that ended well. The Helicopter went away, no harm done...somebody said that the Iranians may have been making a selfie...it figures.

That is standard defense protocol. The helicopter is viewed as a threat until it makes contact. If there had been offensive action by the helicopter the ship would be in the right in returning fire.

The ship should.

Shooting down a US helicopter would have the opposite effect. The war pigs would go into full oinking outrage.

will use this as an excuse not to trust them, but it could go the other way....they could've but didn't because they are friendly the pro-treaty ones will say...

Everytime they say "boo" everyone gets nervous...

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/09/politics/navy-iran-laser-ship/
Iran-flagged ship targets U.S. Navy with laser

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent

Updated 1:08 PM ET, Thu July 9, 2015
Iranian boats fire shots at a ship in the Persian Gulf 02:10

Washington (CNN)A U.S. Navy ship and helicopter were repeatedly targeted by a laser device on board an Iranian-flagged merchant ship beginning on Sunday in the Gulf of Aden, according to a U.S. defense official.

No U.S. personnel were hurt or equipment damaged in the incidents which ended on Wednesday, the official said.

The bridge area of the USS Forrest Sherman and one of its helicopters were targeted, the official said.

The Navy is not certain exactly what the device was, or how powerful it was, but believes it was not of industrial or military grade quality since there was no damage. The incidents are viewed at this point as harassment from the Iranians.

The incidents took place in international waters off the coast of Yemen. The Navy ship was "conducting routine maritime operations," the official said. But it is well understood that U.S Navy warships patrol the region looking for any indication of Iranian weapons smuggling into Yemen.