Revolution would mean large-scale civil war of some sort.
You express concern for “censorship, illegal laws against free speech, and banning of counter narratives,” but it is precisely a significant segment of would-be revolutionaries in the U.S. who are among those most enthusiastic about limiting free speech.
As for rallying the public around opposition to foreign policy, unfortunately most Americans simply aren’t that interested.
Any revolution here would risk a win for more identitarian special privileges, open borders, assaults on common sense criminal justice policies, female penises, crackdowns on free speech, crackdowns on gun ownership, etc.
I finally saw that psychopathic Sinophobe, Peter Navarro, on Fox News the other day. Man, he was quite a sight. Just talking about the Chinese had his nasty little mug twisted in hatred, but when he got onto Fentanyl production in China, he almost barked out loud in rage. I’ve heard that other racist psycho, Bannon, have the filthy gall to call it ‘Chinese chemical warfare’. Apparently to these deranged, hate-crazed, sub-fascists, the Chinese caused US poverty, inequality and social malaise, and forced otherwise happy, well-adjusted, Merkins, to kill themselves in ‘deaths of despair’.
I’ve been waiting for one of these top politico’s to blurt just that out. ie: Fentanyl is *the* Chinese payback. Having been brainwashed that the peruvian marching powder run is a cia job, i don’t see any ethical issues here. one wants the most high for the lowest price. bang for the buck is the american way and if the chinese deliver it, what’t the problem? ah, i see… you’re not in control of it.
All pretence seems to have been abandoned lately and replaced by blatant ‘thuggery’, so I wonder -was this event scripted by the same team of morons that created the Skripal saga?
Does anyone know if there were any Israeli subs in the area?
This contributor to Global Research actually points the finger at the possibility of an Israeli submarine, the ones recently made by Germany (how dumb and servile can those Germans be anyway to *give* a submarine…to Israel!):
https://www.globalresearch.ca/israeli-submarines-suspected-sabotaging-shipping-strait/5680669
Unbelievable.
though the iranians doing this is plain illogical but i hope it was coming from them. let the message reach the americans that short range sea skimming missiles fired from fishing boats can hit carriers above water line. that may be a dry run with a new secret weapon the iranians bragged few days ago.
The better question is why would the U.S. and its allies do such a thing? Well for one the price of oil has been dropping like a rock and since this type of mechanism is easy to perform, and would instantly raise the cost of oil, in addition to Japan attempting to diffuse the Iranian sanction bomb, it seem quite likely that this was another western staged event to open the door for further actions.
And since the wests creditability is already in the toilet, and the elites empire is dying, they would naturally not care about reputation, as desperation is, what desperation does. I guess another best question is just how low can the west go, interesting(and dangerous) times indeed.
Texas is strangely now ‘in play’ in the American presidential elections. In the last mid-terms, incumbent Sen Ted Cruz, a very pro-war, pro-deep-state Senator was actually challenged in a competitive campaign. Normally Texas has been marked off as a sure-win for Republican candidates, but that is in doubt in this election cycle. Texas is with both the older drilling and the new shale out chemical pumping a state who’s economy depends on the price of oil. If the Texas economy goes down the tubes, the final nail in Trump’s coffin gets hammered home as Trump absolutely must have those Texas votes in the electoral college.
Not to mention that Trump relied on Saudi money before the last election and has since followed Saudi dictates as a slave responds to a masters commands, and the Sauds have made it clear that they need higher oil prices and preferring $85 a barrel to fund all of their wars.
I have proved that following politics is hazardous to ones health, I strongly suggest one not participate if one cares to retain ones sanity. Over and out.
More hasbara clap-trap. Trump lived and thrived on Zionazi money, from the likes of Sheldon Adelson. Saudi cash was chump change in comparison. Trump may be close to the Wahhabist head-loppers, but he is so far up Bibi’s fundament that only the soles of his feet are visible, to those with strong stomachs.
Exactly.
Trump is Bib’s wet dream.
Brought to you by Sheldon adelson.
If am I the Israelis I am thinking may God bless this poor misguided whore.. he has given us Jerusalem, more money, aid, intelligence sharing (tech stealing), he has signed off on our settlements, blessed our very brutality against innocent Palestinians and Syrians (among others), admits in public the us is only in the Middle East for israel’s benefit, made a joke of the UN in supporting our apartheid (but really which American politician hasn’t ?), does a great sell job on our false flags, and still looks for what else he can do for us……
Is it really a stretch of the imagination then to see israel not doing their damndest to get their ultimate strategic goal for the region (getting Iran out of the picture), with this Israeli whore as their helmsmen. All that is needed is the proper course for him to steer..
This is what we are seeing now. The Israeli head steering the fat bloated American empire body toward the intended direction. With Trump anything is possible for them.
God bless this poor misguided whore.
