U.S. Israel Cut Internet Cables - Saga continues

Saga continues. Plot sickens. Take your pick.

roguegovernment.com posted this story supposedly from Press TV, Iran 20080208. However, the link at presstv.ir is broken and a site search there comes up empty.

U.S. Israel Cut Internet Cables
02-08-2008
Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=42209&sectionid=3510203

"These two countries exhibit a strong and anti-Muslim bias in their foreign relations. They also have the technical ability to carry out clandestine sabotage operations on the sea floor, according to an article on the Opednews website."
Complete story in full blog post.

Could Iran's New "Oil Bourse" Spark a War with the US or Israel?
by Vincent L. Guarisco (Posted by Sheila Samples)
February 9, 2008 at 00:33:19
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_vincent__080209_could_iran_s_new...

"(Yes, it most certainly will, just as sure as people in Hell want Ice water)
[]
Since the end of January – nine (or more) major fiber optic cables – on the ocean floors have suspiciously been cut, disrupting most or all telecommunications/internet capabilities for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. From Egypt to India and most points in between, cable cuts in the Persian Gulf, Egypt, Malaysia and France have predominately affected Muslim nations. Bottom line, this is keeping them "off-the-communication grid" slowing their international markets for trade and commerce to a standstill. And, this has delayed the grand opening for the Oil Bourse.

Gee, I'm so undecided..."

Suspicious that the story never really existed, I did a quick Google News search. In two separate searches, one for the title and another for "Richard Sauder", Google News twice showed that the story did exist at one time. A Google web search shows it was also picked up by tehrantimes.com and turkishweekly.net. turkishweekly.net gave tehrantimes.com as its source while tehrantimes.com gave presstv.ir as its source.

I also discovered several other recent stories about Iran, cables, missiles, and speedboats:

The anchor that lives:

Anchor behind cable cut mystery
Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:50:21

"The company [could not, or] did not immediately explain whether the [abandoned] anchor moved and snapped the cable or the cable itself was drifting when it was sliced."

U.S. Ship Nearly Fired At Iranians
02-08-2008
Press TV

"One of the officers “had literally given the order to fire and it turns out one of the fast boats turned about simultaneously”, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said Wednesday referring to the January 6 incident involving a radio communication between Iranian guard boats and a US Navy warship."

Interestingly, no word on whether a 'cease fire' order was ever given or if the gunner actually fired, though. It seems like had the gunner not fired regardless of a change in direction of the target, that in the absence of a 'cease fire' order, charges of disobeying a direct order could be brought.

Iran Rocket Launch Unfortunate Says U.S.
02-04-2008
Reuters

"The White House on Monday said Iran's rocket launch [designed to send a research satellite into orbit] was "unfortunate" and would only further isolate Tehran from the international community."

More in full blog post

Iran Rocket Launch Unfortunate Says U.S.
02-04-2008
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN0455520420080204

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday said Iran's rocket launch was "unfortunate" and would only further isolate Tehran from the international community.

Iran launched a rocket designed to send a research satellite into orbit, Iranian state television said.

The United States suspects Iran of trying to master technology to build nuclear weapons and has been pressing allies to isolate Tehran until it gives up its suspected nuclear ambitions. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian energy.

"It's unfortunate Iran continues to test ballistic missiles. This regime continues to take steps that only further isolate it and the Iranian people from the international community," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

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U.S. Ship Nearly Fired At Iranians
02-08-2008
Press TV
http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=6544

The US army chief claims a US warship commander ‘had literally given the order to fire’ on an Iranian boat in the Strait of Hormuz.

One of the officers “had literally given the order to fire and it turns out one of the fast boats turned about simultaneously”, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said Wednesday referring to the January 6 incident involving a radio communication between Iranian guard boats and a US Navy warship.

The top uniformed US officer further said that the United States had to trust judgments of its commanders.

“From my perspective there is wisdom in relying on their judgement, as we did the other day,” he told the House Armed Services Committee.

The Pentagon last month alleged five Iranian boats belonging to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had harassed three US Navy warships by threatening to ‘blow them up’.

Pentagon officials later backed off from the previous claim, saying that they do not know the source of the radio transmission.

Iran maintained that the incident was an ‘ordinary’ maritime identification check which ended without hostility as shown in the footage released later by the IRGC. No shots were traded during the incident.

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Anchor behind cable cut mystery
Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:50:21
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=42378&sectionid=3510212
Underwater cables

An abandoned anchor is blamed for cutting one of the severed undersea cables that snarled Internet traffic across the Middle East.

FLAG Telecom's FALCON fiber-optic cable covering Dubai and Oman was snapped Feb. 1st by an abandoned six-ton ship anchor, the company approved.

The company did not immediately explain whether the anchor moved and snapped the cable or the cable itself was drifting when it was sliced.

The cuts slowed businesses, hampered personal Internet usage and caused a flurry of Internet blogger speculation, including mentions of sabotage.

However, government authorities and FLAG, which stands for Fiber-optic Link Around the Globe, have refused to comment on these speculations.

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U.S. Israel Cut Internet Cables
02-08-2008
Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=42209&sectionid=3510203

A report says US and Zionist regimes are the two anti-Muslim states that intentionally cut the internet cables to the Muslim world.

These two countries exhibit a strong and anti-Muslim bias in their foreign relations. They also have the technical ability to carry out clandestine sabotage operations on the sea floor, according to an article on the Opednews website.

Israel and the US have exhibited a pattern of violently destructive policies towards Muslim peoples and nations, especially in the Middle East region, Richard Sauder wrote.

Optic fibers were cut in France, Alexandria, Dubai, Bandar Abbas of Iran, one cable between Qatar and the UAE, one in Egypt's Suez, and finally one near Penang, Malaysia, the article reported.

The US Navy has long had special operations teams that can go out in submarines and deploy undersea, on the seabed itself, specifically for this sort of operation, he wrote.

Sauder pointed out that Iran will open its own Oil Bourse soon, which will be trading in "non-dollar currencies." This has massive geo-political and economic implications for the United States and its economy.

An operational Iranian Oil Bourse, actively trading supertankers full of petroleum in non-dollar currencies, poses a great threat to the American dollar's continued dominance as the international reserve currency, he added.