Notice from the day this incident took place, until now, the media has vastly changed its story on this. Also note the pro war, pro Bush media and it's slant on the topic compared to other news outlets.
Jan. 8, 2008 - ABC News.com reports:
U.S. Releases Dramatic Video of Iran Boat Incident
"The U.S. Navy released dramatic video and audio of this weekend's stand-off with Iran. The video shows Iranian speedboats swarming around three American warships going through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz..."
Jan. 8, 2008, 12:23 Mecca Time, 9:23 GMT - AlJazeera.net reports:
Iran plays down naval 'provocation'
"Iran has rejected US accusations that its naval forces had threatened to blow up American ships in the Strait of Hormuz, an incident US officials have called "provocative".
Iran's denial on Tuesday comes amid increased tensions ahead of a visit by George Bush, the US president, to the Middle East.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said in an interview published in The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Iran should cease such "provocations" and called Iran "the single greatest threat to the kind of Middle East we all want to see"..."
Jan.9, 2008, 1:21pm ET - CNN.com posts:
Bush: Iran threatening world
"Iran has denounced video and audio recordings released by the United States of the two nations' confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz as "fabricated," according to statements carried by state-run television station. However, President George W. Bush repeated his assertion that Iran is "a threat to world peace" and warned the Islamic republic against any escalation..."
Jan. 10, 2008, 11:30PM - (Gung Ho Pro War Texas Newspaper?) - Houston Chronicle writes:
Iran's speedboat bluff the latest twist in 30-year attack
"Why would five Iranian speedboats bluff an attack on a U.S. Navy squadron?
Start with a big fact: Under the mullah-led thieves' regime, Iran has become an explosive political mix of ethnic, economic and ideological fragments, a mosaic powder keg...."
Jan. 10, 2008, 8:49 pm GMT - BBC News.com reports:
US doubts over Iran boat 'threat'
"An alleged threat to blow up US warships "may not have come" from Iranian speedboats involved in a recent stand-off, the BBC has learned.
The voice on a Pentagon tape could instead have come from another ship in the area or a transmitter on land, senior US Navy sources told the BBC..."
Jan. 10, 2008 - Al Bawaba, Jordan reports:
Iran to U.S.: Stop ”hue and cry” over speedboats incident
"Iran insisted on Thursday there was no confrontation between the Iranian and American vessels in the Persian Gulf waters last Saturday as claimed by the Pentagon. IRGC Deputy Commander in charge of Naval Forces Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said on Thursday that the US administration needs to make "hue and cry to achieve its political goals" and cover up the failed visit of the US president to the Middle East region..."
an. 10, 2008 - USA Today.com posted:
U.S. files formal protest of Iran-Gulf incident
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has lodged a formal diplomatic protest with Iran over a weekend incident in which Iranian speedboats harassed U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, the State Department said Thursday.
The protest, which repeats public U.S. complaints about the "provocative" action, was sent to the Iranian Foreign Ministry through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran, deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. He could not say if the Iranians had actually received and acknowledged receipt of the protest
"We have ... prepared and given to the Swiss a diplomatic note formally protesting this incident," he said. "It reiterates the points that we have made publicly in the last few days."
"We certainly don't want to see the Iranians taking any kind of provocative actions or provocative steps against our ships or against any ships that are transiting what is a primary international waterway," Casey said.
He dismissed Iranian claims that there was nothing unusual about Sunday's incident in the Strait of Hormuz as well as a videotape aired by Iranian television on Thursday that appeared to be an attempt to show that there was not a confrontation between the vessels..."
Jan. 11, 2008 - LA Times.com releases this:
Iran releases its own tape on Hormuz ship incident
"Tehran maintains that nothing more than routine contact occurred in the strait.
BEIRUT -- Iran released a videotape Thursday to support its side of an ongoing propaganda battle with Washington over a weekend naval confrontation in the narrow waterway leading into the Persian Gulf...
U.S. officials, including President Bush, have alleged that the Iranian boats harassed the ships in what they described as a dangerous provocation..."
Jan. 11, 2008 - Washington Post.com reports today:
Iranian Boats May Not Have Made Radio Threat, Pentagon Says
"The Pentagon said yesterday that the apparent radio threat to bomb U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf last weekend may not have come from the five Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats that approached them -- and may not even have been intended against U.S. targets.
The communication Sunday was made on radio channel 16, a common marine frequency used by ships and others in the region. "It could have been a threat aimed at some other nation or a myriad of other things," said Rear Adm. Frank Thorp IV, a spokesman for the Navy.
In the radio message recorded by the Navy, a heavily accented voice said: "I am coming to you. You will explode after a few minutes." But Farsi speakers and Iranians told The Washington Post that the accent did not sound Iranian.
In part because of the threatening language, the United States has elevated the encounter into an international incident. Twice this week, President Bush criticized Iran's behavior as provocative and warned of "serious consequences" if it happens again. He is due to head today to the Gulf area, where containing Iran is expected to be a major theme of his talks in five oil-rich sheikdoms.
Pentagon officials insist that they never claimed Iran made the threat..."
