Telecommunications cable into Iran/ME severed

[Crazy Horse]

He we go................................

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2803811

Texas Explorer  (1000+ posts)       Fri Feb-01-08 02:30 PM
Original message
Telecommunications cables into Iran/ME severed...
 About these advertisementsEdited on Fri Feb-01-08 03:10 PM by Texas Explorer
Iran's internet is dead. ME internet communications are spotty.

No internet activity going into or inside Iran:

http://www.internettrafficreport.com/history/267.htm

Al Jazeer reporting:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F9FE6553-D2E1-43...

Apparently, two undersea cables were cut at two different times and a third was cut later.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=...

-snip-

Michael Coe, a spokesman for AT&T Inc., said that two cables were cut and that AT&T has been routing traffic around the damaged area. One of the cables is owned by U.K.-based Flag Telecom Group Ltd., and the other is owned by a consortium of several companies that includes AT&T called SEA-ME-WE4. The consortium is investigating the damage and arranging for repairs, he said.

Flag Telecom told The Register that ships were anchored in an unusual location off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt, and a ship's anchor cut into the cable.

A Flag spokesman said the company was in the process of sending a repair ship to the site to assess the damage, but it warned that repairs could take 12 to 15 days.

Verizon Communications Inc. was also routing some customer traffic around the cable cuts, according a report. A Verizon spokeswoman said that the two cuts occurred at separate times, with the first to the SEA-ME-WE4 at 11:30 p.m. yesterday (EST) and the second at 2:30 a.m. (EST) today. She speculated that the cuts may have been caused by a ship dragging an anchor; the consortium is still investigating.

-snip-

Ok people, what does it mean when three sub-sea cables in different locations leading into Iran and ME are cut? How could this happen?

Oh noes..........................noone saw this thought coming. 

TCJ70 (147 posts)     Fri Feb-01-08 02:31 PM
Response to Original message
1. I think it means that...
 ...three cables broke, and it could have happened for any number of reasons.

Admit it...............noone saw that coming.

TC

J70 (147 posts)     Fri Feb-01-08 02:42 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. OK...
 Ship drops anchor and it lands near a cable. Boat moves and rips cable apart, boat continues moving with anchor weighed and rips through another section of it.

Simultaneously, this happens elsewhere. Mystery solved. Way to go boats. heh

 
Well let's get away from the apparent mole

RUMMYisFROSTED (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 03:49 PM
Response to Reply #25
38. *

This one made me fall out of the chair....

HypnoToad  (1000+ posts)       Fri Feb-01-08 02:43 PM
Original message
Like with underground power lines; digging in the wrong place.

sane drugs must have shown up today.

Warpy  (1000+ posts)       Fri Feb-01-08 02:32 PM
Response to Original message
2. Once is an accident. Twice is suspicious. Thrice is intentional
 However, the governments all have backup satellite systems. They're not completely blacked out. Only the citizens and businesses are SOL unless they too have satellite system backups.

TheDebbieDee  (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 02:36 PM
Response to Reply #2
14. I agree! This sounds like the signal for the start
 of something.

LEGS!!!!!11!1!! I tell ya

backscatter712 (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 03:58 PM
Response to Reply #2
42. This is scary.
 Three cables have been severed, and in such a way as to completely cut Iran off from the Internet.

What are the Bushtards and their CIA buddies up to?

simskl (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 02:32 PM
Response to Original message
3. It means the tinfoil hats are going on!
 Edited on Fri Feb-01-08 02:33 PM by simskl   

A big section of India and SE Asia is also out or slow because of it.

On edit: It looks like only two were cut, which one is the third?

Another one on their meds today.................but wait

Texas Explorer  (1000+ posts)       Fri Feb-01-08 02:34 PM
Response to Reply #3
7. What does tinfoil have to do with something that is admitted by
 Edited on Fri Feb-01-08 02:34 PM by Texas Explorer
both ATT and Verizon in the cited article?

