Recommended Viewing: "A New Cold War: Inside Nuclear Iran" with Reza Kahlili, Michael Ledeen, and Melissa Boyle Mahle - Book TV

I can't embed the video, but in a spare hour and a half, I highly recommend viewing this C-Span Book TV episode: International Affairs - A New Cold War: Inside Nuclear Iran with Reza Kahlili, Michael Ledeen, and Melissa Boyle Mahle.

Described as:

A panel discussion on how to deal with Iran with Reza Kahlili ("A Time to Betray: The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent Inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran"), Michael Ledeen ("Accomplice to Evil: Iran and the War against the West"), and Melissa Boyle Mahle ("Denial and Deception: An .. Read More
A panel discussion on how to deal with Iran with Reza Kahlili ("A Time to Betray: The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent Inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran"), Michael Ledeen ("Accomplice to Evil: Iran and the War against the West"), and Melissa Boyle Mahle ("Denial and Deception: An Insider’s View of the CIA"). This event was hosted by the Spy Museum in Washington, DC.

Of special note is the section that begins about 56:33, Michael Ledeen speaking about 1:00:00,and Reza Kahlili's comments following a question that begins about 1:09:40 dealing with the effects of Iran having nuclear weapons and blackmailing the Arabian/Persian Gulf area (and the rest of the world).

It ought to send chills down your spine.

Danes to Fight Piracy at Source

Reported at Shiptalk:

She [Gitte Lillelund Bech, the Danish minister of defence] wants Danish soldiers in Africa to set up coast guards, and to help African nations implement fishing controls, as it is believed that most Somali pirates were originally fishermen who turned to piracy after other nations emptied the Somali waters of fish.

Nice plan. Hope it works.

Of course, there are some folks in Somalia who are not so happy about outside assistance, as noted here:

Jihadist cells in Mogadishu are increasingly fragmented and answer to no one.

Some have targeted national aid workers and civil society leaders.

This has infused political violence with a high level of unpredictability and randomness in Mogadishu, eroding the ability of Somali aid workers, businesspeople, and civic figures to take calculated risks in their movement and work.

The US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report, published in June 2009, noted the widespread use of children in fighting forces in the country.

Extremist groups opposed to the TFG, such as the Al Shabaab, conscript and recruit children as young as eight years, including girls, to plant bombs and carry out assassinations.

Lovely, religious people those jihadists.

I don't believe they are going to be thrilled with the Danish flag:

On the other hand, there is a history thing:

Littoral combat ships. Old style.

Fearless Navy Bloggers Take to the Air: Episode 33 The RIse of China the Fading of DADT 8/15/2010 - Midrats on Blog Talk Radio

5pm (Eastern U.S.) Sunday:
Episode 33 The RIse of China the Fading of DADT 8/15/2010 - Midrats on Blog Talk Radio:

Building off of last weeks discussion of the changing face of international and security issues in the Western Pacific, for the first half hour we will have Seth Cropsey, Senior Fellow from the Hudson Institute to discuss the rise of China and her growing influence throughout Asia and globally.

For the second half of the hour, we will have retired Navy Reserve Commander Zoe Dunning, Board Co-Chair of the Servicemembers Legal Defense
Network on to discuss the lobbying efforts on behalf of repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and a status report where the debate stands.

UPDATE: Well, something happened and the episode was not conducted. Sorry for any inconvenience. Steps have been taken to establish an alternative site should this happen again - and the show will go on - stay tuned for details.

Speed Bumped: The Million Dollar Speeding Ticket

Swede faces world-record million dollar speeding penalty:

A Swedish motorist caught driving at 290km/h (180mph) in Switzerland could be given a world-record speeding fine of SFr1.08m ($1m; £656,000), prosecutors say.

The 37-year-old, who has not been named, was clocked driving his Mercedes sports car at 170km/h over the limit.

Under Swiss law, the level of fine is determined by the wealth of the driver and the speed recorded.

Cheaper to buy an airplane to go that fast. And less risk to those "little people" who share the road.

Probably felt like he was only going 120mph. You know, a "safe speed."

Maybe he had a pregnant friend at home who need pickles and ice cream, "Right now!"

Thursday Reading

Maggie needs some "comfort food". You can help with the comfort.

