Eric, Do you seriously think the damage to the ship was from a bomb on a little raft quite a distance away ?
Yes - but the boat was not a distance away, but rather next to the ship (at least, according to news reports).
I wasn't there, so I didn't see the event with my own eyes. But if the explosion came from within the ship, I don't see why the US Navy would lie about such a thing. Certainly accidents happen in our armed forces - planes crash, submarines sink, etc. When a stealth fighter crashes in Colorado, you don't see the US Air Force trying to make claims that it was shot down.
If anything, the incident is an embarrassment to the US Navy. How can one of our most advanced and costliest ships be so vulnerable as to be crippled by a small boat?
But if you believe that the story is inaccurate, that the explosion did not come from explosives on a small boat, but rather from elsewhere, such as inside the ship, what do you think the motive of the US Navy is in making up such a story? Do you believe the US Government doesn't know the source of the explosion and has mistakenly laid blame on a "terrorist" group? Or do you believe the government does know of the source of the explosion, but is exploiting the incident to incite public hate towards Arabs and Muslims as you suggest? And if you believe this, why would the US Government want to incite such hatred toward Arabs and Muslims? I don't think the US as a whole has any interest in taking Arab land.
As for what might have happened to the missing sailors - with an explosion of that magnitude it is quite possible that their bodies were so destroyed by the explosion to make it difficult to find them - even if the explosion came from the outside on a small boat.
Regarding the explosion itself - the press accounts state that the small boat was right next to the US ship - that it was part of a group of boats that were helping to moor the ship in place for refueling. As for photographs of the ship - I've only seen one from a New York Times article published today - this photograph shows pretty clearly, at least in my view, the side of the ship caving inward indicating the explosion came from outside the ship - the black markings on the outside of the ship also suggest, in my view, that the explosion came form outside of the ship. The photo can be found at the following link - scroll down the page to find it:
nytimes.com
The above article also indicates that there was at least one eyewitness to the event (of course the witness was a US Army Major - so you may question his credibility):
"According to Pentagon officials, an Army major who serves as deputy defense attaché at the American Embassy in Yemen and was observing the refueling operation reported that the boat had already tied up one of the Cole's mooring lines to the refueling station in the harbor. The officials said the boat then returned, evidently to retrieve another line, when it exploded."
Sarmad, neither you nor I know exactly what happened - because neither of us were there. I'm inclined to believe that the explosion came from outside the ship as the press reports indicate. However, I will not completely rule out the possibility of other causes of the explosion - if it is discovered tomorrow that a torpedo on board the ship actually exploded, I would not be completely astounded.
Should we believe that the explosion was caused by a terrorist group? Well, let's just say that at this point, that I would view this as a potential cause.
In short, there are two potential sources of the explosion - the explosion came from either inside or outside the ship. If the explosion came from inside the ship, it was most likely from a torpedo on the ship. If the explosion came from outside the ship, it was most likely from a bomb - I don't believe the fuel tank on a small boat exploding could cause that much damage. If the explosion came from a bomb outside the ship, was the explosion planned and executed by a terrorist group? Well, again if the explosion was from a bomb outside the ship, then the bomb most likely got there through the acts of a group of people - and since this event could be classified as an act of "terror", then one could label this supposed group a "terrorist" group. If we accept this "terrorist group" premise, do we jump to the conclusion that the terrorist group was of Arab origin? Well, the explosion took place at a port in an Arab country. Yet, even if we accept the premise that a terrorist group was behind the explosion, we have no evidence that the group was of Arab origin, other than the fact that the explosion took place in an Arab country.
Personally, I believe the photograph indicates that the explosion came from outside the ship - and because of this, it is difficult for me to accept the torpedo premise - but rather I'm more inclined to accept the "bomb from the outside planned by a group of people bent on committing an act of terror" premise. I would like to believe that I'm not more inclined to accept this act of terror premise because of any hatred I have or bias I hold against Arabs or Muslims - here in San Francisco, one of my best friends is from Lebanon and of the Islamic faith, I have three Palestinian friends, as well as friends from Iraq and Jordan. I've also travelled a bit in the Arab world - in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan - and Palestine. I'm not Arab myself - I was born here in the states and supposedly, several generations ago, my ancestors came hear form the Ireland, England and Scotland. Despite the fact that I have Irish blood running through my veins, I know full well that there are Irish terrorist groups who find justification in blowing up public places and killing innocent people - yet, I consider these Irish terrorists murderers and have no inclination to feel any affinity to them despite the fact that my ancestors lived in Ireland several hundred years ago. Likewise, if the bombing of the US ship was the act of a terrorist group of Arab origin, will this cause me to feel hatred or suspicion toward my Arab friends? I can only hope that I don't have such ignorant and despicable inclinations within me. It's that sort of ignorance that led an uncle of mine to hate all Asians because of World War II - he fought in the Pacific, and had trouble accepting my going to live in Japan after I graduated college. There certainly are a large number of people in the United States who find refuge in bigotry - racial bias and hatred is an extremely ugly thing - and unfortunately it runs rampant throughout the world. But if I say that I have an inclination to accept the notion that the US ship was blown up by a bomb on a boat that was placed there by a group of people, and that because the incident took place in an Arab country that the group of people might have been of Arab origin, I am in no way saying that I have a bias against people of Arab origin. If I allowed myself to hold biases against nationalities because of terrorist groups that operate under such nationalities - then in all honesty, I would have to hate just about every one - because every nationality has groups that engage in crimes or acts of terror. There are good people in the world - and there are criminals as well - every country, every nation has an ample population of both.
As for the explosion, we don't know all the facts as of yet, and so we can only speculate as to the cause of the explosion. I'm sure there will be a thorough investigation by the Navy - and I'm sure we'll be reading much more about the event in the coming weeks. If the explosion came from inside the boat, then it was most likely a torpedo. If it came form outside the boat, then it was most likely the work of a group of people working together to plan this act of terror.
It's a tragedy that several people lost their lives in this event. If the explosion was planned and executed by a group of people, then I can see no justification for this act - and I would consider those that planned and executed the explosion as murderers who should be brought to justice - no matter what their national or ethnic origin.
Let me pose one question Sarmad - do you believe there is any possibility that the explosion was caused by a terrorist group - or do you think that such a premise is nonsense?
-Eric |
