Pentagon Planted Bogus Iran Speedboat Story

[kpete]

A separate audio recording of that voice, which came across the VHS channel open to anyone with access to it, was spliced into a video on which the voice apparently could not be heard. That was a political decision, and Lieutenant Colonel Mark Ballesteros of the Pentagon's Public Affairs Office told IPS the decision on what to include in the video was "a collaborative effort of leadership here, the Central Command and navy leadership in the field".

"Leadership here", of course, refers to the secretary of defense and other top policymakers at the department. An official in the US Navy Office of Information in Washington, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that decision was made in the office of the secretary of defense.

more at:
http://www.attytood.com/2008/01/anatomy_of_a_modernday_gulf_of.html

.................
Pentagon Planted Bogus Iran Speedboat Story

The story was manufactured.

Then the navy disseminated a short video into which was spliced the audio of a phone call warning that US warships would "explode" in "a few seconds". Although it was ostensibly a navy production, Inter Press Service (IPS) has learned that the ultimate decision on its content was made by top officials of the Defense Department.

The bogus story was then planted by the Navy at CNN and CBS.

At 9am, Barbara Starr of CNN reported that "military officials" had told her that the Iranian boats had not only carried out "threatening maneuvers", but had transmitted a message by radio that "I am coming at you" and "you will explode". She reported the dramatic news that the commander of one boat was "in the process of giving the order to shoot when they moved away".

CBS News broadcast a similar story, adding the detail that the Iranian boats "dropped boxes that could have been filled with explosives into the water". Other news outlets carried almost identical accounts of the incident.

The source of this spate of stories can now be identified as Bryan Whitman, the top Pentagon official in charge of media relations, who gave a press briefing for Pentagon correspondents that morning. Although Whitman did offer a few remarks on the record, most of the Whitman briefing was off the record, meaning that he could not be cited as the source.

links and more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/16/15234/4407/463/437882

[tekisui]

1. Anyone surprised?

:shrug:

They are getting lazy. It shows in their sloppiness.

[AwakeAtLast]

12. That's the sign of DESPERATION

Amazing to actually see, isn't it?

[sakabatou]

2. Told ya it was a Tonkin incident...

[EFerrari]

6. DU called it almost immediately. And Barbara "Tokyo Rose" Starr

never met a militarist she didn't like.

[Webster Green]

3. The whole thing was done by The Big Dick from undisclosed location

I don't like him!:mad:

[KansDem]

4. You know, I remember when "US military" was synonymous with "pride" and "honor."

What happened?

[TahitiNut]

5. The synonyms went down the toilet with "free" and "brave."

... as in "land of" and "home of." :shrug: We get the government and military WE DESERVE.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

10. BINGO, IT WAS PRIVATIZED BY BUSH AND GANG.

[C_U_L8R]

7. The only reason they get away with this crap...

is because of lazy journalists.
C'mon Barbara.. put down the donut and verify the story. Geez.

[annabanana]

8. Barbara Starr is a good little mockingbird

She's the Pentagon's go-to stenographer...

[HowHasItComeToThis]

9. THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL PLANS IS ALIVE AND WELL

I THOUGHT THEY WERE TOLD TO DISBAND IT.

PERHAPS THE GREATEST THREAT TO PEACE IS THE PENTAGON AND CONTRACT MANIA OF THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.

[creeksneakers2]

11. This would be a good subject

for a Congressional investigation.

[AwakeAtLast]

13. The reason the general public sniffed at this story

is because of 9/11, we as the general public have been desensitized to the threat of loss of life. Because so many were killed in the towers and on the planes, terrorists will have to kill a lot more people (this is obviously not something I am advocating, just making a point). That is the only way to get the prairie dogs to look up. I am surprised that BushCo doesn't realize this. Would this be something they did not think about? :shrug:

[me b zola]

14. k&r

[slipslidingaway]

15. And Kucinich called them on it right away...Washington, Jan 9

What did the Dem leaders and other candidates say...

:(

http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=81530

"Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement after President Bush ratcheted up rhetoric in a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this morning, further setting the stage for a war with Iran:

The President said, “Iran is a threat to world peace and that the United States would continue to keep pressure on the Iranians.” However, a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report released just last month reaffirmed Iran does not have an active weapons program.

“After using lies and deception to lead us to war in Iraq, the belligerent Bush Administration is doing the same with statements that suggest a preemptive attack on Iran is necessary to avoid a larger war,” Kucinich said.

Today’s press conference comes on the heels of numerous news reports that state the United States fabricated video and audio footage showing Iranian boats confronting U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.

“If the Bush Administration were truly intent on understanding the facts of the January 6 incident, they would spend their time in the Middle East and hold high-level diplomatic talks with Iranian leaders instead of degrading the diplomatic relations further with bellicose rhetoric.

“The Bush Administration is so intent on starting another war, they will stop at nothing. They will use this incident as a green light to go to war with Iran,” Kucinich said.

Iranian officials reject the footage as fake and accused Washington of trying to stir up tension in the region. The video from Sunday’s incident shows small Iranian boats swarming around U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the Associated Press, the man in the recording speaking in heavily accented English threatened, “I am coming to you. … You will explode … minutes.”

“It is time to stop using war as an instrument of foreign policy. It didn’t work with Iraq and it won’t work with Iran,” Kucinich concluded.

Kucinich has consistently spoken out against the Administration’s drumbeat of war targeting Iran. He has given more than 70 speeches on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007.'