These two sub-species aren't related, but both are huge trouble-makers, one for the Persian Gulf and the other for the entire planet. For decades, the infamous "Filipino Monkey" broadcast over naval radio channels, causing havoc and making jokes at the expense of the ship traffic that constantly goes through the Strait of Hormuz. Now that the other monkey (a.k.a. our pRezident) has heightened tensions against Iran and their southern waters, things can get very ugly, very quickly.
From The Guardian:
A heckling radio ham known as the Filipino Monkey, who has spent years pestering ships in the Persian Gulf, is being blamed today for sparking a major diplomatic row after American warships almost attacked Iranian patrol boats.The US navy came within seconds of firing at the Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz on January 6 after hearing threats that the boats were attacking and were about to explode.
Senior navy officials have admitted that the source of the threats, picked up in international waters, was a mystery.
The heckler nearly provoked a potential first battle between the U.S. and Iran, possibly setting off a ridiculous war that would have enough cheerleaders here at home to make it just as ugly as our occupation in Iraq. Thankfully no one was killed and nothing was sunk, only increased hostility by the U.S. and tensions brought up another few notches on both sides. The U.S. claims that Iranian boats acted with aggression while the opposite was proclaimed by the Iranians.
Who to believe, who to believe? George Bush and his band of war hawks, or a nation that has no desire to fight the United States while maintaining their regional power in the Middle East and potentially the whole of South Asia. War would be the dumbest choice for them, as it would be for us. The question who cares about keeping their sanity more, us or them?
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