# Iran forces US jet to land in Tehran; war imminent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 7, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832 "2008-10-07T13:44:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/1 "2008-10-07T13:44:48Z")
CNN is reporting that Iran has forced a US jet to land in Tehran after it violated Iranian airspace (no online link yet). Will the Bush administration use this as a reason to attack Iran and open a third front in the the War on Terror? ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/2 "2008-10-07T13:50:10Z")
The Pentagon is denying this ever happened, various news agencies also denying any military craft was forced down. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/3 "2008-10-07T13:53:59Z")
Calm down. The Iranians have claimed it was an American aircraft, but [the U.S. says it has no knowledge of the incident:](http://apnews.myway.com//article/20081007/D93LMG4G0.html) > [@](#): > > TEHRAN,Iran (AP) - Iranian news reports say Iran forced a Western aircraft that accidentally entered its airspace to land, then allowed the plane to continue after questioning its passengers. > > The semi-official Fars news agency says the plane was American, but the state-owned Al-Alam television quotes an unidentified senior Iranian official as saying it belonged to a European aid agency. Neither report says when the incident took place. > > U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder, a Defense Department spokesman, says he has no information that any such incident had occurred and was checking the report. > > Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi says he has no information about the case. In any case, Bush knows there’s no support for a war with Iran or any other new military adventures right now, nor is there likely to be in the near future. In any case, violation of air space is an extremely serious matter, and if the aircraft in question did violate their air space their action was justified. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/4 "2008-10-07T13:56:43Z")
Apparently the passengers where released, i dont know about the plane, also the pentagon denies that any war plane has being forced to land. Rumor has it in da intertubez that it was a private jet on route to Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/5 "2008-10-07T13:57:00Z")
Even if the reports turn out to have a basis in fact, I doubt that it would lead to war. Bush was able to allow diplomatic resolution to the Chinese capture of a U.S. spy plane back when our military was at its peak and not strung out from six years of war. As with the British seamen Iran captured earlier, this is the sort of thing that is more likely to drag out through diplomatic channels without anyone being harmed rather than escalating to another war with hundreds of thousands of lives lost. Even if someone decided that we were still powerful enough to “take” Iran, such an unnecessary war would remove any possibility of responding to further Russian aggression and could open us to China making a move on Taiwan. Wolfowitz is gone. I don’t think Bush still has any advisors that are that stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/6 "2008-10-07T13:58:28Z")
The plane and passengers already departed for [Afghanistan](http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/US-Plane-Forced-To-Land-In-Iran/Article/200810115115172?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15115172_US_Plane_Forced_To_Land_In_Iran). ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/7 "2008-10-07T13:59:34Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Even if the reports turn out to have a basis in fact, I doubt that it would lead to war. Bush was able to allow diplomatic resolution to the Chinese capture of a U.S. spy plane back when our military was at its peak and not strung out from six years of war. As with the British seamen Iran captured earlier, this is the sort of thing that is more likely to drag out through diplomatic channels without anyone being harmed rather than escalating to another war with hundreds of thousands of lives lost. > Even if someone decided that we were still powerful enough to “take” Iran, such an unnecessary war would remove any possibility of responding to further Russian aggression and could open us to China making a move on Taiwan. > > Wolfowitz is gone. I don’t think Bush still has any advisors that are that stupid. A prolongued diplomatic incident with Iran can be just what the doctor ordered for the ailing MCain campaign, i hope this resolves itself quickly and without too much fuzz. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/8 "2008-10-07T14:02:01Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Even if the reports turn out to have a basis in fact, I doubt that it would lead to war. Bush was able to allow diplomatic resolution to the Chinese capture of a U.S. spy plane back when our military was at its peak and not strung out from six years of war. Wolfowitz is gone. I don’t think Bush still has any advisors that are that stupid. It wasn’t a spy plane that the Chinese captured. It was a Navy P3. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/9 "2008-10-07T14:02:50Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > A prolongued diplomatic incident with Iran can be just what the doctor ordered for the ailing MCain campaign, i hope this resolves itself quickly and without too much fuzz. Looks like you got your wish. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/10 "2008-10-07T14:03:21Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > A prolongued diplomatic incident with Iran can be just what the doctor ordered for the ailing MCain campaign… I doubt it very much. Most of us Americans have our attention fixed firmly on the economy, and we know full well America can’t afford a third war. Beating the war drums right now would be a really bad move. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/11 "2008-10-07T14:05:31Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Looks like you got your wish. yup :D, “the power of positive thinking”, i hope my newfound powers persist, let me see. “i hope that Obama wins ‘por afano’ in nov 4” “i hope that i win the lottery” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/12 "2008-10-07T14:06:11Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > I doubt it very much. Most of us Americans have our attention fixed firmly on the economy, and we know full well America can’t afford a third war. Beating the war drums right now would be a really bad move. Again, already resolved. Not a military plane and no longer detained. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/13 "2008-10-07T14:06:58Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > “i hope that Obama wins ‘por afano’ in nov 4” > > “i hope that i win the lottery” Some people would say your priorities are a little skewed. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/14 "2008-10-07T14:06:58Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > A prolongued diplomatic incident with Iran can be just what the doctor ordered for the ailing MCain campaign, i hope this resolves itself quickly and without too much fuzz. Why would a new war be good news for McCain? People are already sick of the current war, why would they cheer another brand new one? The American people don’t mind wars, as long as those wars are won quickly and decisively. Even those people who are in favor of war with Iran don’t think the war will be over quickly and easily. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/15 "2008-10-07T14:13:13Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Again, already resolved. Not a military plane and no longer detained. Yes, I know. I was responding to Frodo’s attitude that the McCain campaign might actually think stirring up another war would be good politics right now. It wouldn’t. It would be the kiss of death. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/16 "2008-10-07T14:13:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It wasn’t a spy plane that the Chinese captured. It was a Navy P3. A Navy P3, loaded with electronic surveillance equipment flying the Pacific border of China monitoring Chinese military transmissions. It may not have been a U2 or an SR71, but it was clearly as much a spy plane as the Russian Badgers that used to patrol our coasts from time to time. It was certainly not out there with a MAD boom looking for submarines. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/17 "2008-10-07T14:28:31Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > A Navy P3, loaded with electronic surveillance equipment flying the Pacific border of China monitoring Chinese military transmissions. > It may not have been a U2 or an SR71, but it was clearly as much a spy plane as the Russian Badgers that used to patrol our coasts from time to time. It was certainly not out there with a MAD boom looking for submarines. No, the distinction between electronic surveillance aircraft and spy plane is significant. They’re less a spy entity than a Chinese tourist in Washington DC with a hand scanner. And it would more likely be a Russian Tu-95 bear doing surveillance work. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/18 "2008-10-07T14:32:23Z")
:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/19 "2008-10-07T14:42:27Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > :rolleyes: :rolleyes::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832/20 "2008-10-07T14:55:14Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > :rolleyes::rolleyes: :dubious: There’s often a fine distinction between surveillance and spying. It seems rather picayune to jump on Tom for not making the distinction fine enough to suit you and for not being quite as familiar with Soviet military aircraft as you are. I don’t see how the distinctions you want to make would materially affect his point. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-forces-us-jet-to-land-in-tehran-war-imminent/466832.md?page=2)