Jane looks at Armies of Liberation: "Anwar Awlaki, the Elvis of al-Qaeda".

The Secret History of the World. Leaders without followers tend not to go places. Revolutions happen when the people are ready.

Why letting Somali pirates return to their hell hole state may not be an act of kindness despite protests to the contrary.

Got your smaller Navy right here. Really, it's like buying one fire truck for a city because statistics show that most of the time there's only one fire at a time. But it's a "really competent" fire truck. More on this later.


Survivors of that plane crash that killed Senator Stevens got help from the Coasties and National Guard. The Otter is a great plane, but I like two engines. Either of which can keep the plane in the air.

The Sentinel, a publication of the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point offers up "The Mysterious Relationship Between Al-Qa`ida and Iran" By Bruce Riedel in its July 2010 issue which you can download as a pdf here:

On balance, the evidence of a hostile relationship is much more compelling than evidence for a collaborative one. Nevertheless, that does not preclude the possibility of occasional operational collusion; terrorists often seek help from criminals and drug dealers, and therefore from other terrorists as well. Yet it does not suggest a partnership or alliance.

Iran and the Taliban, well ... it's complicated.

UPDATE: A logistics issue in getting aid to Pakistan reported here. Be sure to read CDR Salamander's comment. See comment above about the number of fire trucks... Unspoken is the lack of cargo capacity of the H-60 compared to the H-53 and the old H-3 helicopters. Less capacity means more sorties to carry the same cargo. And there are range issues, too.

UPDATE2: A must read about the state of United States shipping here.

UPDATE3: I haven't commented on the new Iranian mini- subs because, well, I want the Iranians to waste their time on such projects if it makes them happy. StrategyPage covers the situation quite well.

One More Thing to Worry About: "The Ice Island"

If you are short of things to worry about, here is a new potential threat to international shipping, albeit a remote threat - NASA reports an "Ice Island" that, under just the right set of conditions, could wander, in whole or in part, into some international shipping lanes, as reported in many places, including here

An island of ice more than four times the size of Manhattan is drifting across the Arctic Ocean after breaking off from a glacier in Greenland.

Potentially in the path of this unstoppable giant are oil platforms and shipping lanes — and any collision could do untold damage. In a worst case scenario, large chunks could reach the heavily trafficked waters where another Greenland iceberg sank the Titanic in 1912.

It's been a summer of near biblical climatic havoc across the planet, with wildfires, heat and smog in Russia and killer floods in Asia. But the moment the Petermann glacier cracked last week — creating the biggest Arctic ice island in half a century — may symbolize a warming world like no other.

Yes, "global warming" etc. etc, according to that rather hysterical report.

Photo to left is "before" shot. Photo below is "after" shot.

Here's what NASA says:

Icebergs calving off the Petermann Glacier are not unusual. Petermann Glacier’s floating ice tongue is the Northern Hemisphere’s largest, and it has occasionally calved large icebergs. The recently calved iceberg is the largest to form in the Arctic since 1962, said the University of Delaware.

Wait, you mean - this has happened before!?!

Surely the world as we know it must have ended in 1962...

For your convenience, I GoogleEarthed the location of the Petermann Glacier and drew a line 1500 miles/2400 km from the glacier to the south. Click on the image to enlarge, the line is red.

Since the "ice island" has to negotiate the channel it sits in, the Nares Strait, Baffin Bay, Davis Strait and an on-coming winter before it hits sea lanes, it isn't really "drifting across the Arctic Ocean" as reported above, now is it?

Or, for you worriers out there, "Not Yet."

On the other hand, there may be some good news:

... the iceberg may have one positive effect – as it moves on its passage along the Nares Strait researchers say it may act as a huge ice dam, creating a barrier between Canada and Greenland and preventing further ice to escape.

Glass half empty? or half full?

An older post on the International Ice Patrol here. You can find the IIP website here.

Iran Announces Revolutionary Guard Torpedo Boats

Reported as Torpedo launcher boats join IRGC fleet:

Introducing 12 Zolfaqhar class speedboats to its naval fleet, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns against the inspection of Iranian vessels.

IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi announced on Tuesday that the Corps also plans to mass produce improved models based on the record holding speedboat, Bladerunner 51, by 2011.

The Iranian speedboat will be capable of launching missiles and torpedoes, and sailing at a speed of 70 knots (82 mph).

