Don’t know what this means, why it happened or how it will play out, but it is just the sort of action Bush may seek to use to his advantage vis-a-vis a possible strike against Iran:
LONDON – Fifteen Royal Navy sailors and marines who had boarded a ship suspected of smuggling cars in the Persian Gulf were seized by Iranian naval vessels off the Iraqi coast on Friday, Defence Ministry officials said.
The British government demanded “the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment.”
The Defence Ministry said the Royal Navy personnel were “engaged in routine boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi territorial waters,” and had completed a ship inspection when they were accosted by Iranian vessels.
Let’s hope this is all just a misunderstanding that will quickly be cleared up.
Cripes. Everything comes back eventually, but I never thought I’d see the British subject to the same treatment they inflicted on Americans that led to the War of 1812
This is the Revolutionary Guard. They are very good at capitalizing on targets of opportunity.
The command structure of the Guard is such that field officers are given incredibly wide lattitude in their decision making.
Maybe someone else can find a reference for it, but early in the war there were some Britons taken prisoner off the middle of the Euphrates down by Basra.
What this will do will be to see what the Supreme Council in Tehran really wants to do, escalate or de-escalate. It is very much in their hands now. Hopefully the indications that they are not interested in a fight will prove true.
In the mean time, I’m sure they’re figuring out just how much advantage they can press for.
Eight sailors in 2004.
Let’s hope this works out the same way that one did.
can I get a ‘Gulf of Persia resolution?
Well, lets see now…Iranian diplomats are ‘captured’ in Iraq . . .
Hm Iranian diplomats captured by US forces not Brits and even so do you imply that the US action in northern Iraq justifies this kidnapping?
Kidnapping?!
This is just Tehran sending a very simple message to the US: If you want to own Iraq, you also own Iraq’s longstanding conflicts with Iran, including the long-disputed border between their territorial waters.
and even so do you imply that the US action in northern Iraq justifies this kidnapping?
Acts of war in a theater of war–both sides.
The Geneva Conventions are just “a scrap of paper”–hadn’t you heard? 😉
Having given no mercy, the Brits will get none. But if they are smart, and can recognize the realities, they can surely get their guys back–if that is what they want.
Frankly, I wonder about their cover story. I wonder what those guys were really doing out there.
Ultimately it all comes down to where these guys were and had recently been before being picked up. Location is everything. Iranians claim Brits own equips say they had violated Iranian waters, not just that the brits had ‘confessed’.
I think Iran is playing this one really smartly. Catch the enemy in a legit violation, publicly imply that you are using the enemy’s own tactics against them (‘interrogation’ means torture? Or doesn’t it?), then actually play it by the book for when the enemy over-reacts, so you can destroy their moral standing.
Problem for the Hawkish factions in Iran is that, unlike Americans, the Brits will proceed with this in mind and play the thing like a mistake to prevent War over their own violation. If these were American sailors, look out.