The Galloping Beaver
that is the most believable conspiracy theory i've heard. but, i suppose, plausible.
Might they simply be cutting communications pending an attack on Iran?
Might they simply be cutting communications pending an attack on Iran?
It's possible, although I don't see it being a completely effective method. Too many other routes for data. Still, that might be it.
Jimmah Carter actually doing something beneficial for the USA......maybe the sub, but certainly NOT the man.....
Gee, Bob, I don't think I mentioned that former US president in any light whatsoever. But you just couldn't hold back, could you?
Dave:
Interesting theory, and one I have no trouble seeing given what I know about intelligence interception from the CW too from my own sources. Better watch your back for US government agents, they may not be too happy with you right now for this, and given the current regime in both our countries...
I had been wondering whether there might be an intelligence operation going on too regarding these interruptions, the odds of all these interruptions being pure coincidence in this short a period of time seemed an awful stretch to me. I didn't mention it though because I don't generally speculate publicly such things to begin with and I prefer to have more evidence than coincidence and my own intuition to start from. So I find this post of yours quite interesting and a viable explanation for what is going on here. Thank you for that.
Hmmmmm. Thanks for reminding me to buy stock in Reynolds Aluminum.
If this were a US Gov't operation, especially in preparation for military operations, all of the circuits would have gone down simultaneously, and the attacks would have begun by now. Doing it piecemeal and waiting this long gives them opportunities to set up alternate communication paths. And from reports I've seen, Iran is still on the internet. I doubt we're going to attack Egypt or India.
Either multiple platforms would have taken them out, or if the USS Killer Rabbit did it all, it would have placed command activated kill switches on them.
Also, does anyone know if Iran has paid it's Intelsat/Inmarsat bill?
As for placing taps, the Parche & Halibut apparently did it undetected. Why not the Killer Rabbit?
The North American Network Operators Group had someone post a link to one of their "commemorative T-shirts" from 1997 detailing how over a period of just over a month, unrelated backhoe digs managed to take out 10 or more (from memory) major cables around the US.
Your theory has a critical flaw. How do you think cable companies know at which point the cable is cut? The break point detection system is constantly running after a cable break to detect any additional cable breaks. So in order for your plan to work, the cable would have to be broken in two parts and the sub would have to splice in at a point between the two break points. As far as I have seen, there has only been one break per cable.
Looking at the fibre map - http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-.../
SeaCableHi.jpg , I'd say that was the only area the NSA couldn't tap. IMHO. The Europe/Middle EAST/ASIA leg. They could easily tap US/ASIA over the Pacific and US/Europe over the Atlantic.
Marcy Wheeler at Emptywheel has posted about this, and I have linked to your post in her comments.
Jeff,
It doesn't have to be in advance of any US action; it could just as easily be a relatively harmless way to test if it could be done should the need arise. Cutting those cables would empirically tell the [US] two several things: 1) the response time of the repairers; 2) the effects it has on the target region; 3) the adaptive mechanisms used to overcome it (rerouting signals through other networks = IDing new targets). The US has stated in the past they want the capability to "turn off" the internet or any global communication system.
If you're tapping the fibre without splicing the operator would notice a dB drop in the signal and be immediately suspicious. So a splice would have to occur, and for the new gear you'd need a second break to avoid detection. It's plausible that both breaks could be close enough together that the difference in distance measured to the (apparently) single break would be negligible.
Boris,
That could certainly be the case, but I suspect that they could have determined all of the above by taking things down one at a time over a period of time, thus raising less suspicion about the whole thing.
Here's another thought for you. Iran's oil bourse was to open between Feb 1-11, to coincide with the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. This won't prevent it indefinitely but it will delay it....possibly to buy time to move other 'assets' into place?
The USS Carter's movements, as you know, are as silent as the service in which she is employed.
Is she the only submarine able to perform the mission you suggest? I'll bet there are loads of other capabilities built into the Carter's 100-ft spy section, as well. Still, it is a possibility with very interesting implications.
Now, let me ask, does Iran have its own motive for severing the cables, or could it be the act of a crime syndicate? here:
When I heard of the outage, sub-snipping was the first thing that came to mind. There are many possible reasons, but one could be to help keep the international markets from falling out of their chairs because of an inability to communicate.
It wasn't the Carter, and the point wouldn't be disrupt it, but to tap it. The 23's S/F and augmentation specialists are better than that.
683 hand
Clearly, the point is to disrupt these systems. The Carter is capable of that too given directives from above. But given the distance and time between these disconnects, more than one is involved.
Disconnecting Iraq and Israel be more of an issue for the enemy of Iran, but this hasn't happened (yet) and apparently isn't the priority.