This is why. The USG is the btch of the Talmudic State calling itself Israel.
https://youtu.be/jUMdzJ54yao
Keep in mind oil needs to be > $60/barrel to keep this kabuki dance called ‘shale’ oil biz afloat. Everytime that drops, somewhere a bomb is dropped. Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria where ever production can be curtailed to keep price up. Keep oil < $40/barrel and the shale guys are finished. Absolutely. That's the overwhelming fear. Almost a $T has gone in that biz and they aint leaving before making some money.
“…then there is the question of timing of an attack of a Japanese owned tanker at a time when the Japanese PM was in Iran for talks”
The US political leadership loves to have people over while bombing their assets, or their allies’ assets: In 1999, Primakov ordered a U-turn over the Atlantic, as he was on his way to Washington when Clinton started the bombing of Serbia. More recently, Trump was sharing chocolate cake with Xi, when he announced that he was bombing Syrian & Russian assets.
I thought the whole war on Hezbollah/Iran was on hold, now that Israel doesn’t have a government, but it seems like someone is still pulling the strings. Based on the timing and execution of this false flag my guess is that the perpetrators are based in the US.
Yes, but who pulls the string-pullers’ strings? Give me an eleven-dimensional explanation of Zionazi string theory.
Interesting that all shots hit the starboard side. That means who ever fired it was on the side of the Arabian Peninsula and not on the Iranian side of the two ships.
Yeah, @Mike, I wonder why more of the news outlets fail to mention that.
This is a guess, but I’d say the video looks like it was deliberately monochromed, blurred and degraded to resemble antique FLIR video. I don’t think it is real FLIR video.
But that’s just my opinion, could be wrong.
FLIR imaging at 4pm ???
Sad day on the planet when a pirate can potentially start a world war and speculation leads to higher prices. if anyone can show the race is not doomed, lets see the evidence.
As RT has pointed out….why would Iran attack one of the ships Norwegian owned that has had many years of oil export contracts with Iran as well as Japanese one with Abe attempting to mediate…and German Foreign minister also visiting to try and sort out the JCPOA ..yes Iran few days said it could close Hormuz with two secret weapons. How do we know the provenance of the film…when where…really Iranian ships or copies…the fact that it is claimed by some this was an attack by underwater means that unless there are undersea listening devices that can track submarines or small craft…that there is deliberately consequentially no surface radar or tracking evidence available that Iran can use in the position that has been forced upon them to prove its innocence just like recent patterns of events imposed upon Russia and Syria….ie likely highly likely is in Pompeo’s and Trump’s statements are now certainties .Seems to be a lot of USA self fulfilling prophecies re Iran coming to fruition.
I can imagine USA will want to use UNSC to justify actions sanctions what else and permit(whether USA does that unilaterally) some kind of convoy system under control of USA naval presence how suitable for them to be such custodians of freedom of navigation there that is going to have consequences and only perpetuates the legend that Iran is a major sponsor of terrorism. Does not look good folks.Highly likely for getting worse?
a fading empire announces a ”war” , lord and behold no one turns up.This is messy ,anyone here remember the tonkin incidence, which gave then the mighty & full pledged empire all the bragging rights to bomb ‘charlie county’ back to the stone age, cause they were ‘attacked”?,where even to this days some deformed babies are born due to napalm poisoning.
gone are the days when this now ‘fragmented elites’ announce war and everybody had to shows up or it is ,”you are with us or you are the enemy”,now a days the ‘ruling elites’ are in open warfare among themselves ,never mind pick up a fight with another state player.
me think this fading empire will not go quietly into the night ,it will shame itself out of existence ,maybe in 5 or 10 years and the cherokee nation will take it’s rightful place .History is a bitch ,live by the sword die by your words.Did not the good book said that,”all evil come from the mouth of the evil doers only”…fortunate are the ones who live in interesting times now…have a good day.
Life is a gamble, throw the dice until your hands hurt.
Then live the wild life and vote for a politician. What could go wrong?
Run out of money?, go into bankruptcy?, start over, pick up the dice and try again, shore it will work, this time is different, right?? or is it???
life is not a gamble,but the psychopathic politicians are the one’s playing the game of ”divide & rule” this game is as old as egyptian mummies.if an individual can figure out that this ”we vs them” koolaide is not in his favour he or she can get along in this mad mad world,am not on the iranian mullah side or the neocons side they can go to hell as far as am concerned but am not living in fear.
aint voting kind but am as wild as the flower gets, can survive whatever comes, hell or high water but if saint gabriel shows up and says ,”hey dude your times up”,am saying take it away i have lived it to the full no thanks to the politicians.
money does not make a man,man makes money,when you have nothing else to loose the whole world opens up like an oyster….have a nice day dude.
i cant but think of a mafia style attack before proposing pricey protection services, or a way of promoting new detection devices to be recpùùended on all tankers ( pretty juicy …), and the icing on the cake is the in_your_face recklessness with witch these incidents are treated.