"We acquired the boat from the British and what worries the Americans is that we have equipped it with military gear," IRNA quoted Admiral Fadavi as saying.

"By 1390 [Iranian calendar] (2011) it will be mass produced and delivered to the IRGC Naval Forces," he added.

The commander also warned that Iran would not tolerate any inspections of ships heading to or leaving from Iran by foreign countries.

"The Islamic Republic has authority in the Persian Gulf and we will retaliate against any [aggressive] move," said Rear Admiral Fadavi.

These are not "frigates" unless you are an Iranian.

Some discussion about the Bladerunner 51 thingie here. And an earlier post on that same topic here.

UPDATE: How to counter Iranian "frigates":

It goes faster and carries more bullets.

Another update:

This would do the job, too.

Breaking: Reported Attack on Merchant Ship in Northern Arabian/Persian Gulf

Unconfirmed early report of an attack on a merchant ship in the the NAG/Northern Persian Gulf:

Merchant Vessel attacked in position 2941N 04840E. DTG 083030LT Aug10. Vessels are warned that if passing within 100nm of this area they are to exercise extreme caution.

That's up near Iraq if I plot it correctly.

More details as I get them.

UPDATE: Sea robbers? Yes, if the attacks described here are the same as the above (again, unconfirmed):

Gunmen robbed the crews of four ships anchored off Iraq's southern oil hub Basra last week in Iraqi regional waters patrolled by the U.S. Navy, a Navy official said on Sunday.

The attackers targeted the Antigua-flagged Arminia, North Korea's Crystal Wave, Syria's Sana Star and the American ship Sagamore last Sunday and took personal belongings from the crews, Lieutenant John Fage of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said.
***
The ship robberies took place about 145 km (90 miles) from the port at Basra, one of Iraq's largest cities and the heart of the oil industry.

Iraq is counting on oil sales, which provide about 95 percent of federal revenues, to supply the billions of dollars needed to rebuild after years of war, international sanctions and economic decline.

The attacks did not qualify as piracy under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea because they took place in Iraqi regional waters and not on the high seas.

China: "The Cow's Tongue"

So, those who tuned in to Midrats on Sunday got a special treat, Dr. Michael Auslin spent the entire hour with us discussing the Far East. A substantial part of that discussion involved China's claims that the South China Sea is largely Chinese internal waters which they deign to allow foreigners to sail through. See this WaPo piece "Beijing claims 'indisputable sovereignty' over South China Sea":

The Chinese military declared Friday that China had "indisputable sovereignty" over the South China Sea but insisted it would continue to allow others to freely navigate one of the busiest waterways in the world.

The statement by the People's Liberation Army seemed designed to reiterate China's claims to the entire 1.3 million-square-mile waterway while calming concerns in Washington and Asian capitals that its policy toward the region had suddenly become significantly more aggressive.

During our show, there was mention of the "cow's tongue", a reference to the nearby map in which China has, since the 1930's or so, asserted sovereignty over the waters lying inside those hash marks that I have colored red. See also Paracel and Spratly Islands Forum for a Vietnamese counter-assertion:

Despite China’s claims of ownership over the Spratly Islands, it never physically occupied this archipelago until 1988 when its navy clashed with Vietnam’s navy and took control of 6 of the features for the first time in history. China continued to take over more features in subsequent clashes with Vietnam in 1992 and the Philippines in 1995.

Despite only actually occupying a number of features in the Spratlys, in 1992 the Chinese National People’s Congress passed a “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone,” in which it claimed all islands in the Spratlys (and most of the rest of the Eastern Sea) as Chinese territory.

As mentioned earlier, China issued its dotted line maps claiming both land and "historic water" terrritories in the Eastern Sea giving it the whole sea up to a line ranging roughly 15 to 200 nautical miles from the coasts of the others. It is from this map that the boundaries around the claimed territories has the shape that reminds one of a “Cow Tongue”.

