The Straits of Hermez incident (aka the Tonkin Gulf 2) is probably bullshit - maybe?

Via the great Digby's blog Hullaballoo
Who posted the link to another blog which THEN lists the great debunking of bullshit NYtimes article: NYTimes article

We get this quote (ain't internet grand):
"Unnamed Pentagon officials said on Wednesday that the threatening voice heard in the audio clip, which was released on Monday night with a disclaimer that it was recorded separately from the video images and merged with them later, is not directly traceable to the Iranian military."

Funny, when I watched the news on TV, I was not informed of the fact that the threatening Iranian voice was recorded separately from the video images and merged with the video later. I was somehow under the impression that the voice was somehow broadcast to the American ships from the threatening speed boats.

Am I to assume that the voice and the video of the Iranian boats darting around the USNavy ships, were recorded AT THE SAME TIME? (and not in some sound studio back in the USA - no that is just crazy speculation on my part).

Pedantic question about the timing of the audio and video recordings, but since they were recorded separately...?

It is very possible that the audio did not come from one of the speedboats themselves, as there is very little background noise. So did the radio transmission come from the Iranian speedboats - or from shore - or from where exactly?

From the NYTimes article: "The audio includes a heavily accented voice warning in English that the Navy warships would explode. However, the recording carries no ambient noise — the sounds of a motor, the sea or wind — that would be expected if the broadcast had been made from one of the five small boats that sped around the three-ship American convoy.

Pentagon officials said they could not rule out that the broadcast might have come from shore, or from another ship nearby, although it might have come from one of the five fast boats with a high-quality radio system."

So here is what we know.

The Iranian speedboats came very close to the USNavy ships, and according to the USNavy video darted to and fro between the US ships, and according to the Iranian video, not so much.

The threatening voice (Can we assume it was broadcast to the US ships at the same time that the speedboats were doing their fast speed runs? I don't know - otherwise this whole scenario makes no sense right?) comes on and warns that the ships will be blown up.

The USNavy personnel keep their cool and prevent armed confrontation between Iranian Navy units and USNavy ships, and (possibly) prevent American air bombing of Iran, which would lead to a limited air campaign over Iran.

Which is the neocons wet dream right now.

Sigh.
Since it is hard to see the links to the articles above, here they are in all their glory:

Rolling Stone on USA's next war with Iran

Politico: Podhoretz secretly urged Bush to bomb Iran

Washington Post on AIPAC desire to push America into a war with Iran

RawStory: Norman Podhoretz misquoted Iranian leader to make a case for war