If Iranian gunboats try to play cat and mouse with our fleet again, our captains are to promptly blast the marauding vessels right out of the water. President Donald Trump issued crystal clear guidance to our forces in the area on Wednesday morning, after a tense confrontation in the Persian Gulf last week.
Blast them out of the water
The next time the Iranians decide to get cute and and act like bullies, they’re in for a big surprise. Without hesitation or warning, our forces will blast them to Atlantis. “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” the president posted. That takes all the guesswork out of what could be a tricky decision for Naval commanders.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1252932181447630848
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps was responsible for a “dangerous and provocative” incident reported last week involving “nearly a dozen Iranian vessels.” According to a video released by the military, the armed patrol boats were aggressively “buzzing” and circling at least one U.S. warship. Americans are glad that the commanders didn’t lose their cool and blast them this time, but it’s also nice to know they don’t have to balance crew safety against political repercussion if it happens again. Shoot first and the diplomats will sort it out later.
CNN reports that as the Iranian boats performed “dangerous and harassing approaches,” One “Iranian vessel came within 10 yards of colliding with a U.S. ship.” The video confirms “multiple Iranian-flagged vessels, with men manning guns at the front of those ships, passing in front of a US naval vessel.”
Our ships are patrolling the region specifically because of the instability created by Iran last year. The Pentagon insists, “the patrols are essential to protect shipping routes” from Iran’s childish behavior.
A ‘fake Hollywood tale’
Iran admits the incident occurred but downplayed the danger. The totalitarian government waved off criticism as a “fake Hollywood tale.” That’s exactly why the Navy released a video. This was clearly a “threatening” engagement. Next time, we’ll just blast them.
An analysis showed that a total of eleven Iranian patrol craft made “dangerous and harassing” approaches to both Navy and Coast Guard vessels in the North Arabian Gulf on Wednesday. Six U.S. warships were operating in the area doing “joint integration operations with U.S. Army AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.”
What made the incident look so much like an attack was the speed with which the vessels approached. Also they were weaving in evasive maneuvers as if they expected attack. Once they approached, they came threateningly close. Thankfully, no shots were fired by either side.
Just because this was a false alarm does not mean that it shouldn’t be considered an attack. If we allow them to get away with this, then the next time they use the same tactics, we could be lulled into a false sense of security, believing they’re only up to the same old tricks, when really they could be moving in close with powerful weapons or explosives. We simply cannot allow them to behave like they’re attacking without treating it like one. If the Ayatollah wants to get tricky, he’s going to learn real fast that America would rather blast him back to the stone age than put up with intimidation tactics.
Just the way Obama would have handled it. 🙂 NOT