United States navy kills Indian fisherman

The United States navy has scored a victory in the Persian Gulf.

No, not against an Iranian fleet, armed with nuclear weapons (which Iran does not have and will not have any time soon, according to United States governmental intelligence organizations).

The victory was against an unarmed small fishing boat from the United Arab Emirates, a United States military ally.

Indian fisherman Shekar died when the US navy fired at his boat. Three other fishermen from India aboard the small vessel were seriously injured.

This video is called India seeks investigation into UAE boat shooting.

How proud John Paul Jones, founder of the United States navy during the American revolution against the British monarchy, would have been … NOT! [sarcasm off]

Maybe the United States military brass are influenced by another Persian Gulf Pentagon ally, the absolute monarchy of Bahrain. Margaret Thatcher saw British miners as “the enemy within”. The Bahraini dictatorship treats most people in Bahrain as “the enemy within”. Whether those people are secular oppositionists, Shia Muslim oppositionists, Sunni Muslim oppositionists, Sunni Muslim pro-government mild critics of a few government policies, LGTBQ people, or Indian immigrant workers. This view seems to have rubbed off on the United States navy with its base in Bahrain. “Shoot first, think later” seems to be their maxim.

In the first news reports on this, western corporate media suggested that the US warship had prevented a suicide attack by the “Revolutionary Guard” of the Iranian regime. When the UAE fishing boat reality became known, I did not see such prominent reports on this issue any more.

By Peter Symonds in the USA:

US navy fires on fishing vessel in Persian Gulf

19 July 2012

The killing of an Indian fisherman by a US navy ship in the Persian Gulf on Monday is a sign of sharp tensions as the US continues its military build-up in preparation for a possible attack on Iran.

USNS Rappahannock, a refuelling vessel, opened fire with its large calibre machine guns on a small fishing vessel about 16 kilometres off the United Arab Emirates (UAE) port of Jebel Ali. A US navy spokesman claimed that the vessel had “disregarded nonlethal warnings and rapidly approached the US ship.”

Shekar, 35, was killed on the spot. Three other fishermen from southern India were seriously injured—Sarvana was hit twice in the thigh; Muthu Muniraj was hit in the legs; and Muthu Kannan sustained wounds to the mouth and stomach. Two other men—UAE nationals—were uninjured.

Doubt has already been cast on US claims that the navy ship was responding to a threat. Sarvana told the Indian news channel Times Now on Tuesday that the US ship started shooting “without any warning.” He added: “We were shocked to come under attack like this. There was no time to react. We didn’t know what hit us.”

Muthu Muniraj told Reuters: “We had no warning at all from the ship. We were speeding up to try and go around them and then suddenly we got fired at. We know warning signs and sounds and there were none; it was very sudden. My friend was killed, he’s gone. I don’t understand what happened.”

An estimated four million Indians are part of the huge foreign cheap labour workforce in the Gulf states, largely employed as domestic servants, labourers and in other menial jobs.

The incident is reminiscent of the lethal methods used by the US military on land in Iraq. Any vehicle or person deemed a “terrorist threat” to US personnel was fired on and killed. None of the US investigations into hundreds of such incidents, involving men, women and children, resulted in charges or disciplinary action.

The US response to Monday’s naval firing is similar: perfunctory condolences to the families of the dead and injured, but no admission of guilt. A US military investigation has been announced but will undoubtedly clear the personnel involved. A naval spokesman defended the crew’s actions, declaring: “Our ships have an inherent right to self-defence against lethal threats.”

Despite public anger in both the UAE and India over the incident, neither government has issued a diplomatic protest. Dubai’s police chief Dahi Khafan Tamim did note: “The primary investigation confirms that the [fishing] boat was in its right course and did not pose any danger. The shooting was clearly a mistake.”