The U.S. is getting involved in the controversy (see here), as well is Indonesia, what with China intruding into Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone waters, as set out here:

But recent reporting on an incident that took place in Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) suggests that Vietnam is not the only Southeast Asian country that has been prevailing upon the U.S. to engage more sharply on this highly sensitive issue. The August 3 edition of the Mainichi Daily News, a Japanese newspaper, reported on a June 23 confrontation over a fleet of 10 Chinese fishing vessels operating without permission in Indonesia's EEZ. A stand-off over the Indonesian navy's seizure of a Chinese fishing boat almost got out of control when a Chinese "fishery management vessel" – which was actually a repurposed heavy gunboat – threatened to fire on the Indonesian navy patrol boat. According to the article, the fishery management vessel pointed its large-caliber machine gun at the carbon-hulled Indonesian craft, at which point the outgunned patrol boat released the errant Chinese trawler. The article says that a similar episode occurred in May, with the same large Chinese warship having likewise successfully threatened an Indonesian naval patrol that was detaining an illegal Chinese fishing boat.

It isn't that the Chinese naval buildup is not one that a powerful nation can undertake, it's the bullying of lesser nations over valuable sea lanes, economic zones and challenges to sovereign rights that is problematic with the Chinese. And since the U.S. Navy is capable but lacks the numbers of potent warships to be everywhere, the Chinese may just bully their way into owning the "cow's tongue."

The map above is taken from a law review note "The Dotted Line on the Chinese Map of the South China Sea: A Note" from Ocean Development & International Law, 34:287–295, 2003 that can be downloaded here from The South China Sea (from whence the maps below):

It was evident from this that the dotted line then defined the sphere and the sovereignty, or the ownership, of the Paracel and the Spratly Islands. Nevertheless, the dotted line shown on the Chinese map is also China’s maritime boundary in the South China Sea because of two characteristics of the dotted line. First, the location of the dotted line followed the international principles regarding maritime boundaries then in existence in that it was drawn as an equidistance/median line between the isles and reefs at the outer edge

of China’s South China Sea islands and the coastline of neighboring adjacent states.

Second, the dotted line was the manner of designating a claimed national boundary line. Thus, “the nine-dotted line” had a dual nature. Not only did it define China’s sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands, but it also played the role of China’s claimed ocean boundary in the South China Sea. The lines therefore can be called the Chinese traditional maritime boundary line in the South China Sea.

Listen to internet radio with Midrats on Blog Talk Radio

 Update: added additional maps. Click on them to enlarge.

UPDATE: You might be interested in the vital sea lanes of China (from here).

UPDATE: My friend Steeljaw Scribe has a look at Competition in the South China Sea:

Make no mistake about it — if the US chooses to press ahead in the region militarily and diplomatically there will be substantive challenges and an increased likelihood of a confrontation on the high seas. China has made no bones about using sharp elbows where it feels its sovereignty is being impinged and with increased capacity and capabilities, will undoubtedly feel it is in a position of greater strength to exercise the same. On the part of the US, it is the opening act of what a number of writers and strategists are coming to see as at least one major feature of a post-Iraq/Afghanistan world – one that requires a naval presence for persistent presence, able to flow forces on short notice that are able to conduct sustained operations from the seabase. It is the core of the maritime strategy and naval operations concept.

It is also one that demands a navy with wide-ranging capabilities across the spectrum of war and which will not be found in a dwindling force of undermanned ships, aging aircraft and neglected weapons systems. It will require small combatants, big-deck amphibs, multi-mission destroyers and cruisers, submarines for hunting and deterrence and carriers that bring a revitalized mission of sea control back into a portfolio too-long dominated by strike warfare. Grey hulls, white hulls. Sailor, Marine, Coast Guardsman. The need is there — the question – can we afford to build and sustain the necessary force structure to put “paid” to the diplomatic checks being written?

Can we afford not to?

Drug Subs: NatGeo looks at 'em

NatGeo looks Inside: Cocaine Submarines: Facts:

It is estimated that nearly 2.1 million Americans use cocaine regularly every year.
***
# In 2008, about 70,000 pounds of cocaine were seized from semi-subs.
***
# In the last three years over 120 drug subs have been detected between the coast of Colombia and Mexico.

I spent a big chunk of the morning observing a criminal court and the number of charges of cocaine possession with or without the intent to distribute was impressive.

Somali Pirates Abandon Captured Ship

BBC reports Pirates abandon sugar ship Syria Star seized off Horn:

Pirates have abandoned a sugar cargo ship a day after seizing it in the Gulf of Aden, the EU naval task force operating off Somalia says.

