The Coasties Answer the Call – This Time
I dunno if it’s a matter of strategic import, but it fascinates me?
US ship rescues Iranians at sea _ again
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter rescued six Iranian mariners from a vessel in distress in the Persian Gulf, the second time in less than a week that the American military has come to the aid of Iranians at sea, an official said Tuesday.
Pentagon press secretary George Little said the Iranians aboard a cargo dhow about 50 miles southeast of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr used flares and flashlights to hail the cutter Monomoy at 3 a.m. local time Tuesday. The vessel’s master indicated that his engine room was flooding and “deemed not seaworthy,” Little said.
If America will soon no longer be “The policemen of the world” maybe we can hang around to be the rescuers??
After all, those 6 sailors didn’t seem to be willing to wait for an Iranian rescue?
ETA: From the comments a logical response I missed: We should have held them captive as spies, until the Iranians release the former Marine they are accusing of being a spy! Six Iranians for one American seems fair.
Category: Geezer Alert!
If the enemy isn’t trying to kill you, the sea always is–that is the bond that mariners share, even when their nations are hostile to one another.
We should have held them captive as spies, until the Iranians release the former Marine they are accusing of being a spy! Six Iranians for one American seems fair.
“If America will soon no longer be “The policemen of the world” maybe we can hang around to be the rescuers??”
When we are reduced to only being the rescuer, the situation will be too risky for the rescue.
Nothing trumps Superior Firepower, nothing. To give up that position is to assure the world’s needy that we will no longer be able to participate. To not be the world’s policeforce, leaves the position open to whomever will fill it, and there are those waiting in the wings who want that privilege.
903d MI #2: Wish I’d thought of that!
And I will…
And just what, exactly, are the Coasties doing all the way over to the Persian Gulf??
Yeah, but how would the WH gain any political capitol from something so sensible?
#5 We’ve had cutters there for years doing costal patrols and enforcing the sanctions against Iraq (and now probably Iran). They also looked for people smuggling weapons, mines, etc… once we toppled the Iraqi regime. There is at least one port security unit out there as well as LEDET’s that are actually doing the boarding and inspection of suspect vessels. It’s a small footprint relative to everyone else but a sizable commitment considering the size of the Coast Guard.
Forgive me if this is akin to pointing out that ice is cold and the sun sets in the west, but if the Iranian Navy rescued a skiff full of unarmed American civilian mariners in a distressed vessel, the Iranians would have arrested and held them in some gilded jail in Iran until Diaper Jesus offered an incentive to release them.
US Coast Guard in the Persian Gulf?
Kinda like sending the National Guard to Afghanistan. (Just which “national” are they guarding, anyways?)
Yeah, Ron Paul’s foreign policy is “nuts.”
@#9, yes, yes he and it both are… Did you ever notice the tag that says “U.S. Army” on their uniform? Thanks for playing.
I would disagree with holding the sailors captive against the return of the Marine for two reasons:
1. We don’t use hostages for anything. Period.
2. The Iranians would know better and so would we — we would not hurt those sailors, and we would never hurt them…and the world knows it. No threat, no force, no use.
We have the force of world opinion behind us. Any decent nation only approves of our having helped those Iranian sailors. It was the right thing to do.
You know, this is not often heard, but every time the Navy does a Boarding or Search and Seizure, its a Coastie crew that does it. Why you ask (cuz I know EK will) because if the Navy does it it is “technically” an act of war. The Coasties a “Maritime Law Enforcement Officers” actually have legal standing to do such things. As to why the Coasties might be in the Gulf, did you think they might be there for training?
EK: I hate to break it to you, but you stressing emphasis on words does not in fact prove your point.
@ #9 – The USCG is only there for shallow water rescue & target practice. If you’d only volunteer to do more to help the Coast Guard get in more practice time…the world would be such a better place.
@ #2 902d MI, I take exception to your comment! Six stinky, rotten teeth, illiterate, scruffy bearded, in-bred towel heads for one American Marine? For an Occutard maybe. There aren’t enough iranians in the world worth one American Marine.
@14: Agreed. But it makes us the good guy and Iran the Giant dicks of the world which is kind of the way it really is despite what CNN and the MSN would have you believe.