Friendly Fire?

I try to avoid foreign affairs here but I can't help but mention I've been wondering the same thing as was brought up in this news item: Was the sinking of that South Korean warship the result of an American (or other nation's) mine?

The official story being spread around by the South Koreans sounds a bit odd to me and, even before the sinking, I was reading there's still mines from WW2(?) and the Korean War in those waters the are found on occasion.

It does seem odd that an aged submarine could get in and fire a torpedo right in the back yard of an anti- submarine warfare base.

I do think the North Koreans are capable of just about anything, but why would they sink the ship and then deny it? I would think if they did something like that they'd boast about it for propaganda purposes.

Why would South Korea lie about it if they knew the North Koreans didn't do it? Well, any number of governments, including our own, has fabricated stories about foreign aggression for any number of reasons.