Two members of the 18,838-tonne Syria Star's crew of 22 Syrians and two Egyptians were injured during the hijacking.

EU Navfor said it was giving medical assistance to the two members.

MSC(HOA) report here:

Late at night on Friday 6 August the MV SYRIAN STAR requested medical assistance for two crewmembers that were injured in the initial hijack. The MV SYRIAN STAR was hijacked on Thursday 5 August in the eastern part of Gulf of Aden and is now free. Initial reports are that the pirates left the ship of their own accord utilising one on the rescue boats.

EU NAVFOR warship FGS SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN was in the vicinity of the MV SYRIAN STAR and sent her helicopter with a medical team onboard in order to assist the vessel. On arriving on the SYRIAN STAR they found a third member of the crew who had been injured in a work related incident. FGS SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN is standing by to conduct a medical evacuation if required.

EU NAVFOR Force Commander Rear Admiral Jan Thörnqvist said: ‘It is always good to hear a hijacked ship is free and now EU NAVFOR will give the injured crew members the medical assistance they require’.

EU NAVFOR is continuing to monitor the situation.

Maritime Security: Tanker Damage in Strait of Hormuz Was Due to Explosives, Report Says

Maritime security game changer in the Strait of Hormuz?

BBC News reports "Japan tanker was damaged in a terror attack, UAE says":

"'An examination carried out by specialised teams had confirmed that the tanker had been the subject of a terrorist attack,' the news agency said, quoting an unidentified coastguard source.

'UAE explosives experts who collected and examined samples found a dent on the starboard side above the water line and remains of home-made explosives on the hull,' it said.

'Probably the tanker had encountered a terrorist attack from a boat loaded with explosives,' the source was quoted as saying."

The Strait of Hormuz is a vital link in the world energy chain and scattered terrorist attacks in the area are not a good thing.

See here for a good discussion of the importance of the Strait:

Hormuz is the world's most important oil chokepoint due to its daily oil flow of 16.5-17 million barrels (first half 2008E), which is roughly 40 percent of all seaborne traded oil (or 20 percent of oil traded worldwide). Oil flows averaged over 16.5 million barrels per day in 2006, dropped in 2007 to a little over 16 million barrels per day after OPEC cut production, but rose again in 2008 with rising Persian Gulf supplies.

The Strait is not "international" waters, part of it is in Iranian or Omani territorial waters as set out here:

To traverse the Strait, ships pass through the territorial waters of Iran and Oman under the transit passage provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Although not all countries have ratified the convention, most countries, including the U.S., accept these customary navigation rules as codified in the Convention . . .

As a result, Omani and Iranian authorities have police and security jurisdiction over those waters.

While sinking a ship in the Strait will not close the passage, this attack raises the stakes in providing security for vessels transiting the Strait.

Lots of questions to be answered:

1. Assuming the report is accurate, where did the boat full of explosives come from?
2. What sort of support network is there for the suicide boat operation?
3. Is this a "one off" or will there be more attacks?

Update (7 Aug 10): NYTimes coverage:

Despite the seemingly amateurish nature of the alleged attack, its implications are serious, analysts said.

“Before, the Iranian naval threat was seen as key,” said Mustafa Alani, a security analyst at the Gulf Research Institute in Dubai. “Now, we have the possibility of Qaeda-type groups that appear to be learning from the tactics of pirates.”

One crucial question, Mr. Alani added, was where the presumed attacker would have come from. The coasts in the region are closely watched.

Somali Pirates Grab Ship in Gulf of Aden

Reported by EU MSC(HOA): MV SYRIA STAR HIJACKED IN GULF OF ADEN:

During the afternoon of 5 Aug 2010, the MV SYRIA STAR reported that she was under attack from pirates who had climbed onboard and fired shots at the crew. Helicopters were immediately dispatched to the vessel and tried to establish communications with the SYRIA STAR, which had stopped in the water. They found an abandoned skiff nearby, containing fuel and ammunition. When warships arrived on the scene shortly after, the SYRIA STAR had reversed course and was heading South East back towards the Horn of Africa under the control of the pirates, who refused to respond to radio contact.

The SYRIA STAR was sailing west in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor through the Gulf of Aden with a cargo of sugar. The SYRIA STAR, deadweight 18, 838 tonnes, is flagged to St Vincent and the Grenadines and has a predominantly Syrian crew, with 22 Syrians and 2 Egyptians.

