Sailor From Iran Apology Video Has Been Identified

The 10 U.S. sailors who were detained in Iran inn the hours before President Obama‘s State of the Union address have been a hot topic among Republicans lately, including at Thursday night’s debate, but one sailor in particular has become the focus of the conservative screech machine. The sailor who was videotaped apologizing for making a “mistake” by encroaching into Iranian territorial waters has been harangued by a variety of conservatives, even though none of them knows all the facts, if they know any.

The identity of that sailor has now been revealed as Lt. David Nartker. Yahoo News reported:

The young Navy lieutenant who apologized to the Iranians after U.S. boats entered Iran’s territory has been identified as Lt. David Nartker.

The 27-year-old grew up in Chicago and now lives in Ohio. Videos on his Facebook page show him firing weapons.

Nartker was among the 10 U.S. sailors who were captured by Iran earlier this week. The sailors were later released.

But he found himself at the center of an international uproar after Iran released footage showing an interrogator haranguing him about being in Iranian waters.

“It was a mistake,” Nartker is heard responding. “It was our fault and we apologize for our mistake.”

In fact, though, the question to which Lt. Nartker was responding was edited out of the video, although everyone involved, on both sides, agrees that the sailors did intrude into Iranian waters, and that it was acidental.

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