Iran creates international panic

[classicman]

Iran creates international panic after claiming US plane violated airspace

An Iranian news agency sparked fears of an international standoff and left the Pentagon scrambling to identify its planes today after it reported that a US jet had strayed into its territory and been forced to land.

The semi-official Fars News Agency this afternoon said that five US military officials and three civilians were interrogated at an unnamed Iranian airport after accidentally straying into the Islamic Republic's airspace.

They were released after it was established that the plane had not entered the territory intentionally, the agency said, adding that it did not know when the incident had happened.

After hastily investigating the claims, however, the Pentagon poured scorn on them.

The US said that all of its planes in the Middle East had been identified and none had recently been missing or involved in any incident.

"According to the combined air operations centre, all our aircraft are accounted for and we have no reports of any aircraft landing in Iran," US Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Ryder said.

As the story unfolded, a senior Iranian military official told Iranian state television’s Arabic-language channel Al-Alam that what was said to be a military jet was, in fact, a private Hungarian business aircraft and that no Americans were on board. It added that the incident dated back to September 30.

"The airplane is now being confirmed as a light transport plane with no Americans onboard," US military spokesman Lieutenant David Russell said.

[classicman]

They can't really be that stoopit - can they? If not, what are they up to?

[BigV]

Yes, of course they can be that stupid. Stupid enough to publish before verifying the facts. Certainly. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.

As for the putative title of the original article? Yes, I believe they could conceivably choose to and succeed at forcing down a US aircraft under some circumstances. I think it would be a very high stakes gamble, but that is so far into hypothetical land, that practically any set of circumstances is equally unlikely. Go on, imagine anything.

Real world, very, very unlikely. Possible, but highly unlikely.

[barefoot serpent]

They're unhappy about oil falling below $90/bbl.

Iran is concerned that the deepening global financial crisis is having a bigger impact on oil demand growth than previously expected, the Islamic Republic's OPEC governor said on Tuesday.

It was too early to say if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would have to cut production at its December meeting to match lower demand growth, Muhammad Ali Khatibi told Reuters in an interview.

"We are worried about demand," Khatibi said. "The financial crisis is deeper than we expected and this is definitely influencing world oil demand."

[BigV]

This is the same circus that pshopped their own missile launches, right?

And we know how that turned out, right? There's a vast credibility gap here, at least in terms of my receptivity to their claims.

[ZenGum]

Remember, the Iranians were willing to take prisoner a bunch of British naval personnel who were in disputed waters, and hold them for a while.
Do not underestimate the recklessness of people who believe a their actions are endorsed by a higher power.

[dar512]

They don't have enough sex in their culture, so they need something else to occupy their time.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Do not underestimate the recklessness of people who believe a their actions are endorsed by a higher power.

Like the Bushes?

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by classicman

Like the Bushes?

I almost put "This applies to both sides of the fence". I see I didn't need to.

See, peeps, Classicman isn't a republibot after all.

[regular.joe]

Many if not most people in the Middle East don't equate cause and effect the way that we do here in the West. This coupled with a cultural over powering need to always be on top, while never loosing face....leads to what we would call lying. I don't usually believe at least 75% of what I hear on first meeting anyone from the Middle East. This might go down to 65% after building a little trust.

Also, the Middle East is where 1+1=Banana.

[BigV]

Also, the Middle East is where 1+1=Banana.

bwahahahahahaha!

[xoxoxoBruce]

We know the story is bullshit, but the audience it was intended to impress, does not... and never will.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

This may be the fundamental reason why so many Arab states are failed states. Impaired integrity on the one hand, mass dumbth on the other.

[Kingswood]

Originally Posted by dar512

They don't have enough sex in their culture, so they need something else to occupy their time.

No wonder they claimed that their airspace was "violated".

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

This may be the fundamental reason why so many Arab states are failed states. Impaired integrity on the one hand, mass dumbth on the other.

Yeah, because a history of western interventions in their cultural and political development has nothing to do with it.

I see you have bought into the racist, bigotted view of Arabs as dishonourable, untrustworthy, uneducated crafty bastards. Do you also not like the way they smell?

How can you possibly look at an entire nation and come to the conclusion they are stupid en masse?


Oh and Kingswood: lol.