# Israeli Warship Attacked by Iranian Missile? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 17, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865 "2006-07-17T15:51:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/21 "2006-07-17T19:13:30Z")
That one doesn’t work for me either. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/22 "2006-07-17T19:18:34Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] That one doesn’t work for me either. -XT [/QUOTE] It doesn’t? It works for me. It is an article from the Jerusalem Post. A partial quote: > [@](#): > > Unlike the Katyushas and other rockets being fired from Lebanon or Gaza, the missiles fired at the Israeli vessels, then and now, were homing devices with built-in radar which pursue moving targets once they lock on. When Israel devised its missile boats in the 1960s - the first in the West - together with the Gabriel missile, it did not have to worry about eluding such projectiles since no other country had them. However, it soon learned that the Soviet Union was developing its own missile boats which would be distributed to Arab allies. Does [this cite](http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150886020509&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull) work? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/23 "2006-07-17T19:35:05Z")
I don’t see this reported as news anywhere else, despite the fact this happened on Friday. Is this really a big deal or just one more ingredient in the soup? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/24 "2006-07-17T20:32:35Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] It doesn’t? It works for me. [/QUOTE] I get an odd ‘server unreachable’ message here at work when I click that link. [QUOTE=Shodan] Does this cite work? [/QUOTE] Yep, that one works fine. Thanks much. 🙂 -XT ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/25 "2006-07-18T04:43:18Z")
Other reports have the missile being a [Silkworm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silkworm_missile) missile, presumably imported from Iran. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/26 "2006-07-18T05:05:00Z")
BTW, apart from their having a common (perceived) enemy in Israel, what are relations like between Iran and Syria these days? ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/27 "2006-07-18T05:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] Does anyone have an official cite that this thing was in fact an Iranian missile? I’m a bit behind on this story…I’m still at where they were saying it may have been a home made drone of some kind. This sounds pretty damn serious…IF Iran is definitely involved its going to be bloody. ☹ -XT [/QUOTE] And yet it matters not a whit that many a deadly missile raining down on Lebanon bears the distinct “Made In USA” markings? In fact a very good case case could be made that the whole IDF is mostly “Paid By The USA.” Hypocrisy at its worse. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/28 "2006-07-18T05:19:49Z")
[QUOTE=RedFury] And yet it matters not a whit that many a deadly missile raining down on Lebanon bears the distinct “Made In USA” markings? [/quote] Not with a clear casus belli, no. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/29 "2006-07-18T05:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=RedFury] And yet it matters not a whit that many a deadly missile raining down on Lebanon bears the distinct “Made In USA” markings? In fact a very good case case could be made that the whole IDF is mostly “Paid By The USA.” [/QUOTE] But everybody has known that all along. Hezbollah getting supplied with missiles by Iran might not be any more or less ethical a thing, but it is a New Thing, and in this setting new = explosive. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/30 "2006-07-18T06:57:14Z")
[QUOTE=RedFury] And yet it matters not a whit that many a deadly missile raining down on Lebanon bears the distinct “Made In USA” markings? In fact a very good case case could be made that the whole IDF is mostly “Paid By The USA.” [/QUOTE] Right…'cause we all know that the US providing weapons to Israel is the equivelant to Iran providing them to Hezbollah… :rolleyes: Sorry, no…I don’t see this hypocrisy that is appearently so obvious to you. -XT ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/31 "2006-07-18T12:56:35Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] Right…'cause we all know that the US providing weapons to Israel is the equivelant to Iran providing them to Hezbollah… :rolleyes: Sorry, no…I don’t see this hypocrisy that is appearently so obvious to you. -XT [/QUOTE] Of course not. Wouldn’t expect you to anyway what with your posting history here. The moral certitude that comes with your usual simplistic interpretation of foreign conflicts has pigeonholed you well enough. 1-If the US does it, it’s all good. 2-As a corollary of one, if a US ally does it, it’s almost just as good. 3-Ironically, some of the missiles coming down on Israel might well have the " Made In USA" tag on them as well. [**U.S. Arms Sales to Israel End Up In China, Iraq**](http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0509-07.htm) What’s that about “what goes around comes around”? ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/32 "2006-07-18T13:08:15Z")