As I said in the article, update No.1
“Pentagon now believes crew of Norwegian-owned tanker Front Altair detained by Iran. US officials say crew first rescued by merchant vessel, Hyundai Dubai, but Iranian gunboats surrounded ship demanding crew. Captain ordered crew to surrender. 23 crew members being held in Iran.”
https://twitter.com/lucasfoxnews/status/1139523251745566720?s=21
11 of the crew are Russian 10 men & 1 woman. So the Russian embassy is in contact with them. Russian press reports this and state that crewmembers are going to fly from Bandar Abbas to Dubai and then to Russia. Foreign Ministry issued statement as well.
http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/6551118
Russia thanked Iran for its help in rescuing the 11 Russian crew members on Front Altair.
http://www.mid.ru/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/3685152
Plus company also spike about the crew being safe:
https://www.thelocal.no/20190613/three-explosions-reported-on-norwegian-oil-tanker-struck-in-suspected-attack-gulf-of-oman
Pentagon also said that Iranian Navy surrounded the Hyundai Dubai (whose Master is Russian speaker apparently) and demanded them hand the rescued crew over to the Navy.
Another story doing the rounds is that Iranian gunboats have stopped tugs taking the Front Altair to the UAE.
Answer to that is not available, but a clue is that the “The shipowners have hired professional salvors under the Lloyd’s Standard Form of Salvage Agreement or LOF, as it is commonly known.
The above incident may give rise to salvage, general average (GA) and recovery issues.”
https://twitter.com/wecoxclaimsltd/status/1139456831288483841?s=21
Which version would you take?
Oh, the Pentagon version, of course-I’m a moron. And proud of it!
There is of course the curious trend where the enemies of Uncle Sam always do what is potentially disastrous for their cause. We of course saw the strange case of Assad who every time he was on the verge of winning the terrorists trying to overthrow his government then deliberately crossed the red line drawn by the imperialist west and used chemical weapons. Now, we see the Iranians who when the Japan PM is in town for diplomatic negotiations, and Japan needs oil imports, we see the Iranians picking that very day to attack some ships with underwater torpedoes that strike above the water line.
Iran has made abundantly clear that it consider US so called sanctions as economic war and terrorism with the US blackmailing other countries with their so called long harm juridiction.
Iran declared quite clearly that if they are not able to sell oil, nobody in the PG Will. With threat about the Straight.
Then Iran declared that the US cannot attack Iran and that they are neither interested in direct war.
However all the resistance axis made it clear that they have many means of retaliation.
I read déclaration few days ago that Iran leadership decided to reverse and slowly turn up the pressure on the US.
Khamenei and Iran ledearship declaration are pretty clear.
Iran will exit the JCPOA in few days.
They will not negotiate any new agreement.
They Will make life difficult and increase threat against UAE, KSA, US and oil lifeline to the world.
As there is no reason world should cowardly bow without consequence. Whereas Iran should bear all consequences cowardice from Japan, Germany and their ilk
That much is crystal clear. Zarif said that if there is no security for Iran. Do not expect security for anyone else in the region.
As conclusion. IMHO Iran carried out the attack and is also commanding Houthi proxies. In the same time Iran is fighting information war and propaganda war against the US. The message is quite clear and I guess well received.
What is striking is that the US has lost public opinion support, allies support and all credibility. Hatred toward Trump and the US is overwhelming.
The US can only go for it alone with a desgusting and well earned terrible reputation… Decadent, Bandit, criminal and liar do not begin to describe it.
I see no honorable way out of this situation.
And I do not see direct war either.
Thus I expect Iran to pull out of the JCPOA.
Maybe even pull out if the NPT in following steps.
Ramping up pressure by sabotaging KSA and UAE oil interests and attack against US troops by militants in Afghanistan, Irak and Syria.
Iran made that much clear : they consider to be at war against terrorists US. They consider that the US lost international support and are not capable of direct war. And Iran will not go direct but entered attrition warefare. Iran will make US life and oil lifeline miserable in ME.
That is said, officially declared and caries out.
Expect more to come.
That is an interesting theory.
The US has run so many false flags that no one believes them anymore. By doing that, the US has painted itself into a corner.
Iran could attack ships in the gulf and blame it on the US as being a false flag. People throughout the world would believe it was a false flag, including a lot of people in the US. I could see people in the intelligence community, the State Department and the media going absolutely crazy – knowing that Iran did it – but having the incidents blamed on the US, including being blamed by their own citizens.
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when, at first, we practice to deceive.”
None of it matters. The truth is what people are told it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms5J2U_ySdI
People can “tell you” anything.
This is a very long ways from nobody selling oil through the straights, it has the stench of a set up to means to a particular end, but who’s is the question. why would Japan be used as a bargaining chip to ease the sanctions and then Iran sabatoge the effort, I don’t believe you thought this through.
Alabama, the answer is the same people, that perpetuate an attack on 9.1.1
Maybe they like synergy.
It could be said that it was 1/2 the U.S.’s fault just for letting them into the cabin, a simple lock would have solved a lot of problems plus when the voice of reason leaves the room, insanity fills the void so there was also that contribution on Cheney’s part. now we’re feeling the consequences of that hearing.
The US could have done it do up the ante.
