ARE WE BEING LIED TO ABOUT THE SAILORS TAKEN INTO CAPTIVITY? TEN QUESTIONS THAT REQUIRE ANSWERS

 The Iranians taking our sailors into custody stinks to high heaven. We are not getting the real story or any true transparency. Am I supposed to believe, as Biden put it, that this was a "rescue mission" and "standard nautical practice?" Here are 10 very basic common sense questions the Obama administration and Navy should have to answer post haste:

 1. Our seamen get taken by Iran rarely, if ever, and they are suddenly taken into Iranian custody on Monday. Am I supposed to believe it is pure coincidence that Iran takes sailors into custody a few hours before the State of the Union? Days before billions and billions of dollars are being released to Iran? Is the timing really just pure chance or did it play a role in this happening precisely when it did?

2. A former Naval Commander stationed in Bahrain said, per CNN, that there is "no reason for a small vessel to be out that far and especially without escorting ships around it." Where are the other ships? The Commander also said: "The Navy has to explain why you have small ships transiting 300 miles of open ocean." How did these two boats end up alone out there just hours before SOTU? CNN sent this Commander's questions to the Pentagon and they "declined to comment."

3. Per Popular Mechanics, the Riverine Command Boats (RCBs) have a crew of 5 and can carry up to 20 passengers. 10 sailors were held by Iran. Why would they surrender in both boats rather than board a single boat before being taken captive, perhaps even attempting to tow the other?

4. Each of these boats had twin inboard diesel engines. The RCBs use Swedish-made Scania diesel engines coupled to Rolls-Royce FF410 waterjets to reach speeds of more than 43 knots. That means there would have been a total of four engines between these two boats. With that many engines in play, were there no opportunities of escape or evasive action prior to capture? Was there no possibility of one boat being able to tug the other before ending up in Iranian waters?

5. Is it standard rules of engagement for U.S. service members to surrender on their knees? Was no evasive action attempted before this? There are four mounts for machine guns which can handle M2HB .50-caliber heavy machine guns, GAU-19 .50-caliber miniguns, and M240 medium machine guns. Typically a RCB mounts one of each, with one .50 caliber station sometimes mounting two heavy machine guns. The boats are also equipped with a Mk49 remote control weapons station equipped with a M2HB heavy machine gun. Developed by Israeli defense contractor Rafael, the Mk49 has a 360 degree arc of fire. The armor on these boats provides protection from up to 7.62-millimeter bullets.

 6. RCBs are packed with sensors and communications gear. The Sea FLIR III infrared sensor system features a thermal imager sensor, laser rangefinder, and autotracker, all on a gyro-stabilized package to keep the image stable on a rocking boat. So how did they end up in Iranian waters? Further, the latest in communications allows the boats to communicate with other navy ships, aircraft, and even ground forces. Immediately upon entering Iranian waters or well before was there no communication to the U.S. Navy to provide rescue? Or is it standard procedure when in mechanical failure to await surrender one one's knees before an enemy rather than call for back-up?

 7. Even non-soldiers know that per the Geneva Conventions one communicates only name, rank, and serial number. The military’s code of conduct requires prisoners to resist providing propaganda statements. Why would one of the sailors provide a video apology? What exactly were the orders this group was operating under? From who at the highest level did those orders come from?

 8. Instead of reacting like there was a crisis, every high ranking official in the government went to listen to a speech within a couple hours. They then immediately began saying there would be a release because of cooperativeness resulting from the "Iran deal." Why was no one acting like there was an emergency situation? Why was this spin ready so early?

9. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told an interviewer that the Obama administration alerted Iranian forces as to the "mechanical failure." Is there any credence to this claim? If so, is there any possible way to explain alerting the enemy rather than the Navy?

10. When American Navy members are shown on camera on their knees surrendering and on the floor in captivity, with the female being forced to wear a hijab, when those pictures are paraded in the media in violation of international law, is it standard procedure to thank the hostile force on video and in writing? This doesn't pass the smell test. It's worse than fishy. In case you think I am being overly conspiratorial, please recall that there's precedent for dishonesty. Anyone remember Bowe Berghdal? The initial stories from the White House were total lies. It took forever for the truth to get out, and the White House knew the full story from the start. The Army went along because they were under orders. So forgive me if I don't take every word coming from this White House when so many very basic questions remain unanswered. Unless a lot more answers are provided, I am forced to conclude we are not getting the full story, and may be intentionally being lied to.

UPDATE:  Pentagon is already changing their story: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/01/14/carter-says-navigation-error-not-mechanical-problem-put-us-boats-in-iranian-waters.html  Tweet