PS-Not that you’d care but: [Israel Violates US Law With Attack on Lebanon](http://www.antiwar.com/ips/deen.php?articleid=9325) > [@](#): > > Israel is in violation of U.S. arms-control laws for deploying U.S.-made fighter planes, combat helicopters, and missiles to kill civilians and destroy Lebanon’s infrastructure in the ongoing six-day devastation of that militarily weak country. > > The death toll, according to published reports, is over 200 people – mostly civilians – while the economic losses have been estimated at about $100 million per day. > > “Section 4 of the [U.S.] Arms Export Control Act requires that military items transferred to foreign governments by the United States be used solely for internal security and legitimate self-defense,” says Stephen Zunes, professor of politics at the University of San Francisco. > > “Since Israeli attacks against Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure and population centers clearly go beyond legitimate self-defense, the United States is legally obliged to suspend arms transfers to Israel,” Zunes told IPS. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/33 "2006-07-18T15:47:53Z")
If Stephen Zunes said it it must be true. All hail Stephen Zunes! His word is law! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/34 "2006-07-18T16:55:07Z")
[QUOTE=RedFury] Of course not. Wouldn’t expect you to anyway what with your posting history here. The moral certitude that comes with your usual simplistic interpretation of foreign conflicts has pigeonholed you well enough. [/QUOTE] This seems like a pot/kettle situation. 😛 [QUOTE=RedFury] 1-If the US does it, it’s all good. [/QUOTE] The RedFury version being ‘If the US does it, its all bad’ of course. [QUOTE=RedFury] 2-As a corollary of one, if a US ally does it, it’s almost just as good. [/QUOTE] To put this corollary into the RedFury-verse: ‘If Israel does it they are obviously in the wrong’. With a further corollary being: ‘If any group is doing something against the US or Israel, hand wave it away…they MUST be in the right after all’. [QUOTE=RedFury] 3-Ironically, some of the missiles coming down on Israel might well have the " Made In USA" tag on them as well. [/QUOTE] And some might not…as well. My take on this is if Colt sells me a gun, and I take said gun out and shoot someone, then its not exactly Colts fault…its mine. Obviously though, since the US is the root of all evil, it MUST be the US at fault for selling those weapons. I wonders…yes, I wonders…do you feel the same about the weapons France et al sells? They seem to be far more indiscriminate than the US in weapons sales. But not…France after all isn’t the root of all evil. How silly of me, ehe? 😛 -XT ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/35 "2006-07-19T01:58:24Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Don’t the Chinese have missile technology up to the ICBM level? [/QUOTE] Yes, but not entirely relevant to the issue as there may be widely varying qualitative differences in level of sophistication of the systems. Israel’s conventional weapons have generally been technologically right behind those of the USA/UK/France. China is commonly understood to lag behind but in the process of catching up, fast – ther still being a way to go, as the later Maoist period resulted in an extended interruption of the development of weapons technology. (And anyway “ICBM level technology” could mean 30 year-old technology: something equivalent to a Titan-II or Minuteman-I will ruin your whole day rather irreversibly. ) ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/36 "2006-07-19T02:22:48Z")
[QUOTE=RedFury] And yet it matters not a whit that many a deadly missile raining down on Lebanon bears the distinct “Made In USA” markings? In fact a very good case case could be made that the whole IDF is mostly “Paid By The USA.” Hypocrisy at its worse. [/QUOTE] I don’t know nothin’ about nothin’; but my impression reading this thread was that the discussion about what weapons were made where was not about blame-assigning, but about evaluating the relative technology of the weapons. Am I wrong? Or is **RedFury** just spoiling for a fight? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/37 "2006-07-19T02:42:58Z")
I wouldn’t be a RedFury post if he didn’t work in some attack or other on the US. 😛 I don’t think he’s spoiling for a fight any more than normal with his post…its just standard anti-US fare with a special sauce of anti-Israel just tossed in as an afterthought… -XT ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/38 "2006-07-19T04:07:36Z")
Just call it a much needed helping of reality – not nearly as kosher as the current backers of this administration would like to keep on selling you. Would you like some pork rinds with that? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/39 "2006-07-19T14:26:03Z")
Nobody seems to have noticed-but the fact that Iran now posesses sophisticated surface-surface missiles 9which are capable of hitting modern warships) is pretty worrying 9one would think). for example: can the US Navy send its fleet carriers into the Persian Gulf with impunity? Could one of these missiles get past the Phalanx guns and sink a carrier? All in all, a bad situation; Iran with nuclear missiles and antiship missiles…bad, bad! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865/40 "2006-07-19T14:30:58Z")
I don’t think Iran having Silkworm-type anti-ship cruise missiles is anything new. I think they’ve had them for decades. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-warship-attacked-by-iranian-missile/364865.md?page=3)