The US would pull casus belli out of think air if they want To. This event or another who really care ? What is important US war willingness, global strategy and top echelon decision.
Iran could have donne it to send a message about the Straight.
The point is nobody care who dunnit.
The point is that Iran and US and on a collision course as soon as Trump became POTUS.
The point is the US is violating all international rule for years.
The point is do others countries. Specially Europe Will take a stand to oppose US tyranical unilateralism.
People speaking about who dunnit truly make me laugh.
Who cares ? Decisions and policies to act or not does not dépend on that.
Just like 9/11 Who care who dunnit it ? The cabal leading the US already decided to destroy ME. And should 9/11 not have happened they would have find out another pretext
Just like Trump Will find and pretext to impose US demand to the world.
It cas been crystal clear from the very start…
American First.
Others can die.
That is fascist program.
Trump sent beyond red line long time ago concernant Iran…
As conclusion. Who care about the tanker culprit ?
Only idiots.
It is fascinating how modern torpedoes and limpet mines are so much weaker and less effective than the ones in WWII. There has been in general a worldwide increase in the power of the high explosives used in such devices, but these modern weapons barely seem to scratch the side of a ship.
When the US conducted a limpet mine attack against Japanese shipping in Singapore harbor in 1943, the commandos sank or severely damaged 7 ships.
And the change has occurred recently, as when the French government decided in 1985 to sink the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior for the crime of opposing nuclear tests, a single limpet mine sunk the ship.
But today’s limpet mines would appear to only cause enough damage to require a days worth of welding and painting work to make the ship good as new.
Er, that’s because tankers these days are doubled-hulled. Makes a difference, especially if the attacks were for ‘cosmetic’ purposes.
And so it would appear that the mines rather than clumsy, were enough to damage and create an incident but not enough to actually sink the ship.
This smells of a warning by (cough cough) the only democracy in the ME to Japan, “Do not do business with Iran.”
Oh but ‘limpet mines’ do cause damage: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-takes-ship-sabotage-incident-un
As reported at UN briefing on Fujairah
Yet US handout on Kakuko Courageous shows one much smaller hole above waterline. Not consistent with Fujairah damage.
Comment No.2
Politicians & MSM have a very short attention span for geopolitical antics. First came the incidents at Fujairah anchorage, with just the one close-up photo of a damaged Norwegian-flagged tanker.
The story was short-lived, damage was limited, little pollution and no injuries.The media circus make much of the U.S. Saudi & UAE’s assessments of who could have done it. A “state-actor”.
Iran got squarely blamed as the state-actor, because it has the equiment, know-how & reason. No actual evidence offered. The sabotage of tankers in Fujairah was seriously melodramatic to the MSM. The attacks on the waterline, meant that they were seemingly designed to cause minimal structural damage, yet highly visible, (ok just the one ship). No ships were lost during this event.
There is still no conclusive verifiable evidence to the Fujairah ‘case’. Certainly nothing on which to pin on Iran.
Both were done:
highly visible damage, (very dramatic)
No significant structural loss of hull integrity,
Undertaken with guile, sophistication and degree of precision
set out to escalate tensions in region high
to prod the U.S into keeping / increasing military presence
Hike oil prices & insurance cover
Obviously this is Israel and/or the CIA stepping up the justification for an attack on Hezbollah (as an “Iranian proxy”) in Lebanon this summer or next summer in further preparation for the subsequent war with Iran.
The fact that the US is putting forth this level of nonsense is clear proof that an Iran war (preceded by a joint US-Israel attack on Hezbollah) is being planned, with or without Trump’s consent. Trump’s consent will in any case be easy to manufacture once Israel is involved in some conflict in either case of Lebanon or Iran.
There is of course the possibility that these operations were carried out by either Saudi Arabia or some Sunni terrorist group, but there seems to be some competence involved in attaching limpet mines, or using some sort of missile, with no evidence that either attack was seen by anyone, that would tend to make those actors, notorious for incompetence, unlikely.
There is a further much less likely possibility that the IRGC acted in a rogue manner, which would be incredibly risky since the attack on the Japanese tanker embarrasses both Abe and Khamenei during a state visit. If discovered to be done by the IRGC, some heads would certainly roll. Hardly credible. I see Trita Parsi, who doesn’t like the Iranian government, gives it some credence, but it makes no sense.
The notion that Iran or some rogue IRGC unit would try to dissuade the US from attacking it by doing the one thing that always causes the US to make further threats against Iran makes zero sense. Trying to demonstrate the ability to close the Straits of Hormuz would merely justify such an attack by the US and benefit Israel. I can’t believe even hard-line IRGC would be that stupid.
No, this is Israel or the US. The drone suggestion Petrus suggested in the comments makes some sense and would be easily done by either Israel or the CIA or some proxy thereof. A drone would be hard to detect or follow, could attack quickly and be gone before anyone could detect it and would leave no evidence of its presence or provenance. It could be launched from an Israeli or US sub in the Gulf or even outside the Gulf depending on its range, or from some concealed location in Saudi Arabia, or other US ally in the region.