There wouldn't really be that many reasons for doing a disconnect. But world markets are getting ready to fall on their face big time. USA'
s economy is similar to Enron's. And who knows if we're getting ready to attack Iran.
The point should be brought up that apparently this has not disrupted Iran - several other countries are much more seriously affected.
We shouldn't get tunnel vision on a single country here simply because they declared war on the USA in 1979.
It wasnt the JC. They have been home for a while.
Info that might interest people:
http://www.renesys.com/blog/
2008...reak_part.shtml
There are several related posts there - check the menu out to the right. Informational and educational.
normal-sized human thumbs eh?
Think no-one recognizes this for the anti-semitic smear it is? People - don't trust the writer of this vile screed, the hate may be well-hidden, but believe me it's fierce!
It was Bill Belichick!!! He couldn't stand the thought of the middle east haring about a potential loss in the Super Bowl.
Heck - to a guy that uses cheats and uses spys to steal nfl games, this one would be child's play.
I like the diversion/splice theory. Hadn't thought of that, but it makes good sense - better to have access to enemy comms than to destroy them, at this stage. What a freaky-sounding mission, too - robot arms and deep-sea hacking teams. An enjoyable bit of journalism.
Weird name for an ultra-black spook sub. Maybe there was more to Mr. Carter than we knew, eh?
Lord Reptor.
After having visited http://www.renesys.com/blog/ 2008...reak_part.shtml
It could quite easily be the result of Corporate Cable Wars - but as some companies win on one cable cut and lose on another, I would still opt for the Iran Oil Bourse option.
It still represents an accelerant to the collapse of the US Dollar.
Excellent article. It sure beats the dolphin with wire-cutters theory... And, with my previous experience in the military, I'd say it's the most plausible of all.
I've linked the article on our blog and PhotoShop'd a USS Jimmy Carter nuclear sub prototype for your enjoyment.
Cheers
You all have way too much time on your hands. Even if that was true there's nothing you can do about it. Just be happy people...at least until they take all our freedoms away.
an excellent theory, very plausible. There were a few press releases over the last couple months about the spy capabilities of US submarine(s), but I can no longer find them in the MSM, google news etc..
When I first heard of the cables being cut I jumped to this conclusion, tried to find the spy sub information, and ended up here. It's good to know I'm not alone in my paranoid delusional cloak-and-dagger world 
The Egyptian government have denied the "anchor" theory - surely the affected parties will have mobilised attempts to investigate?
an excellent theory, very plausible
Having put it forward, I'd have to disagree. It's an unsubstantiated shot in the dark. But it works at the same level as multiple merchant ship anchors taking out cables in a variety of locations in the same time span.
I am, however, enjoying reading the varying levels of response, including some which suggest I just can't ask questions about US submarines like that.
Yes, I can. And, as some of those posters would suggest how unlikely it is that any sub had anything at all to do with it, the question is not really an issue... is it?
Whisperycat,
Yes, they have. A cable ship was supposed to be over the site of one of the breaks off Egypt sometime yesterday.
yeh, it is all tinfoil-hattery but still it is weird....
(apparently, Iran do go off-line for awhile. )
The *Jimmy Carter* is not the only US Navy sub that could have done a mission involving undersea cables. I think that most of them could do it.
Other navies have subs that could, too.
And private agencies could own or lease submarines that could cut or tap or disrupt cables underwater. A quick web search turned up several research/work subs available for worldwide charter.
I don't think that, barring somebody talking out of school, we'll ever know exactly who (if anybody) broke those cables. But it doen't seem like it was a whole bunch of anchors dragging.
We're up to 5 cables cut.
http://www.americablog.com/2008/...cables-
cut.html
Make that 8 cables:
http://www.cyberspaceorbit.com/
C...tingTheDots.htm
Why in the world would the Navy or any other branch of the Military name a ship, or anything else (except maybe a latrine) after the most useless, spineless, coward of man to ever sit in the oval office?
That's more likely an act that is a result of conspiracy, or is it lunacy.
Do you people have nothing better to do?
I agree. It's Jimmy Carter's fault.
Well Dogg - If there's something better to do then why are YOU here?
http://www.navy.mil/search/displ...?
story_id=34493
The Iranian Oil Bourse is the strongest candidate for a motive. The new oil market was the first outside of the US or Great Britain, and will be the first to DECLINE using the dollar, instead electing to base trades on the Euro.
This is predicted to further weaken the dollar against other world currencies, and force oil prices in the U.S. even higher ($5/gallon anyone?).
There's more at my blog here:
http://williamolivertech.wordpre...able-cut-mania/
This will be interesting however it develops.....
