Iranian Waters....
International NewsSo last Friday (3/23/07), 15 sailors and marines from the Royal Navy (UK) were taken prisoner by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for "trespassing" in Iranian waters. Later that same day, the service men were said to have "confessed" to the trespass over a short Iranian television broadcast. As of this morning (3/26/07), the sailors and marines are still in Iranian custody despite having "confessed" and despite growing international pressure to let them go.
The sailors and marines were conducting a rather routine boarding operation aboard a vessel thought to have been possibly smuggling cars into Iraq; and from all reports, were clearly in Iraqi waters. The territory has been constantly contested for more than 30 years and was part of the reason for the Iran/Iraq war in the 80's. The ship the Royal Sailors had boarded was approached by several Iranian ships and the sailors and marines forced to surrender. No shots were fired.
My question is this: Why is Iran being so beligerent? Just this last week, the Ayatollah made some comment that basically sounded like everything else they ever say regarding our assured destruction, hell, and whatever else. Are they just that pissed off over the nukes? It surely seems to ME that Iran would be a very good ally in the Middle East if our two governments could see eye-to-eye on these issues. If they want to create a nuclear reactor for power, great! Let the U.N. come in a monitor it, let Russian do the enrichment, let the U.S. even provide some engineering support for it.
If that's TRULY what they are after; truly what they want to do, let the world HELP, don't continue to slap EVERYONE in the face. The Russians just pulled all their support out of Iran last week because the Iranians are being SO tough to deal with.
Don't get me wrong, I know it's not a simple solution; the Iranian Theocracy doesn't believe in working with anyone that doesn't bow to Allah and his Prophet Muhammad. How do you work with or compromise with a country or a religion that has no room whatsoever for people who do not believe the way they believe?
I don't particularly WANT to be enemies with Iran...but they don't really seem to leave it open to debate much of the time.
~Dubya
Internally, Iran is in deep financial trouble , led by falling oil $'s. The oil infastructure is failing and oil production is fading and unemployment is high. The prognosis is not good!
"But what do you need a financial advisor for? Twenty years ago you had the highest Gross National Product in the world, now you're tied with Albania. Your second largest export is secondhand goods, closely followed by dates which you're losing five cents a pound on... You know what the business community thinks of you? They think that a hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years, so on behalf of my firm I accept your offer. " ~Matt Damon as Bryan Woodman; Syriana, 2005
That nutjob president is not well received by the Ianian puclic, and they hold him accountable for the miserable condition of their economy.
What's funny is, given the strained relationship between the US and Iran, the Iranian people seem to really like America and its citizens
But that's just me.
~Dubya
But I do agree with the Syrianna storyline - let them be goat herders after we get ourselves off the oil teat.
Viet Nam is now capitalistic, but not because we lost 60,000 lives there. It would have happened anyway, sooner or later, with education.
Afghanistan didn't need to be bombed into the Stone Age -- they were already there.
And Iraq has worked out so well, hasn't it? More than 3,000 young Americans dead -- for what?
God forbid, we repeat our mistakes once more. Have we forgotten.... ????????
rm, it's good to read you! Come back often and share, please.
I am somewhat comforted by the thought the Brits have diplomatic relations with Iran, and are likely working the back channels to secure the release of their servicemen.
Another thing of which I was unaware until last night; the troops involved in the capture of the British forces are under the direct command of the Ayatollah, not the President of Iran.
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