So we suddenly have a limpet mine. Funny how words have a life of their own! IRGC is not a rogue force. They don´t throw dogs off a cliffs. They don’t kill people while listening to “burn mother fucker burn”…….. They don´t go to town hunting children to rape and burn their bodies after slaughtering their entire families. That is the american way!
We have been in the Persian Gulf for thousands of years. IRGC has been facing the americans for the last 40 years, and they have been on high alert countless of times.
Cui bono?
The whorehouse of saud, the israhelli, the americans, the eu, the turks……!
It is clear that the Americans are behind these attacks. They are all false flags to blame them on Iran. I reallt hope these Americans get whats coming to them if they decide to go to war.
Funny though, I have been waiting to see anybody even gets the name right. Not a single media in the west has even bothered to get it right. The idiot pompeo says Gulf and suddenly a sea becomes a gulf. There is no GULF OF OMAN. It is a SEA, stupid pompeo!
While its not possible for us here to know for certain. I think we have some pretty clear suspicions about what is happening there.
1.I don’t think Trump himself wants a war. It would be disastrous for his re-election in 2020. But his criminal advisers,Bolton and Pompeo,certainly do want a war with Iran. And the satanic Israelis and Saudis do want a war with Iran,but for the US to fight.
2. The likelihood that the attacks on the ships are by the Mossad,with or without Saudi or US help,is very strong.It fits their MO.
3.By pulling a “Gulf of Tonkin” against Iran. It opens up for the Israelis to get what they most want. A US war against Iran,that they don’t have to fight themselves.
They do at some point have to save face, they are all in and will not back down where financial control is concerned. And it is at that point in time they could be apprehended and face justice.
Question is will some see it coming and think twice, or take their chances with past proven techniques?
I do not need an analysis (though it’d be welcome) of this incident to know that it surely wasn’t the Iranians.
More Kabuki theatre until they finished ruining the foodchain, installed a global highspeed wireless network to support monitoring and rasterizing the populace and calling home the private armies (mercs) in the current conflict zones; thus ending the class struggle once and for all.
Not that I am opposed. We deserve it.
With the US-Navy in the vecinity, why would and how could Iran have succeeded in an attack on the starboard side of the tankers? Sail all the way arround the tankers while the US-Navy is on stand-by? Their best shot would haven been at the port side, facing the coast of Iran.
And a second strange thing. If it were limpet mines indeed, why go through all the risky troubles to attach them to the hull and then come back many hours later to remove them (indeed under the noses of the US-Navy) to alegedly remove evidence. The most sucessfull way of ‘removing’ that evidence would have been to blow it up. After all, they were planted there for just that reason.
So, IMO, this whole scenario stinks to high heaven again. Combined with eye witnesses claiming to have seen flying objects hitting the tankers, the US’s long track-record of provoking conflicts and wars with false-flag attacks and the US’s decades long agression against Iran, I wouldn’t be surprised at all that that those “flying objects” were missiles fired from those same US-Navy vessels in the vicinity.
This video from 2012 is all anyone should need to understand who is behind these ” attacks”.
https://youtu.be/jUMdzJ54yao
Yep. I for one wont be flying United Arab Emirates
Yes, I remember this little speech by Mr. Nasty. They would be my suspect #1.
This article is worth considering when weighing the evidence to determine the likely perpetrators in this nasty little squabble.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-14/senators-switched-key-votes-bill-gulf-arms-ban-hours-after-tanker-attacks
The MIC would not impose on it’s mates in the US Navy to undertake a little side hustle, would they?
I subjected this incident to the smell rest and the results are in:
Whomever was the genius and master of intelligence-related sleights of hand, mirages, folk legends, and ancient (yet self serving even to this day) myths who invented, executed and subsequently controlled the narrative of the apparently botched Skripal double murders was behind this.
Who lives to the west of Iran?
(hint hint cough cough wink wink wink)
If the tankers hit the mines in the water,how come there is no damage to the hull in the water but 2 – 3 meters above ? David Copperfield,Houdini,Blaine…?
If the mines were attached so high to be seen by everyone, where and when did it happen ? In the Arab ports ? In this case did the tankers sail like a Christmas tree with so many visible mines attached ?
Or during the sail ? Did anyone film Iranian boats sailing so close to the tankers and attaching the mines ?
( any Satellite images ). It couldn’t be swimmers or divers.
As Malcom Nance said: ” It’s not a limpet mine, it’s a demo charge. ”
And the ” Iranian ” boat. Did the US army follow it ? It sailed to an iranian port or returned home ? Why it wasn’t intercepted ?
It looks like the West totally forgot how to execute a false flag. Or it is a sign of fatigue and desperation.
A good line for iranians to ” defend ” themselves at UN is :
https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/seven-reasons-be-highly-skeptical-gulf-oman-incident/ri27256
Thanks to Nat South for this piece.
What caused the fuel fire visible in photos taken after the attack? The cargo wasn’t involved.
