Iran+pirates+US rescue=PR bonanza
cnn / Larry Shaughnessy
07-Jan-2012 (one comment)

The Pentagon's public affairs apparatus put on a full-court press Friday after the U.S. Navy rescued 13 Iranian fishermen from a group of suspect pirates. But for all the back-patting of U.S. efforts to save sailors even from an "axis of evil" country, it turns out the true hero in the whole incident was the quick-thinking Iranian captain.

Not always known for being forthcoming, the Pentagon press office nearly went into a shock-and-awe operation with the story, in likely recognition of the goodwill it hoped to demonstrate to the Iranian people.

Rear Adm. Craig Faller, commander of the USS John Stennis Strike Group, and Cmdr. Jennifer Ellinger, commanding officer of the USS Kidd, held a conference call with reporters that went past midnight in their time zone to discuss the incident.

The call came hours after the office of the Navy's chief of naval information released two videos and numerous still photos of the incident.

>>>
recommended by yolanda

Share/Save/Bookmark

 
yolanda

...........

by yolanda on

 Excerpt:

But for all the back-patting of U.S. efforts to save sailors even from an "axis of evil" country, it turns out the true hero in the whole incident was the quick-thinking Iranian captain.

But during the call, Ellinger said that when the Navy established radio contact with the Al Molai, the captain used some trickery to let her crew know what was happening.

"When he had the opportunity, he would tell us in a foreign language that they were physically abusing them, they had pirated them and that they were five to 15 people on board and that they were scared," Ellinger said. "We reassured them that we would be on our way."

He risked his life, using a dialect of Urdu which is primarily spoken in Pakistan. "He did convey that he was trying to talk to us hoping that the Somalis did not understand him," Ellinger said. The Navy happened to have an Urdu linguist on board who was able to talk with the captive captain.

It's not clear why a fishing boat captain from Iran would be familiar with Urdu, but it's similar to Hindi, which is common in Indian movies that are popular throughout that part of the world.And fishermen in the region often pick up dialects through interactions with other high sea farers.