IPS Report Says Media Exaggerated Iran Speedboat Incident

By: E&P Staff An independent journalist working for Inter Press Service (IPS) has done a story on the Iranian speedboat-U.S. 5th fleet incident that says the Jan. 6 incident was much less serious than reported in the mainstream media.

The IPS writer -- Gareth Porter, who's also an historian and national security policy analyst -- said on radio's "Democracy Now!" that "the story really began from leaks from the Pentagon.... The way it was described to reporters, it was made to appear to be a major threat to the ships and a major threat of war. And that's the way it was covered by CNN, by CBS and other networks, as well as by print media.

"If you look carefully at the transcript ... [5th fleet commander and Vice Admiral Kevin] Cosgriff makes it clear that the ships were never in danger, that they never believed they were in danger, and that they were never close to firing on the Iranian boats. And this is the heart of what actually happened, which was never reported by the U.S. media."

"Democracy Now!" is hosted by Amy Goodman, who also writes a newspaper column (accompanied by podcasts) for King Features Syndicate.

Content from the IPS news wire is distributed in the U.S. and Canada by the New York City-based Global Information Network, which syndicates articles from the developing world.