Oh come on, that is quite a load of bullshit you're pulling out there.
Cable cuts happen just about every three days.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6...ut-the-
cab.html
23 in dock. can see from ferry passing by. public info easily available. blogger is writing HUA (Head Up Ass).
Your info is screwed and you all are conspiracy theroist. check your dates she was inport
There is this test called optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) which will tell you where the splices or cuts are on your fiber cable. I can guarantee you that these guys runs this test on the fiber and have results of it when it was good. To detect another splice in the cable at this point would be easy. You run the same test again and you will notice that there is 2 breaks in the cable instead of just one.
These cables are about 3 inches wide, so you must have very fat thumbs.
So, you cut a fiber optic cable and install hardware to monitor all trafic. Problem is, this traffic is meaningless. Any 'terrist' with half a brain wouldn't transmit information in the clear.
I'm part of a support group for military families. One parent commented this week that her son's Navy deployment has been moved up 3 months early. Top Secret. He's on a sub. He's shipping out soon.
I just watched Why We Fight. I came here via Antiwar.com.
This guy is a nutjob. I have a friend on the Jimmey Carter. Guess what, he's calls me almost all the time. If he was away on mission, that would not be the case. He's not allowed at that point.
Why is it everytime something in the world happens people want to blame the Bush administration? Katrina happened, and it was all his fault. The Middle East temporarly looses internet service and Bush is to blame.
You people need to get over looking for scapegoats.
The USS Carter IS purpose built... and CAN do magical stuff... but none of you are even close to what the Carter was built for. The biggest military secrets are the ones that are SO obvious that one word and the entire program unravels. And... the role of the Carter IS obvious. Oh yeah... as for cable tapping... which has nothing to do with the Carter, anyway.... you don't need to cut the cable to intercept the information running through it....
Not to mention... there are other submarines that can do that cable tapping stuff.
So... keep pondering the mission of the Carter.... and someday... you all might stumble over the obvious...
But, truthfully, I doubt it.
Have you looked at a map?
But then again maybe the Carters special package includes a flux capacitor and a telsa coil that generates 1.21 gigawatts so that it can time travel! who knows.
Not plausible. I understand what you are getting at, and could believe that the Carter was capable of such a thing, however, there is one problem - four different locations like that in under a week? Such operations would require the Carter to run at below 10knts to avoid detection, meaning the run would take much too long. It'd have to be multiple subs, the Carter wouldn't be fast enough running silently.
My fiance is aboard uss jimmy carter, and they departed kitsap on febuary 10th 2009.... He fully explained that this mission they will be going Undetectable and That return maybe delayed past the typical 30 days...
So guyz... which means they are traveling at low knts and its gonna be a whiles...
just like everyone else... Undisclosed terms and missions are the the most awkward due to not knowing or being able to find information.. for these boys cellphones have been put on a temp hold until return and such.. So all u can do is sit back and wait...
There is no way that the USS Jimmy Carter could have travelled between break(a,b) to break (c,d) in four days. I am a conspiracy theorist and am truly impressed with your theory, but please help me understand how that would be possible.
I would refer you to "Operation Sabre" in WW2. This was to cut Japanese undersea cables, off Saigon, to force them to use radio transmission instead, which the US Navy could intercept and decrypt. The United States did not have anything capable of the deed itself, so a British X-craft, XE-4, commanded by the Australian, Max Sheen, cut two cables. In both cases, Sub Lt Ken Briggs went outside the boat (in quite a heavy suit) via the airlock, and brought back a section of cable as proof, because otherwise the Americans would never have believed it had been done.
This procedure was a modification of that used in the attack on the Tirpitz, where a diver exited each X-boat and used pneumatic cutters to make a hole in the (steel link) anti-torpedo nets protecting both the anchorage and the battleship. The X-boats then went through the holes and laid their saddle mines.
This was a horribly dangerous undertaking all round. But the cutting of the nets arguably pioneered a more militarily important technique than the laying of demolition mines.
I suspect that operation Sabre gives some insight, both into the technique and the purpose, of anything which the Jimmy Carter has been up to.
Further to Medawar's comment, above.
See:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/...-Max-
Shean.html
which hopefully gives you some idea -of the technique, and of the sort of men who do this kind of thing.
Most Virginia Class and the new British Astute Class, can all deploy special forces divers underwater, via purpose-built facilities behind the sail. Prior to which, divers were indeed deployed via torpedo tubes, as in "You Only Live Twice", this being the "brain"child of a Royal Marines captain, Paddy Ashdown, later to lead the Liberal Democratic Party.
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