Rep. Forbes worries about military readiness after sailors' capture

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is reportedly planning to erect a statue commemorating its capture and brief detention of 10 U.S. Navy sailors who cut through Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf.

The Telegraph in London reported Friday that Commander Ali Fadavi, leader of the IRGC's naval forces, said the statue is being designed in hopes of it becoming a hub for tourists.

"The statue is likely to be built on Kharg, a small Iranian island in the Persian Gulf not far from where the sailors were captured," according to The Telegraph, which cited Fadari's comments to Iran's Defense Press news agency.

While Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has taken to Twitter to promote anti-U.S. sentiment since the American sailors' capture, the English-language account believed to belong to Khamenei hasn't made mention of the statue. The same goes for the unverified English accounts belonging to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif.

However, The Telegraph reported that the statue may be incorporated into "the Rahian-e-Nour, a semi-mandatory pro-regime pilgrimage that takes visitors to historical spots from the Iran-Iraq war and extols the virtues of the Iranian military," thereby continuing the informal propaganda campaign it began in the wake of the sailors' capture.

Closer to home, Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-4) said that the entire incident has him concerned about military preparedness.

"I was disturbed not just by the details themselves, but what it implies about the training and material readiness of our forces on the front lines, and our ability to deter Iranian aggression in the Middle East," Forbes said during a Congressional hearing on Tuesday.

Rep. Forbes went on to say he believes the administration's policies "seriously undermined" the military's readiness and national security.

http://www.13newsnow.com/news/iran-to-build-monument-to-us-navy-sailors-capture-detention/96704811