The Continuing Escalation Of Iran
Today, Iran escalated this situation by showing their captives on TV, and forcing one of them -- a female named Faye Turney -- to read a letter they claim she wrote:
(HT: Captain Ed Morrissey)
A letter allegedly written by a captured British sailor to her parents says she had "apparently" entered Iranian territorial waters, the Iranian Embassy in London said Wednesday.
The letter was addressed to the parents of Faye Turney, one of the 15 British sailors captured by Iranian forces after they allegedly trespassed in Iranian waters. An Iranian embassy official e-mailed a copy of the letter to The Associated Press, saying Turner wrote it on Wednesday. ...
Meanwhile, Iranian state TV showed video of some of the sailors and marines, including Turney, who wore a white tunic and a black head scarf and said the British boats "had trespassed" in Iranian waters.
"Obviously we trespassed into their waters," Turney said on the broadcast by Al-Alam, an Arabic-language, Iranian state-run television station that is carried across the Middle East.
"They were very friendly and very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we've been arrested, there was no harm, no aggression," she said.
As Captain Ed points out, PowerLine is questioning the speech of the letter. As John wrote:
I would guess that the letter was dictated by someone who speaks English very well, but not exactly in the idiom of a British sailor.
He's right. Something was hinky about the way the letter was delivered to the TV audiences. But I digress. Iran is saying they'll release Turney either today or tomorrow as a symbol of goodwill. But Allah at Hot Air notes that there's a price for her freedom, and that appears to be another admission from her that the sailors violated Iranian waters. Speaking of that, something's hinky about that piece of the puzzle as the Guardian notes:
At the MoD, Vice Admiral Style, the deputy chief of the defence staff, said one of the two small British craft intercepted by the Iranian navy at gunpoint had a GPS (global positioning system) device on board.
Information from that device, along with further evidence from a British military helicopter, proved the sailors had been operating "well inside" Iraqi waters when they were seized last Friday, he said.
The GPS relayed information back to HMS Cornwall, the ship the craft were operating from, meaning it was able to "continuously chart" their position.
The vice admiral said the Iranians had given two different positions for where they claimed the Royal Navy boarding party - seized after they had made a routine boarding of an Indian-flagged dhow suspected of being used to smuggle cars - had been.
He added that the location given by Iran on Saturday for the British personnel was inside Iraqi waters. After this was pointed out to Tehran, Iranian officials provided a second location, around two miles inside Iranian waters, on Monday.
The Ministry of Defence "unambiguously contested both locations" given by Iran, he said. He told reporters that the detention of the British personnel was "unjustified and wrong".
Two different locations? The Brits have responded by suspending all busines with the Iranians, and seem to be moving towards a cessation of diplomacy. With this getting hotter now, there is a possibility that the Brits may respond with force, and that's not a bad prospect, folks. SOMEONE has to stand up to the Iranians, and this gives Tony Blair the opportunity to stand firm against a regime that is openly hostile to the West.
I'd also like to add this from Hugh. He had an interview with Newt Gingrich today, and Newt had this say about what sort of response would he give were he in Tony Blair's position:
I would literally do that. I would say to them, I would right now say to them privately, within the next week, your refinery will no longer work. And within the following week, there will be no tankers arriving. Now if you would like to avoid being humiliated publicly, we recommend you calmly and quietly give them back now. But frankly, if you’d prefer to show the planet that you’re tiny and we’re not, we’re prepared to simply cut off your economy, and allow you to go back to walking and using oxen to pull carts, because you will have no gasoline left.
Newt has the right idea. And let's take this a step further. This just can't be a response from Britain. This action demands worldwide response, and the world has to stand ytough. No more UN nutters sticking their nose in this matter. No more toothless sanctions. The days of carrots and sticks are done when it comes to Iran. They give up the sailors, or else. I said that on Hugh's show this afternoon, and I'll include this as well: If Britain capitulates, it will embolden Ahmadinejad further. He's been pushing the envolope for the past couple of years, and he's only going to continue to push this. Dip0lomacy works when the other side is equally willing to engage. The Iranians aren't. They're throwing their minuscule weight around, and hoping they can force the Brits to back off.
No more. It's time to get tough, and I hope Iran is looking at the build-up in the Gulf. A few months ago, I watched as Marcie and Sabrina had an open debate about Iran right here on this site. Marcie also noted that Iran threatened to use oil as a weapon when sanctions were first being proposed. There is nothing preventing the ships in the Gulf right now from blockading Iran's tankers from leaving the Gulf, thereby using their own strategy against them. The Strait of Hormuz is a choke point, and could be a valuable, strategic point for the navies there now. That could be a viable Step One in pressure against Iran. Step Two can be airstrikes on them if they refuse to give up the sailors. No offense, but I doubt the Brits are going to emulate Jimmy Carter, and let these guys stay in Iran for 444 days.
In addition, Hugh points to a site that has an interesting post up regarding the continued aggression and confrontation of Iran against us. Verum Serum has the lengthy post well worth the read to understand that Iran's not going to stop this escalation until someone steps up, and stops them. The time to stop them is now.