Limpet mines are deployed below the waterline…
Test of a drone-deployed ‘torpedo’?
In this and the previous attack skill demonstrated in creating a highly visible, non lethal (to ships or crew), but debilitating attack with no obvious perpetrator.
US gained votes in congress to defeat bill aimed at restricting Saudi arms sales by providing political cover to those who needed it. Primary media puts out that US believes ‘terrorist state’ Iran behind this as previous trouble. BBC reporter checked with ‘knowledgable’ British intelligence sources who allowed they had no reason to doubt the American story.
Will the Americans try to blockade Iran, or start seizing ships with Iranian cargo? Don’t think so, but didn’t they try this with NK and Venezuela?
Little change in oil price, much bigger shock required for that, and to keep it up would take a real war or something similar.
What did Iran gain? …. ? They need something strategic. Don’t think this is it.
US wants to continue to squeeze Iran economically and help the Saudis with Yemen and Israelis with Syria – both harm Iranian interests and help allies.
“What caused the fuel fire visible in photos taken after the attack? The cargo wasn’t involved.”
But it was and I suspect also a fuel tank if under the waterline. It was naphtha.
Thanks to Nat South for gathering the released data together and doing some decent analysis work.
Not much is reported yet in detail and between the lying from the zionazi-gay quislings and the usual incompetence of journos in handling facts, what little actual relevant material is buried under tons of horse manure.
A ‘limpet mine’ is a physical surface explosive device generally but not always held in place by magnetic force. It is generally, but not always, activated by a timer of some sort, for instance clockwork, electronic or pyrotechnic.
My theory is explosive devices were placed on the tankers while they were loading. The devices were coloured to match the tanker’s hulls and were therefore difficult to see. The Iranians did, indeed, remove one device from one tanker. This device did not work as advertised and Iran now has evidence which can be, possibly, traced back to the source, which no one will believe and which will never be mentioned in msm.
Uncle Sugar failed in this false flag effort but have no doubts, Uncle Sugar will try again. And again. And again, until he gets the war he wants. The problem with this war which apparently two fools in Foggy Bottom lust for is this one will be like the proverbial tar baby, easy to punch but not so easy to pull the fist out of.
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Even if true that an Iranian boat removed an unexploded mine, that does not mean that they planted them….
Assuming we take the story of the limpet mines at face value, the curious case with the tankers, including those four damaged at an earlier incident is this :
1. For some inexplicable reason, they’ve forgotten how to use the limpet mines. The most effective place for it is below the water line, not above it … unless you’re not actually serious in trying to sink those tankers. But why?
2. Trying to attach limpet mines above the water line without risking being spotted is very high. Major powers probably have their spy sats tuned into the region 24/7 (why wasn’t intel from sats used?). Attempting to attach it to a moving ship multiplies the risk and difficulty to near impossible level. Wouldn’t it be easier to do it underwater, fully submerged? Perhaps a military drone submarine?
3. Google map has scary resolution to its street view from composited sat images, right down to vehicles number plates, street signs and even faces. This small miracle is in widespread civilian use. Military intel with black/white grainy picture ala VHS era? I just don’t know what to say … this sort of BS isn’t even credible anymore in these days and age.
There’s a pattern to these attacks. The first incident only caused minor damage. The second incident, they racheted the drama another notch, this time we see more serious damage leading to crews abandoning their ships. My prediction – the next one or the one after, we might see a real sinking and loss of life. When there’s a pattern, it is not random. When it’s not random, it’s deliberate. When it’s deliberate, it’s usually a false flag to achieve a certain goal.
The plot is clear and transparent. Whenever and wherever in the world the US military tends to focus on, inexplicable things happen. They come in, things just happen. Coincidence? Laughable. I’m not sure why they even try because everyone knows about it (at least those with eyes/ears open), the nitwits that planned all probably think they can get away with it.
It’s as if Saddam’s WMD, KAL 007, Lockerbie, the KGB plot to kill Wojtyla, The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, etc, etc, never happened. No matter how bizarre and transparent the Imperial agit-prop is, the Western fakestream media presstitutes swallow it whole, without a murmur of dissent or a sign of any intelligence, and that 100% Groupthink that is the defining characteristic of the Western ‘Free Press’.
A good investigator knows that the earliest accusers are most times the culprits seeking cover. UAE Echoes Trump, Claims Iran’s ‘Fingerprints’ on Oil Tankers’ Attack – (link: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201906151075887157-uae-echoes-trump-claims-irans-fingerprints-on-oil-tankers-attack—reports/) sputniknews.com/middleeast/201…
@SputnikInt
the quality of False Flags has fallen to Clumsy Kid Conjuring Trick levels.
The Cargoes are interesting, as is the fact that both vessels were damaged to starboard. It is also interesting that one portion of the “damage” has a pattern similar that of an air to air missile strike: And so close to a mine? An unlucky miss? Too, a large Warship (US) en route to the Persian Gulf reportedly stood off into the Arabian sea. “Oh what a web we weave….” Hmm 4 hours apart; Possible land attack route across KSA? I wonder whether Irans S300 radar caught anything?
