Gulf of credibility

Updated.

The Navy - our Navy - is reporting Iranian harassment in the Persian Gulf. Under ordinary civilian leadership, despite the harsh lesson of the Gulf of Tonkin, I would reflexively credit these reports as true, as I did in the Gulf of Sidra.

Under the rain of bullshit during the reign of the Bushists, it's much harder. Even events that actually did happen, such as this one, get meaning imputed to them that they just don't deserve. One core lesson of Iraq - that the Cheney shadow government is happy to trump up a cause of war - cannot be ignored.

Here's what I think:

• The Iranian "gunboats" were very light Zero-like boats. The boats were small but hard-hulled, probably fiberglass.
  
• If the Navy had perceived the objects the Iranians dropped to be a threat, the incident would not have transpired without weapons fire. The U.S. ships would have shot them up. They were nothing.
• Admiral Roughead is overselling this incident to please the Bushists.
• The Iranians were playing chicken; there are idiots in Iran who want war, too. They probably had no idea of the personal space a navy needs in a tight strait. They're probably too young to have even heard of the Exocet.
• Vice Admiral Cosgriff did not specify that the translated content of the "aggressive transmissions" was known to the vessels' captains in real time. How credible is it that three minor vessels would have a Farsi translator on board when the whole U.S. military can't field more than a few dozen Arabic translators? The transmissions were in English. Oddly, in ABC's video, they were easier to hear than the American radio operator.
  

The upshot: I'd guess that there was a routine incident report that someone in Washington spun to prominence, something the commanders at sea put out of their minds as soon as it was over.

My skepticism is the consequence of the Bushists' gulf of credibility. The high military officers who have taken their propaganda orders from the White House will have to be retired by the next Democratic President, if only to restore the honor of their services.