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Ferry receives US warship warning
A passenger ferry on the River Clyde was unwittingly caught up in an international war exercise.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/6079974.stm
All was well on this occasion, but, what if the position was reversed? Say for instance a British naval vessel had got involved say with the Staten Island Ferry? Might it have been explained away so easily?
well sounds about right for the yanks.. the worlds worst unprofesional army navy and airforce
Seems to me that once you have got past the sensationalised Media version you end up with a "Non-event".
All that happened is that a radio message was transmitted on a wrong channel to a vessel which should have been well aware of what was occurring.
An everyday equivalent would be an headline, "Dept. of Transport Employees put public at extreme risk!" Well, they let their Examiners loose on public roads with Learners, a proportion of which they know will probably fail their Driving Test.
All that happened was that an Exercise which was intended to show up problems and to assess peoples competence did exactly that. No more and no less.
When the Media try to take a story about things going as they are intended and try to present it as a near disaster they you have to wonder how many similar stories are being distorted in the same manner.
The way the story is presented is worthy of Jules Verne. Whoever wrote it should consider a move to writing Dr. Who scripts, their imagination is inventive enough.
Compo, that's like saying all Tesco employees are the world's worst when it comes to spelling and grammar! :roll:Quote:
Originally Posted by compo
well if thats a dig at my spelling then yes your very observant i am not very good at spelling or gramer and i dont work for tescos. i have had a lot of time with us forces navy marines and army and what i have said stands as far as i am concerned.
Compo, I have spent many years around US forces people of all branches, and I beg to differ with you. But we're each entitled to our own opinion, of course! :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sporran
True, my opinion is that they are Living Proof that Brain Death isnt Fatal.
Based on their Gulf War escapades where there so called "Friendly Fire" killed more British Troops than the Iraqi's !!
Americans shoot more of thier fellow countrymen than all of the worlds terrorists put together ever have.
The united stated are so worried about their soldiers shooting at the British they have asked the British Army to supply vehicles, men and flags to teach their soldiers what their allies look like.
How did this slip effortlessly from a mildly amusing non-event to another "let's have a go at Americans"? Very likely from people who've never been there......
Sad.
Check the origin of the story and all is explained. They never let the facts spoil a good opportunity to tell people what they should believe.Quote:
Originally Posted by j4bberw0ck
Listen to any Phone In Programme and see how quickly they cut callers off who refuse to parrot their view of things.
Actually my original question "but, what if the position was reversed? Say for instance a British naval vessel had got involved say with the Staten Island Ferry? Might it have been explained away so easily?" has not been answered. it may be regarded as a 'non event' here but my point was that things might not have been seen in the same light over the other side of the Big Pond. I'm of the belief that it would be viewed somewhat differently. Oh and yes, I have been to the States.
Whether someone has been to the u.s is irrelevant to the discussion of friendly fire and to accuse people of being anti-american for stating their valid opinions is a bit much.
Should we pretend that it doesn't happen or question why it happens?
When so many have died by the hand of their own allies then I am sure you will agree it's no wonder that people get angry about it, angry at the u.s military not u.s citizens as a whole.
Also I don't think the people on the ferry would be mildly amused, more like extremely terrified.
hey would probably have put the story where it belongs, somewhere amongst the "Funnies".Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingetter
There is no suggestion that any passenger was ever aware of the radio message and would hardly be "terrified" by something they didn't know existed.
The US Vessel and the Ferry had previously been in contact by radio so the Ferry Captain was obviously aware that he was not on an "Unidentified Vessel".
I notice that there is no suggestion made in the report that anybody on the Ferry was in the least concerned by the incident.
In effect, the only people who seem to have shown the least bit of interest in the matter are those in the Media who are exaggerating a non-story and those in the Military who have had to spend time explaining the obvious, somebody forgot to twiddle the knob on the radio when they had finished their polite chat with the Ferry Captain, no doubt to inform him of their presence.
If the same thing had happened between allies in almost every other Country the Media would probably have behaved like adults and treated the incident for what it was, a simple error whereby a radio operator required a flea in his ear for being a prat.
There is nothing in the report, other than pure imagination, to suggest that anybody at all was ever in the slightest danger or that anything happened which would have cause even my frail elderly aunt anything other than a wry smile.
The only danger surrounding the whole incident is that some reporter's brain was in danger of suffering overheat!
Now, about the baby which needed it's nappy changing because it's mummy said, "Boo!" That should be a good follow up story for them to report.
"BABY SUFFERS SEVERE TRAUMA DUE TO MOTHER'S CALLOUS BEHAVIOUR!" I can see the headlines now. [lol]