The same malign state actors (to use a favorite American NewSpeak phrase) that are behind this likely false flag attack on these tankers are the same malign state actors that are responsible for the Mother-of-All False Flag attacks of September 11th.
These malign state actors comprise the true Axis of Evil:
The United States of America, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
The US Media shills and US Navy shills aboard the USS Bainbridge are helping to manipulate the mark(Donald Trump) into accepting the neo perps war plan.
You can’t cheat an honest man and obviously “Honest” Trump would never participate in rigged gambling, embezzlement.or a Nigerian Prince scam.
A fairly reasonable debunking of the utter stupidity coming out of Wash dc, e.g. “govt assessment,” not worth the hysteria it is prompting:
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Truth-Behind-The-Torpedoed-Tankers.html
An Israeli AIP sub most likely did this
These ships have to have advanced security systems with cameras and other equipment. There must be evidence from the ship’s security systems and personnel of what happened. Especially the ship that was attacked twice. After the first attack the security status must have been elevated to high alert with people and systems on the lookout for further danger.
my exact thoughts!
its as if we are in the 19-century the way those ships are presented… rather than vehicles
carrying important cargo, insured to the hilt etc.
the insurance companies to protect their investment would
have imposed all manner of security techniques and equipment requirements including on-board cameras looking out too..in an area like Hormuz, on the owners or they wont pay insurance claims
Not necessarily, depends on company requirements. Minimum manning of some of these ships doesn’t necessarily mean improved security measures, especially after sailing out from Gulf.
Here is what I don’t understand: the US Navy can track and photograph an Iranian runabout as it moves up to a tanker to remove an incriminating limpet mine, but has absolutely no record showing those same limpet mines being attached.
I mean, honestly, how did those mines get there?
It could not have been attached by the Iranians when the tanker was in port because Iranian naval runabouts aren’t, you know, allowed to enter UAE ports for any reason.
They weren’t attached by underwater frogmen either, because Iranian frogmen swimming around undetected inside a UAE port aren’t going to leap out of the water like performing dolphins to attach their magnetic mines halfway up the hull. They’ll attach the mines under the keel, and then swim away.
So the only way the IRANIANS could have attached those limpet mines is by running up alongside the tankers using their navy runabouts and attaching the mines while the tankers were underway.
How did they do that without being seen by anyone onboard the tankers, and without being tracked by the radars onboard the US Navy ships? Isn’t that exactly what the Bainbridge is supposed to be there to do?
Yes, it quite feasible to get alongside these ships unnoticed, especially in a wooden boat.
Here’s one video showing just this: https://twitter.com/binmaha/status/1134417418296725504
There is minimum manning of commercial ships, especially at night, when it would be easier to anyone to get alongside. It all depends on the level of security onboard and system availability.
Running up alongside underway is really the only option regarding placing a limpet mine / demo charge.
But frankly, I would have thought that with all of the US surveillance, sea, air, land, FLIR, electronic etc… that getting from an Iranian port & into a shipping channel would not be done without being observed by a multitude of means, (radar being just one method).
US group protection is bread and butter stuff, especially in an area where you deem to have a hostile opponent operating. The USS Bainbridge was 40nm from the tankers. But I don’t she was there for tracking Iranians gunboats.
The “limpet mine removal” video shows a tanker crewmember entering the Iranian boat and the boat then leaving. The alleged limpet mine was photoshopped. What attacked that tanker was a kamikaze drone.
The reasoning for what is a joint conclusion can be read beginning here. My conclusion (I comment as karlof1 there) follows at comment #76:
“I’ve seen enough. What we’re shown is the very last crewman being guided onto/into the Iranian boat. On the bow are two Iranian crew, one reaching the tanker crewman, the other steadying the reacher’s legs against the sight motion of the ocean. Once the tanker crewman’s in the cockpit, the sitting Iranian crewman gets into the cockpit while the standing man remains standing, probably since he’s bilingual and capable of communicating instructions–a vital component even with easy rescues like this one. Everyone’s milling about in the bow because they just got there and want to ensure the safety of their shipmates. The poor resolution video was chosen because it hides numerous details. Plenty of time was available for photoshopping the limpet mine addition, which helped fool those watching the video.”
Additional comments follow. My fellow commenter, Peter AU 1, agrees with my assessment.
To think Members of the Outlaw US Empire wanted to attack Iran based on that video of the crew being evacuated is mind-boggling! The Empire ought to have less than zero credibility amongst the family of nations after its recent series of BigLies!
I don’t buy that. The Iranians did not rescue the tanker crew, but the Coastal Ace.
What is not being said, at what stage did the tanker crew re-embark their ship and at what point did Iranian (SAR) maritime personnel embark on the tanker to inspect it? I would have thought that ought to have happened at some stage?
Too bad! That’s what’s in the video. You got fooled by the supposed limpet mine like so many thousands of others.
