Egypt: Ships Did Not Cut Internet Cables
February 3rd, 2008“Anyone who tells you that this is some sort of fluke is a f*@$^!& idiot, and that’s being kind.”
— Third Undersea Internet Cable Cut in Mideast
Imagine my shock.
Via: AFP:
Ships are not responsible for damaging undersea internet cables in the Mediterranean, Egypt’s Government says.
Two cables were damaged earlier this week in the Mediterranean sea and another off the coast of Dubai, causing widespread disruption to internet and international telephone services in Egypt, Gulf Arab states and South Asia.
A fourth cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged on Sunday causing yet more disruptions, telecommunication provider Qtel said.
Egypt’s transport ministry said footage recorded by onshore video cameras of the location of the cables showed no maritime traffic in the area when the cables were damaged.
“The ministry’s maritime transport committee reviewed footage covering the period of 12 hours before and 12 hours after the cables were cut and no ships sailed the area,” a statement said.
“The area is also marked on maps as a no-go zone and it is therefore ruled out that the damage to the cables was caused by ships.”
Earlier reports said that the damage had been caused by ships that had been diverted off their usual route because of bad weather.
A repair ship is expected to begin work to fix the two Mediterranean cables on Tuesday.
Let us try to consider a reasonable common cause (presuming mass coincidence excludable):
Earthquakes? Undersea mountain falls? Geothermal eruptions? was there any common point (for human error)? Well, let us perhaps not exclude mass coincidence… Or mass whale deaths, or alien intervention for that matter… [*koff*]
Surely there’s a reasonable explanation, yes? …If not, what purpose would be served for such deliberate acts? I ask this as Devil’s Advocate to my own too easy suspicion, a good thing to do to be sure, and it would seem to be The question.
A earthquake of magnutude 4.9 today apparently struck close to Kish, the location of the Iranian Oil Bourse headquarters. The article URL is unreachable from some locations because of the cable cuts, so I’m pasting it here in its entirety.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=57537&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
LONDON, February 3 (IranMania) – A relatively strong earthquake hit suburbs of Hendurabi island in the Persian Gulf, southern Iran, Saturday morning. According to IRNA, it was measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale.
The seismological centers affiliated to the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 09:03 hours local time (0533 GMT).
The epicenter of the tremor was an area measuring 26.39 degrees in latitude and 52.92 degrees in longitude to the west of the Kish island, the report said.
There is no report on any casualty or damage to property caused by the quakes.
Iran is often hit by quakes of varying magnitudes as it sits on some of the world’s most active seismic fault lines.
I share Zuma’s skepticism. Because the cable cut effects Egypt as well, it may have been in retaliation for letting the Palestinians knock down a wall and do a little shopping.
I’ve looked for further news and basically been assuaged by the stories of the repair ships that were quickly dispatched. I am cynical about my own skepticism about the plain appearances of things etc -One can get sick second-guessing even our fact-checking. Eroding credibility is taking a huge toll on us. 9/11 alone is enough to drive us crazy (as even another commission is or may be convened to re-investigate). Reality-based communities, such as crooksandliars call themselves (and are) have much to commend them for it yet established facts are few and not enough and yet… What we gonna do? Wear our tin foil hats with pride? Nah. Credibility ain’t the only thing taking a hit these days, common sense is too. Strongly, and truly. The Shock And Awe Doctrine is demonic as hell that way. Doing the unbelieveable is astonishingly powerful. Between Alex Jones and John Amato, there lies a point on the spectrum that does actually facilitate things. Amy Goodman on democracynow does great work, yeah, but so does this site, and quite similarly. -I’m getting pickier in my old age about where I invest my online time. Bottom line is it’s good to play Devil’s Advocate with one’s self…
And to not be too much of a keyboard cowboy that doesn’t take a minute to study, look for second sources, confirm, and all that. Credibly!