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In what he described as an Easter holiday "gift" to the UK, Iranian President Ahmedinejad today "pardoned" the 15 soldiers that he kidnapped; taken without the slightest resistance. He also gave medals to the Iranian kidnapping officers and criticized Britain for putting a "woman with a child" in harms way by deploying Faye Turney to the region. With a flair for the dramatic, he then met with a number of the kidnapped-pardoned soldiers (now dressed in snappy suits), who continued their public groveling as one was overheard telling the President; "We are grateful for your forgiveness." The price paid for their release is still unclear but will undoubtedly become known down the road. Iran did announce that the British government had sent a letter to the Iranian Foreign Ministry "pledging that it (entering Iranian waters) will not happen again." 
In another story related to humiliation, US Secretary of State...ah...I mean Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, rushed to Damascus to socialize with Syrian dictator Bashir Assad, despite requests from the US State Department that she avoid the meeting at this time. There was a time when politics ended at the waters edge...
Has Pelosi Gone Bonkers?
Dictator-sniffing Jimmy Carter backs Pelosi's trip
Larwyn’s Linx: An Invalid Presidency
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3 hours ago
Humiliating in terms of national pride,I guess. Not humiliating if you consider the lives of country men and women more important. Many people gave cuckoo hollywood suggestions of sending the S.A.S in, or attacking Iran in order to get them back. At what expense?
ReplyDeleteIt would have ended up with the death of 15 sailors. Peoples pride would have been appeased, but at the expense of the sailors. In that case, who would have using the sailors as pawns more? We would.
No,Britain simply wasn't in a position to deal with this latest situation in any other way than the diplomatic chess game which ensued, and Iran played it far better than Britain, I'll give it that. No hostages kneeling on the ground blindfolded in the sun for hours, or stacked in pyramids in sexual humiliation. Iran played this cleverly. Images of them tucking into tasty meals, sitting around playing chess with a bowl of fresh fruit on the table. It was a masterpiece of media propaganda.
I believe that chess came from Persia originally. So there you go. Britain bearing its teeth early on, was a big mistake because it tried to give the impression that it "was" in a position to back it up.
Iran called its bluff, and the whole thing "then" started to be humiliating because we set ourselves up for it by punching above our actual weight, with words. Our forces are stretched far and wide at this time, and not in a position to start a war with Iran.
Blair knew this, and I'll give him credit for this at least. People here in Britain were screaming for him to "attack attack" and he didn't because the truth is, we couldn't and Blair knew it well.
My view from the start was that both sides were talking nonsense because the maritime waters in that area had never been agreed upon by anybody. I still maintain that.
My solution was that both sides may come to an agreement about this maritime border once and for all. That may have been what has occured behind the scenes, and the pledge of misunderstandings not happening again, was probably the needed key.
So neither Iran was right in its claim, nor was Britain right. I suspect we may never hear of the ins and outs that led to the actual release. Apparently Turkey and Syria were part of the process. I also heard that America released one of the Iranians taken prisoner in Iraq recently. So there were a lot of people involved in all this.
As for Irans criticism of sending mothers into the thick of the action,I actually agree with that criticism. It is not a barbaric view. It is a view that many people have a gut instinct about despite it being politically incorrect to say so, and it is a view that was common in our nations until not so long ago. We just assume that just because things have changed, that thing have changed for the better.
If one is always eager to put ones life above freedom, honor, decency and what is right, than of course, you are correct. That would also make one a pathetic excuse of a person who deserves the sujugation that they will ultimatly suffer for a lack of a spine in the face of evil. Freedom isn't free.
ReplyDeleteJoe,you've obviously been watching that movie 300 too much.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen it; I don't like gory war movies. Although I do hear the message is powerful.
ReplyDelete