Where is the tinfoil? 

simskl (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 02:35 PM
Response to Reply #7
12. ATT owned one of the two lines
 ATT and Verizon say they are rerouting around the broken lines. The tinfoil goes on because wild conclusion jumping can be dangerous to synapses.

 

NeedleCast  (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 02:42 PM
Response to Reply #17
21. You asked how it could happen
 Yet the article expresses a perfectly reasonable explanation...a ship dragging an anchor snagged and snapped the cable(s). Because these cables are exposed on the sea floor most of the time, it's a reasonable hypothesis, yet you chose RED ALERT! as the first two words of your topic, which to me, expressed some sort of conclusion that you thought some deliberate and malicious thing had taken place.

 

Summabitch..............that's gotta hurt

Texas Explorer  (1000+ posts)       Fri Feb-01-08 02:43 PM
Response to Reply #21
23. So where is the *******ed ship that ****ed up the cables? 
 Wouldn't a ship's crew notice such a thing?

 

NeedleCast  (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 02:52 PM
Response to Reply #23
27. Who knows?
 I can't speak for every sailor in the world however even with little motor boats I've seen people churrning across my local lake dragging an anchor chain. On a ship the size of a small city, it's quite possible that no one would notice. Tens of thousands of ships transversing the ocean as we speak, some the size of a canoe, some the size of a 15-story building laid on it's side.

Could have been caught in the propellor screws of a submarine, who knows. I think just about the least plausible explanation is some sort of US secret ops against Iran. If you were going to try and **** up someone's internet access, this would be a dumbass way to do it, becasue it's a simple fix...you go plug in a new length of cable. There are hundres of undersea cables running across the ocean...not like this is some sort of new high tech thing we've discovered. Lot of these lines were originally used to send telegraphs.

 

stillcool47  (1000+ posts)       Fri Feb-01-08 03:10 PM
Response to Reply #27
29. two were cut yesterday...
 and a third was cut today. I sure would like to know how that could happen and I do not have to jump to any conclusion to surmise that something doesn't sound too kosher. In your opinion is this a regular occurrence? Is it isolated to other parts of the world or are we susceptible to cable cutting here?

 

gkhouston  (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 02:32 PM
Response to Original message
4. ...
  grabbing my plastic and duct tape now.

smiley_glad_hands (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 02:33 PM
Response to Original message
6. Its either coincidence.
 Or something is up? Does seem odd.

 

lib

rechik  (1000+ posts)       Fri Feb-01-08 02:34 PM
Response to Original message
9. DON'T GET ME STARTED!

 

snappyturtle  (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 02:34 PM
Response to Original message
10. Sounds like a plan to me...by whom? To avoid being called a
 conspiracy theorist, I'll let it rest. More interestingly, WHY were they cut? What's going to happen that 'they' don't want the internet spreading? OK...I couldn't help myself.

Ahhh shit, this one takes off.................TOAST!!!11!111!!

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)      Fri Feb-01-08 03:54 PM
Response to Original message
40. Would the Neo-cons in Our Government Do Such a Thing?
 ....

What morans...................they even got into the Nigerian Money scam..

[Rebel]

[jukin]

Stupid is as DU does.

[dandi]

Depriving the Iranians of their camel and donkey pr0n. Genius.

[Atlas]

Ships did not cause Internet cable damage
(AFP)

3 February 2008

CAIRO - Damage to undersea Internet cables in the Mediterranean that hit business across the Middle East and South Asia was not caused by ships, Egypt’s communications ministry said on Sunday, ruling out earlier reports.

The transport ministry added that 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,’ the statement added.

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.

Earlier reports said that the damage had been caused by ships that had been diverted off their usual route because of bad weather.

Egypt’s communication and information technology ministry said it would report its findings to the owners of the two damaged Mediterranean cables, FLAG Telecom and SEA-ME-WE4.

A repair ship was expected to begin work to fix the two Mediterranean cables on Tuesday.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2008/February/theworld_February77.xml&section=theworld&col