Tell me then, as a video maritime expert then, where is the 1) lifeboat they were on
(Because that’s how they got off in a hurry from the tanker early in the morning.
2) where do you usually find the attachment points for the accommodation ladder on a handy size tanker.
I have my deepest reservations on what is going on in the doctored videos, but as an ex mariner, I am not seeing a rescue.
Author of the article
Several issues:
(1) A mine is out of the question as they could not and would not have been placed that high and the Japanese company rejects the US assertions;
(2) the US video did not show the approach of the Iranian rescue vessel to the ship making the context unclear;
(3) a ship’s Master would have stayed on board , with perhaps critical crew, to protect the shipping company from a salvage tug taking over the vessel. Such crew members would only allow themselves to be rescued following a contracted arrangements for a tug to assist the stricken vessel;
(4) The photos of the tanker during the day have a very large black triangle that the US claimed was an mine explosion impact. The triangle was not present during the crew recovery by the Iranian rescue vessel in which most of the people on board were wearing emergency life vests. Strange that no recent pictures of the vessel are available!
(5) The aerial bomb attacks claimed by the Japanese were in the Starboard side and any Iranian attack would have been discovered by the US radar images which do not appear to be available.
To me this stinks of a USS Liberty type attack by the Israeli military one day after the 52 anniversary of the USS Liberty attack. My money is on Israel or a private military contractor such as Mr Prince who is the brother of Betsy DeVos (Trump’s secretary of education).
The Navy further modified one photo of the video by colorizing it and who knows what other Adobe Photoshop Lightroom modifications
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-17/pentagon-releases-more-proof-iran-attacked-oman-tankers
They also show a photo of the second penetration of the hull which looks more like an unexploded projectile penetration. It does not appear as a sharply defined triangle as in earlier photos.
Other reports indicate that the crew picked up by Iran are in Dubai and that reporters are being kept from viewing the damage.
Note that Israel is the main suspect as the US politicians will do anything to protect Israel. For example, the US disavowed the crew of the USS Liberty to protect the state of Israel. Furthermore, when the Israeli commandos attacked the Freedom Flotilla in an act of piracy on the high seas and killed or beat up the crew and passengers including one survivor of the NAZI death camps and Joe Meadows a survivor of the USS Liberty attack (time stamp 9:35).
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ClYrAtDNAGy5J0N-AwBNw
(1) Yes a mine could be placed that high. Going out on a limb here but it does make sense, if you want high visibility but less damage. Or it is attached by skiff alongside while tanker us underway. Why do this? For show.
(3) a ship’s Master would have stayed on board ,
No no no
Until the ship was made secure, the shipmaster would have not stayed onboard, due to the dangerous cargo onboard (methanol, not kind of stuff you want to be sitting on with an UXO). Until the suspicious object is removed, then the crew would not have re-embarked. This happened the next day according to company information. Salvage is under Lloyds LOF with SMIT. Which makes the US timeline shambolic & incoherent.
(4) several navies use bulky life jackets, the Russian Navy does, does not mean it is either an emergency or the tanker crew.
And why attach “the limpet mine” 8 feet above the water line, where it is visible and easily removed, when it could have been placed on the water line and sunk the vessel removing all trace of what caused it?
And why attach “the limpet mine” 8 feet above the water line, where it is visible and easily removed, when it could have been placed on the water line and sunk the vessel removing all trace of what caused it?
Why didn’t the US or port authorities manage to video the limpet mine being attached?
Why did the tanker sail off with something suspicious stuck on its hull, when there wasan emergency situation for tankers transiting the Straits of Hormuz?
Why wasn’t the Iranian vessel tracked and arrested after the incident?
SBS op?
19May19 – Iran threat: UK special forces join US strike group in Persian Gulf as tensions mount
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1129203/iran-news-uk-special-forces-us-strike-group-persian-gulf-ww3
CENTCOM has now released a couple of photos of what it claims to be a magnet stuck on the side of the Kokuka Courageous, and they claim that it was left there after the Iranians “removed” the incriminating unexploded limpet mine.
Ahem. Think about that. They are admitting that something was sticking to the side of the hull.
I’m now going to put forward this hypothesis: two limpet mines were indeed attached to the hull of that ship, the one at the stern exploded, but the one midship was so poorly attached that it fell off leaving behind a big ol’ magnet.
That explains the Iranian boat heaving-to in that exact spot i.e. as they examined the ship they spotted that magnet, so they went in for a much closer look. Once they identified it as a magnetic remnant of a poorly-attached limpet mine they shoved off again and went home.
That is PERFECTLY consistent with the “evidence” that the US Navy has produced.
And explains why none of CENTCOM’s “evidence” actually shows the limpet mine when that Iranian boat was alongside i.e. the mine had already fallen off before the boat got there, but evidence that it had been there was still present.
It’s not quite as strange as a cannibal-rat-infested ghost ship, but it’s still pretty puzzling: The crew of an oil tanker appear to have made themselves, and their vessel, disappear off the coast of Angola for a few days in order to “fake” a pirate attack .