Saturday, March 24, 2007

"Their Towels are Wrapped Too Tight"....

...says Passionate America...and check out some other commentary found 'round the 'sphere on the Iranian abduction of 15 British sailors:

The Strata-Sphere:
It is stupid because now it is clear to everyone Iran’s beligerence is dangerous and out of control. What concerns me is why do this unless you had something in your hip pocket and you were going to play some poker. Why do this kind of escalation? And what will our Democrats do - say the West cannot confront Iran? Talk about bad timing. We are heading into some seriously perilous times right now. We have amassed a large navy force in the region, so we could respond.

Hot Air notes the BBC's indignation:

I love this from the Beeb article. They can’t kidnap our sailors — we have a resolution from the UN!

In a statement, leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, also called for their immediate release.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of military action, British forces in Iraq are now there with the authority of a UN security council resolution… and the Iranian government should be left in no doubt of the serious implications of their action,” he said.

The Counterterrorism Blog:

Is this an intentional act approved by senior Iranian leadership in response to findings of the British personnel, or possibly in reaction to the upcoming U.N. vote against Iran?
....Is this a provocation similar to the Hezbollah seizure last year of Israeli soldiers, which led the Israelis into invading Lebanon, to test how the British and Americans move military assets in advance of armed action?

The Corner claims a Casus Belli:

...no one has mentioned that this latest outrage by Iran has crossed a line of great significance. If satellite tracking proves that the British were indeed in Iraqi or international waters at the time of their capture, then Iran is not only in the wrong, but it has just, according to classical international law doctrine, also committed an act of war which hands the Coalition the legal right to respond accordingly....

But I'll leave you with the
Washington Post, which, acting in its role as the terrorist's homepage, figures out a way to blame the United States for an Iranian act of war:

The seizure may have been a reprisal for the U.S. detention of five Iranian Revolutionary Guard operatives during a January raid of the Iranian government's liaison office in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, the U.S. and Western officials said....
....Iran has been demanding their release publicly and in private meetings.....


Somehow, I don't think the Brits will be buying that line - although the BBC just might....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey - here is one more - from the Belmont Club http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2007/03/simple-mistake.html :


The Iranians may hope that seizing the British sailors may provide them with leverage in related issues. By attacking the weaker coalition partner, Britian, which has a relatively powerful Leftist domestic constituency, Teheran may be hoping to gain get the American "Surge" off their backs or perhaps gain some concession in talks over its nuclear weapons program.

The best response, of course, would be a harsh military reprisal for the kidnapping of uniformed soldiers, but I don't see that happening.