UPDATE:
Activity off the Horn of Africa so far this year (as found IMB Live Piracy Map):

 Red Sea:

Northern IO:

Gulf of Aden:

Arizona Sheriffs: "Don't Sue Us, Help Us 'Plug the Hole' in the Border"

Good points in Don't Sue Us, Help Us 'Plug the Hole' in the Border:

But instead of trying to seal the border, the federal government is going after its own people to prevent us from doing our job. Even more outrageous is the American Civil Liberties Union stepping into the fray and naming individual sheriffs in its suit.

Moratoriums on offshore drilling? Sure, says the administration. Moratoriums on illegal immigration? Not even considered.

Well, I guess it depends on what view you hold of where the real danger to our country comes from. It seems the current administration's view is: "Oil company= 'criminal' activity. Illegal alien= 'future voter'..."

The ACLU is simply beyond the pale.

Fearless Navy Bloggers Take to the Air: Episode 32 The other side of Counter Insurgency and a view on Northeast Asia 8/8/2010 - Midrats

Come listen Sunday at 5 pm as we go back to counterinsurgency but from a different point of view in Episode 32 The other side of Counter Insurgency and a view on Northeast Asia 8/8/2010 - Midrats | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio:

Are we in danger of an over emphasis on Counter Insurgency (COIN) in how we train and equip our armed forces? What lessons do we keep - and what ones do we need to leave behind in Iraq and Afghanistan? In addition - as we are focused on the Middle East and Central Asia, what is growing in Northeast Asia that cannot be forgotten? Join Sal from "CDR Salamander" and me with two outstanding guests. For the first half our we will have Douglas A. Macgregor Col. USA, (Ret) , the author of USNI Press's "Warrior’s Rage: The Great Tank Battle of 73 Easting," and "Transformation Under Fire: Revolutionizing How America Fights." Second guest Michael (Misha) Auslin, Director of Japan Studies and Resident Scholar in Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

After my adventures last Sunday, I promise: (1) I will not be on a mountain top, (2) with a computer with a low battery, and (3) I will hear the question before I answer it.

Join us for the fun.

Strait of Hormuz Tanker Blast: "Al-Qaeda claims MOL tanker attack"

As noted earlier, a tanker got whacked with something in the Strait of Hormuz. Now, the wizards of terror assert they were behind it, as reported in Al-Qaeda claims MOL tanker attack:

A TERROR group affiliated to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a the explosion that hit a Japanese oil tanker off the coast of Oman a week ago.

Abdullah Azzam Brigades is reported to have posted a statement and a photograph on a website used by militants.

“Last Wednesday, after midnight, the martyrdom-seeking hero Ayyub al Taishan blew himself up in the Japanese tanker M.Star in the Strait of Hormuz between the UAE and Oman,” Reuters reported the statement as saying.

The same terror group is thought to be behind attacks at Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt in 2005 and the launching of two rockets against a US warship near Aqaba, Jordan the same year, the news agency reported.

UPDATE: I still like the meteor theory - and it's happened before.

UPDATE: Why do I doubt the AQ story? Well, for one thing, the hull of the tanker is deformed inward, not out as it would be if Ayyub al Taishan had decided to detonate himself as AQ describes, unless, you know, he pushed the self-destruct button after jumping over the side of the ship . . .

UPDATE (6 Aug 10): BBC reports traces of homemade explosives found on hull - indications of a suicide boat, if true:

"An examination carried out by specialised teams had confirmed that the tanker had been the subject of a terrorist attack," the news agency said, quoting an unidentified coastguard source.

Map of Strait of Hormuz showing location of M Star at time of attack

"UAE explosives experts who collected and examined samples found a dent on the starboard side above the water line and remains of home-made explosives on the hull," it said.

"Probably the tanker had encountered a terrorist attack from a boat loaded with explosives," the source was quoted as saying.

Hmmm. This ratchets up the threat levels.

Somali Pirates: Recent Activities

Spanish warship SPS VICTORIA nabs pirate attack skiff::

... Tuesday 3 August, the MV BOW SAGA sent a distress call that she was under attack from pirates in the middle of the Gulf of Aden. An EU NAVFOR unit close by sent her helicopter to assist and stopped the attack.

