Chapter 3 I know we hate cut n paste, but this is kinda new-
"The Navy warships went into defensive mode, radioed the usual warnings to steer clear, and in the end no shots were fired. U.S. military warships believe the Revolutionary Guard boats were "testing our defenses," the officials said.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman called it a "serious incident."? Another U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it "the most serious provocation of this sort that we've seen yet."?

Bush visiting region next week
The incident raised new tensions between Washington and Tehran as President Bush prepared for his first major trip to the Middle East.

A statement issued by the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain said the incident occurred at about 8 a.m. local time Sunday as Navy cruiser USS Port Royal, destroyer USS Hopper and frigate USS Ingraham were on their way into the Persian Gulf and passing through the strait "? a major oil shipping route.

Five small boats began charging the U.S. ships, dropping boxes in the water in front of the ships and forcing the U.S. ships to take evasive maneuvers, said the Pentagon official. The boxes floated by, and officials said they didn't know what was in them because U.S. sailors didn't pick them up.

There were no injuries but the official said there could have been, because the Iranian boats turned away "literally at the very moment that U.S. forces were preparing to open fire"? in self defense.

The official, who asked to speak on grounds of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said he didn't have the precise transcript of communications that passed between the two forces, but said the Iranians radioed something like "we're coming at you and you'll explode in a couple minutes."?

At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack said he was not aware of any plans to lodge a formal protest.

"Without specific reference to this incident in the Strait of Hormuz, the United States will confront Iranian behavior where it seeks to do harm either to us or to our friends and allies in the region,"? McCormack told reporters. "There is wide support for that within the region and certainly that's not going to change."?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22537199/