On Iranian seizure of UK troops
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 8:41AM Count me among those who see this as a tit-for-tat on the recent sanctions announcement, plus the non-talks with US at regional Iraq conference.
Iran wants our attention and this trolley car came down the street, so they jumped on.
For the hard-liners with Ahmadinejad, they hope we'll bite on the "act of war" hyperbole that naturally flows from our neocons.
For the non-hardliners, they're hoping they can force talks by striking against our proxy (UK) instead of us.
Me? I expect Bush and Co. to screw this up royally or simply use it as a pretext for striking--perhaps employing a proxy.
But this was inevitable once we started arresting Iran's people in Iraq. Conflation, pure and simple. Like with Hezbollah last August, Iran's intent on proving it can conflate the region's various tensions at will, as always, striking against our proxies.
Reader Comments (12)
I admire your intellect greatly, and will continue to expand my own thinking by reading your insights, but really Tom, this was just disappointing snark.
As I see it, the neocons want access to and control of both the Iraqi and Iranian oil to prevent others from gaining leverage with the oil to use against the US oil companies. The apparent threat to the world of loose nukes in Iran is a cover for all the other posturing. If loose nukes were of any concern to the neocons, Cheney wouldn't have outed Valerie Plame. They know that Iran is rich enough to buy some nukes from black market sources sooner or later.
I don't see the neocons worrying about Israel either. Israel is only of interest as a Middle East base. Neocons care about as much about Israel adn they care about the rapper, Ice T.
Profits for the Blackwater type contractors and their financial support for the Bush regime is what they are really interested in. Rumsfeld gutted the US Army while creating scores of private contract mailita.
When will America learn how many billions are being paid from black funds compared with the Pentagon budget for the contractors. America is being raped financially by the schemes of Cheney and Rumsfeld's pentagon and no bid contracts to cronies paid by a Republican dominated GSA.
When will China swicth to Euros and apply pressure to the entire US economy? After all they are financing these neocon 'war games for profit'. How pissed will china be when the neocons declare America is bankrupt and unable to repay the billions?
The UN mandate gives Britain the right to board Arab sail boats?
The Iranian ships in the vicinity were there without the knowledge of the Royal Navy. I am not a Navy guy, but is this possible with today's equipment?
And the question is: Where is the evidence for that? How much oil are we getting from Iran and Iraq? When will we have this complete control over their oil? What American oil companies are profiting from Iraqi and Iranian oil?
When someone makes claims about strategy and tactics, it lends credence to the comment if there is some kind of evidence offered.
"When will China swicth to Euros and apply pressure to the entire US economy?"
I'll tell you when. When Intel raises chip prices to apply pressure to Dell in an attempt to ruin their very best customer.
Yes, the UK can board all vessels in Iraqi territorial waters under the UN mandate. And that's the whole dispute: where were the UK sailors at the time of boarding and capture? In whose territorial waters? That's why you see British admirals explaining with big charts the position of the UK ship. However, see the USS Vincennes incident where no one seemed to have kept track of where they were exactly....
1. Dr. Barnett, being both knowledgeable and discreet, nevertheless, by his comment was not taken in by the propagandists. He knows that the world does not now need an apparent manufactured crisis2. The original reports did say the Brits indeed boarded a dhow http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2007/03/15-british-sailors-held-by-iran.html3. I would question Britain’s UN mandate, as I do not recall the UN ever agreeing to permit the use of force in Iraq by Britain or any other country. Perhaps then they were operating under the Divine Right of Kings, as in 1812.4. The correct way to capture a dhow was illustrated by the US Navy in 2003. http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=11182 Please note the command and control then and the lack of it now. The USS Vincennes incident in 1988 has little relevance here
The very few Iranians I have read say "Get rid of the Mullahs and the Guard -then LEAVE. We will clean up the mess ourselves..."
2. I did not question that fact, only the claim of where the Brits were at when they boarded the dhow.3. Check out UN Security Council resolution 1546 (2004), operative paragraph 10 and Annex. The coalition forces in Iraq now are operating as a UN authorised and Iraqi invited Multinational Force, which is authorised to 'use all necessary means' for certain tasks, i.e. the use of force for certain tasks...4. The USS Vincennes also wandered, unintentionally, into Iranian territorial waters.