Publius II
(HT: Captain Ed Morrissey)
A letter allegedly written by a captured British sailor to her parents says she had "apparently" entered Iranian territorial waters, the Iranian Embassy in London said Wednesday.
The letter was addressed to the parents of Faye Turney, one of the 15 British sailors captured by Iranian forces after they allegedly trespassed in Iranian waters. An Iranian embassy official e-mailed a copy of the letter to The Associated Press, saying Turner wrote it on Wednesday. ...
Meanwhile, Iranian state TV showed video of some of the sailors and marines, including Turney, who wore a white tunic and a black head scarf and said the British boats "had trespassed" in Iranian waters.
"Obviously we trespassed into their waters," Turney said on the broadcast by Al-Alam, an Arabic-language, Iranian state-run television station that is carried across the Middle East.
"They were very friendly and very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we've been arrested, there was no harm, no aggression," she said.
As Captain Ed points out, PowerLine is questioning the speech of the letter. As John wrote:
I would guess that the letter was dictated by someone who speaks English very well, but not exactly in the idiom of a British sailor.
He's right. Something was hinky about the way the letter was delivered to the TV audiences. But I digress. Iran is saying they'll release Turney either today or tomorrow as a symbol of goodwill. But Allah at Hot Air notes that there's a price for her freedom, and that appears to be another admission from her that the sailors violated Iranian waters. Speaking of that, something's hinky about that piece of the puzzle as the Guardian notes:
At the MoD, Vice Admiral Style, the deputy chief of the defence staff, said one of the two small British craft intercepted by the Iranian navy at gunpoint had a GPS (global positioning system) device on board.
Information from that device, along with further evidence from a British military helicopter, proved the sailors had been operating "well inside" Iraqi waters when they were seized last Friday, he said.
The GPS relayed information back to HMS Cornwall, the ship the craft were operating from, meaning it was able to "continuously chart" their position.
The vice admiral said the Iranians had given two different positions for where they claimed the Royal Navy boarding party - seized after they had made a routine boarding of an Indian-flagged dhow suspected of being used to smuggle cars - had been.
He added that the location given by Iran on Saturday for the British personnel was inside Iraqi waters. After this was pointed out to Tehran, Iranian officials provided a second location, around two miles inside Iranian waters, on Monday.
The Ministry of Defence "unambiguously contested both locations" given by Iran, he said. He told reporters that the detention of the British personnel was "unjustified and wrong".
Two different locations? The Brits have responded by suspending all busines with the Iranians, and seem to be moving towards a cessation of diplomacy. With this getting hotter now, there is a possibility that the Brits may respond with force, and that's not a bad prospect, folks. SOMEONE has to stand up to the Iranians, and this gives Tony Blair the opportunity to stand firm against a regime that is openly hostile to the West.
I'd also like to add this from Hugh. He had an interview with Newt Gingrich today, and Newt had this say about what sort of response would he give were he in Tony Blair's position:
I would literally do that. I would say to them, I would right now say to them privately, within the next week, your refinery will no longer work. And within the following week, there will be no tankers arriving. Now if you would like to avoid being humiliated publicly, we recommend you calmly and quietly give them back now. But frankly, if you’d prefer to show the planet that you’re tiny and we’re not, we’re prepared to simply cut off your economy, and allow you to go back to walking and using oxen to pull carts, because you will have no gasoline left.
Newt has the right idea. And let's take this a step further. This just can't be a response from Britain. This action demands worldwide response, and the world has to stand ytough. No more UN nutters sticking their nose in this matter. No more toothless sanctions. The days of carrots and sticks are done when it comes to Iran. They give up the sailors, or else. I said that on Hugh's show this afternoon, and I'll include this as well: If Britain capitulates, it will embolden Ahmadinejad further. He's been pushing the envolope for the past couple of years, and he's only going to continue to push this. Dip0lomacy works when the other side is equally willing to engage. The Iranians aren't. They're throwing their minuscule weight around, and hoping they can force the Brits to back off.
No more. It's time to get tough, and I hope Iran is looking at the build-up in the Gulf. A few months ago, I watched as Marcie and Sabrina had an open debate about Iran right here on this site. Marcie also noted that Iran threatened to use oil as a weapon when sanctions were first being proposed. There is nothing preventing the ships in the Gulf right now from blockading Iran's tankers from leaving the Gulf, thereby using their own strategy against them. The Strait of Hormuz is a choke point, and could be a valuable, strategic point for the navies there now. That could be a viable Step One in pressure against Iran. Step Two can be airstrikes on them if they refuse to give up the sailors. No offense, but I doubt the Brits are going to emulate Jimmy Carter, and let these guys stay in Iran for 444 days.
In addition, Hugh points to a site that has an interesting post up regarding the continued aggression and confrontation of Iran against us. Verum Serum has the lengthy post well worth the read to understand that Iran's not going to stop this escalation until someone steps up, and stops them. The time to stop them is now.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 4:30 PM
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