Filed under: Bureaucracy, Democrat Corruption, Election 2016, Foreign Policy, Intelligence, Iran, Military, National Security, Politics, Progressivism, Terrorism, The United States | Tags: The American Thinker, US Sailors, Violation of International Law
Everybody who saw this picture thought it was — odd. Something fishy here. Clearly the official U.S. story did not make sense. American Thinker thought so too. Here are their explanations:
— “Barry and the Pirates” by William Levinson.
It is particularly telling that Barack Obama spent part of his State of the Union speech telling us that the state of our Union is strong while Iranian pirates seized two U.S. Navy vessels and then, as pointed out by Rick Moran, violated the Geneva Conventions by publishing a photo of the captured sailors on their knees with their hands on their heads.
The Iranian action was both piracy and an intentional act of war against the United States. If the boats strayed into Iranian waters due to navigational or mechanical problems, Iran was obliged under international law to render them assistance. “Accidents in international air or sea traffic, even those involving military vessels, generally require nations to assist the victims and keep hands off the stricken planes or ships, the experts said.” Note also that “Iranian officials searched [the boats] for advanced technology and sensitive communications.” …
— “The most plausible explanation for the 10 riverine sailors captured by Iran” by Thomas H. Lipscomb
No, they are part of a Rivierine Squadron based in San Diego. Further they are support crews for SEAL missions from the US Navy and highly trained. The Iranians probably mistook “Riverine” for “Marine” in doing the story.
So that explains several things. Why the captured sailors were so much more fit than the average sailor these days, and how a woman could be among them. While not special ops personnel directly engaged, they have to be extraordinarily fit and well-trained, as indeed these sailors appear to be. …
— “Calling BS on the official story of the Iranian capture of two US riverine boats” by Thomas H. Lifson
Flash! A former Navy SEAL, Matt Bracken, just blew up what I have been calling “a pack of lies from the US and Iran” on what the hell happened that got our boats captured and taken to the Farsi Islands.
Remember: the single most dangerous area in all the Persian Gulf is a small group of Islands in almost the middle of the heavily traveled shipping lanes that is a major naval base for Iran and the HQ of the radical IRG for special operations of their own against all the countries abutting the Gulf. A top Marine told me our two boats were special ops boats with crews that delivered our own SEALS… the direct rivals of the IRG on Farsi. …
— “10 US sailors held by Iran confirmed freed” by Rick Moran
The U.S. claims one of the small Riverine Command Boats experienced mechanical difficulties, strayed off course, and then disappeared from radar. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards captured the boats and took the sailors prisoner, accusing them of “snooping” and demanding an apology from the U.S. government.
Initially, the Iranians said they would release the sailors and their boats at dawn Iran time. But after an “investigation” that confirmed the navigational problems, the sailors were let go mid-afternoon Iran time. …
Filed under: Capitalism, Free Markets, Freedom, Heartwarming, Immigration, National Security, The Constitution, The United States | Tags: Coming to America, Surprises for Immigrants, The Meaning of Lady Liberty
From the American Enterprise Institute, because this is special:
“A little over a week ago, a Reddit user started a thread asking ‘Immigrants to America: What was the most pleasant surprise?'”
A few days ago, Jim Pethokoukis wrote here on AEIdeas about Gallup data showing Americans seem both miserable, and yet increasingly satisfied with their standard of living. The website Knowable.com highlighted 25 of the many replies to the Reddit thread, but in the spirit of appreciating the USA and putting our possible misery in proper context, we’ve picked some of our own highlights:
- Free public restrooms and how every establishment has air conditioning.
- Clean streets, good luck finding a trash can in Pakistan.
- Fireflies… I honestly thought they were mythical, like fairies, until I saw one for the first time in Virginia.
- Showers and running hot water. I was born in the Philippines. Not having to fill buckets with water and boiling some over a stove top was such a big surprise for me.
- Buildings and bridges are so .. .amazing, the infrastructure is good, it makes you thing “wow, mankind DID THIS!”
- Small talks. I really didn’t expect people to just strike up a conversation with someone they’ve never met before.
- People telling me I must be American based solely on my English skills and disregarding my ethnicity feels weird. I like it.
- My dad was born in Trinidad. He says the first thing he ate when he came to the US was pizza. He said that it was magical, and that nothing has ever been as good as that first piece of pizza.
- The fireworks. I had moved on the 4th of July and I was quite young. But I still remember the fireworks.
- What surprised me was the social circles that existed in schools and in life. Back in Italy, schools didn’t have the nerds, the jocks, the skater kids, emos, or what else have you. People were all basically the same, with minor differences in interests. Most everyone played soccer, was a casual gamer, and hung out in the town square at night. That’s it. It may sound like an exaggeration, but 95% of my friends there were exactly like this. So when I came to school here, I was amazed by how the jocks would hang out at gyms and play 4 different sports after school, while the skaters headed off to find a park. It was so different. And I loved it. Because while I could fit in back in Italy, I was always much more introverted and interested in nerd stuff, and in the US I finally found people who were really like me. It was really unexpected, and you only notice it after spending a lot of time in America.
- Moving to the Deep South, I was expecting to be met with the stereotypical racist KKK type of folks. Luckily, everyone at my school was super friendly and helpful.
- Growing up, I was taught the Vietnamese version of the Vietnam War in school. In my mind, I thought in America people would not talk about it since it’s a shameful thing and the government would suppress all discussions of it like in Vietnam. When I came here, I saw that people can openly speak about these things even when there are many disagreements.
- Arrived at 15 from Mexico legally. I lived in poverty but never went hungry, thanks to the social safety nets. My parents worked hard and had a business going within a couple of years. I graduated college and became an engineer. Fast forward 24 years and I’m making a 6 figure salary and living a very good life. The American Dream is alive and well.
- I remember that when I was getting my driver’s license in Trinidad, everyone told me to go with a few hundred dollars in my pocket. It’s very common you’ll be asked to pay a bribe.
- The fact that no one was threatening to kill my family based off of our religious beliefs.
- I’m the son of Korean immigrants. My dad said that Americans are probably the hardest workers in the world. He’s worked in various international companies, and he admits that Americans are the easiest to get along with because of their versatility and open-mindedness. He flat out said he prefers Americans leading projects over anyone else.
- Space. Having separate houses with a huge backyard is a luxury that’s only for the rich in the Netherlands.
- It was my 2nd week in America and I was nervous when I was checking out 4 books at the local public library. I love libraries and where I come from you can normally checkout 3 books. I thought this being America I could try my luck and add another book. The nice checkout girl proceeded my order, out of curiosity I asked her how many books could I checkout in one go. Her answer: 75. This to me symbolized what America stood for.
- People with power are careful when dealing with ordinary people. “Public servants” in most third world countries are the masters and the ordinary public are the “Servants.” This is not the case in the US.
- The most important thing I liked about US is the awareness of people to fight for their rights, respecting others views and respect for humanity. … This might be one of the reason that it is very common for people to sue each other. While [in] other countries, people will silently compromise and accept their situation as a fate…. it seems, the US expects everyone to be aware of what he/she deserves. This is probably the best form of freedom.
These are just some of the many responses that AEI featured. which they edited for grammar, and bolded the essential words. A really nice remedy for world news events.
American Elephants 