The Norwegian Chemical tanker MV BOW SAGA was proceeding through the transit corridor in the middle of the Gulf of Aden when it came under attack. A pirate skiff with 7 people on board shot at the bridge, damaging the windows. BOW SAGA adopted Best Management Practice and was conducting counter measures with evasive manoeuvring and the deployment of water hoses to prevent attempts to climb up onto the ship.

EU NAVFOR heard her distress call and ordered the closest warship, the Spanish frigate SPS VICTORIA to react to the incident. VICTORIA already had her helicopter in the air and was able to intervene only ten minutes after the call. The pirates stopped the attack and tried to flee. After warning shots, first from the helicopter and then from the warship VICTORIA, the pirates eventually stopped. The skiff was searched by a boarding team from VICTORIA and weapons were subsequently found.

Russians fend off attack in Red Sea, as reported here:

A Russian Black Sea fleet's warship repelled pirates' attempt to seize an oil tanker with 15 Russian crew members onboard, RIA Novosti news agency reported on Tuesday.

The vessel SB-36, with anti-terrorism troops aboard, counter-attacked two pirate boats carrying 14 pirates. The boats were trying to approach Dafna tanker by cutting its course, a Russian Navy official told the news agency.

The vessel crew opened fire at the approaching boats, forcing the pirates to withdraw.

Photo of SB-36 from here.

UPDATE: And, of course, the pirates managed to grab a ship on Aug 2, as reported here:

Somali pirates have hijacked the Panama-flagged MV Suez cargo ship with 23 crew on board, the European Union naval force (EUNAVFOR) has said.


The ship, which is carrying a cement consignment, came under small arms fire while sailing in a recommended shipping lane in the Gulf of Aden.


Its crew are from Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India.


Although they called for help, the pirates were on board by the time a naval helicopter arrived.

See EU SC(HOA) report here:

Where I Am

View from the front porch:

Vacation ends Tuesday.

Arizona: Court Punts Decision Upstairs

Good analysis of the recent federal court decision concerning the Arizona immigration law by Andy McCarthy at Arizona Immigration Decision:

In essence, Judge Susan Bolton bought the Justice Department’s preemption argument — i.e., the claim that the federal government has broad and exclusive authority to regulate immigration, and therefore that any state measure that is inconsistent with federal law is invalid. The Arizona law is completely consistent with federal law. The judge, however, twisted to concept of federal law into federal enforcement practices (or, as it happens, lack thereof). In effect, the court is saying that if the feds refuse to enforce the law the states can’t do it either because doing so would transgress the federal policy of non-enforcement … which is nuts.

The judge also employs a cute bit of sleight-of-hand. She repeatedly invokes a 1941 case, Hines v. Davidowitz, in which the Supreme Court struck down a state alien-registration statute. In Hines, the high court reasoned that the federal government had traditionally followed a policy of not treating aliens as “a thing apart,” and that Congress had therefore “manifested a purpose … to protect the liberties of law-abiding aliens through one uniform national system” that would not unduly subject them to “inquisitorial practices and police surveillance.” But the Arizona law is not directed at law-abiding aliens in order to identify them as foreigners and subject them, on that basis, to police attention. It is directed at arrested aliens who are in custody because they have violated the law. And it is not requiring them to register with the state; it is requiring proof that they have properly registered with the federal government — something a sensible federal government would want to encourage.

You know the judge knows that no matter how she decided, it was going up on appeal - and now it goes up with illegal aliens getting protection - until either the Supremes rule or the next amnesty act passes.

No word on how long legal residents have to suffer and pay for this illegal activity.

Update on Damaged Tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Initial report here. Good comments - probably not an earthquake...

NY Times: Questions Swirl About Damaged Japanese Tanker

With the tanker docked in the United Arab Emirates, the owner, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and port officials puzzled over precisely what had shattered windows on the vessel, knocked off a lifeboat and punched a dent into its hull. The damage was apparently inflicted early Wednesday morning in the Strait of Hormuz, a passageway for shipping much of the world’s oil from the Middle East.

Mitsui officials said that crew members on the ship, the M. Star, had seen a flash and heard an explosion. They also dismissed earlier speculation by officials in Iran and Oman that the damage had been caused by a “freak wave.”

Me, I'm liking the meteor theory proposed by MDB in the comments to my original post.