Some Truth on the US-Iranian "Showdown" in the Persian Gulf

The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) has a nice comprehensive piece on the Bush Administration's effort to mischaracterize the recent encounter between US Naval ships and Iranian speed boats in the Persian Gulf. As usual, there was some 'creative' editing and interpretation of the audio tapes and video taken during the encounter. It reminds me of the incident when members of the British navy were taken hostage by the Iranian military for being on the wrong side of the line that separates the Iranian coast from international waters. A few days after the incident I attended a presentation on Iraqi military organization at the University of Maryland and I spoke with a US officer who said the British boat probably was in Iranian waters and that such incursions probably happen "all the time."