Discussions

This is a VERY interesting story that's unfolding in the news. The Unites States released a video showing the Iranians provoking the ship:  
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzyeMvhKp2U  
 
Another cool video by abc.com:  
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNL6DyH_IfA  
 
 
This is Iran's version:  
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m36Gu9UMDzY  
 
 
The Iranian version clearly shows no confrontation... however the American government says that it's been highly edited and does now show the provocation that took place.  
 
 
For once, I have to take the side of the Americans on this one. Iran is clearly downplaying this event so they don't look like a bunch of idiots. I feel the Americans actually acted a lot more passive than I would've thought. Those boats were obviously there to cause some trouble. Now, whether or not those boats were in fact being ordered by the government to provoke the Americans, or if they were a rebel force is another story which is being investigated.  
 
In any case, I don't think that the importance of this confrontation should be downplayed. This could've easily set of another war involving our neighbors to the south, and it would've been much different than the war with Iraq. Iran has a big military force, one in which you can tell the United States is weary of getting involved with. That's not to say that the Americans wouldn't be able to handle them, but that being said.... Iran has nuclear arms and I doubt the USA would put themselves in that kind of predicament unless it was absolutely neccesary and they HAD to defend themselves.  
 
I sure hope this is the last we see of any confrontation between these two countries. However, the confrontation did happen close to some of the world's richest oil wells. This could just be a sign of things to come in the next 10-20 years.