Altogether now: Internet Traffic Report is NOT accurate.

[Pacifist Patriot]

Okay, I'll grant that 5 cut cables in this amount of time is strange, to say the least. However, this does not mean that internet connectivity has been cut off to Iran or anywhere else in the mideast. I'm more than a little weary of these half-ass news stories that cite woefully inaccurate sources and our willingness to add fuel to the speculatory fire.

I'm willing to suspend judgment until more information is forthcoming. For all we know some monstrous bull shark is adding fiber to his diet. Okay, I know that's unlikely I'm just pointing out that we don't know. I refuse to get sucked up into the current buffet of fear and suspicion this administration dishes out daily.

Could be armageddon by dinner time or it may be a huge ho hum. Why am I refusing to get wound around the axle over this? Because either way there is not a damned thing I can do about it from where I sit.

I know it can be fun to sit here and spin doomsday scenarios, but really. What will it accomplish?

I've contacted some media outlets inquiring about the story and what is being done to investigate. I've also put a call into some folks I know in the international communication industry. So here I sit and wait. I'll probably be told nothing, but at least I've done all I can. What I won't do is engage in rumors, innuendo and fear mongering.

[LeftCoast]

1. It's fairly easy to check whether the country is down

I went to Wikipedia, found some Iranian government links and started clicking. They all came up.

It amazes me how few people verify stuff, particularly when it is so easy to do.

[redqueen]

2. I've been ignoring the 'Iran isisolated' stuff... it's the cuts that concern me. (nt)

[smiley_glad_hands]

3. Iran is still online.

So what was the purpose of these cuts if they were intentional? Install eavesdropping equipment, couldn't we do that in a non destructuve way? Could this have been possibly a terrorist attack? If W isn't out there screaming terra terra already I would say no. But what would a govt gain by cutting these lines? Who gains from this other than the company that gets the contract to fix them?

The iranian oil bourse: are they specifically delaying opening this up because of the lack of bandwidth? If iran is still online why cannot they open this? Is Iran just playing chicken? Personally, I think we will go to war if iran crashes the dollar by opening this up and W's recent ME trip was just a reminder to let everyone know who their daddy is.

[jeanruss]

4. nine cables cut

I read an article that actually NINE cables have been cut, starting in late January. Just like Iraq, I think it is related to the oil Bourses that they are trying to start without the dollar. I always thought that was the real reason we started the war in Iraq.