Dissension in the ranks over the Irbil Five
This came out yesterday and I didn't see it until this morning. Glad to know that Allah's more on the ball than I am:
After intense internal debate, the Bush administration has decided to hold on to five Iranian Revolutionary Guard intelligence agents captured in Iraq, overruling a State Department recommendation to release them, according to U.S. officials.
At a meeting of the president's foreign policy team Tuesday, the administration decided the five Iranians will remain in custody and go through a periodic six-month review used for the 250 other foreign detainees held in Iraq, U.S. officials said. The next review is not expected until July, officials say.
The five, seized in a Jan. 11 raid by U.S. forces in the Kurdish city of Irbil, are at the center of increasing tensions between Washington and Tehran. The decision is certain to further irritate Tehran, which has ratcheted up pressure on the United States and on its allies and even its friends in the Iraqi government to win freedom for the Irbil five.
The decision came as Iraq's government spokesman, on a White House visit Friday, urged better ties. "We feel that the improvement and the better relations between the United States and Iran could minimize -- could make the [Iranian] interference less," Ali Dabbagh said in a news briefing with White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
Differences over the five Iranians reflect an emerging divide on how to deal with Iran. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice went into the meeting Tuesday advising that the men be freed because they are no longer useful, but after a review of options she went along with the consensus, U.S. officials say. Vice President Cheney's office made the firmest case for keeping them. Their capture signals that Iran's actions are monitored and that Iranian operatives face seizure.
I don't know what's gotten into the people in the administration that we are suddenly dealing with one the largest terroris-sponsoring nations in the region, but this has got to stop. This ranks right up there with trusting the Saudis to be our friends. It's not smart. It's not wise, and it's anything but prudent. Our enemies love it when the West capitualtes. It emboldens them. They realize, at that point, that they can do virtually anything, and they're nearly guaranteed a slap on the wrist. This was evident with the release of Salafi in exchange for the British hostages.
I'd like to point readers in the direction of this piece from the WSJ from 3 April of this year. It's written by Tawfik Hamid, and it might help to open some eyes about the sort of people we're fighting and wheeling and dealing with. Especially "our friends" the Saudis. The militant form of Islam espoused and practiced by these nations is not the sort we want to be friendly with, or even include in PC games. When our enemy sees capitualtion like this, or dissent like this coming from the last remaining superpower int he world, it sends the wrong message.
It tells the world that we'd rather negotiate and deal than fight against an openly hostile group of people. They see caving in to demands as a form of weakness, and they're right. The more nations like us cave to demands and threats, the more likely they are to be bolder the next time around. Take, for example, the Brits. This incident involving the fifteen sailors and Marines kidnapped by Iran isn't the first such incident between the two. And the first time around Iran only took eight people. This last time they took fifteen. The first time around, Britain negotiated their release, and both sides agreed it was a misunderstanding. (Given the events surrounding this seizure that is likely the case thanks to inclement weather.) This last time, that wasn't the case. The sialors and Marines were leaglly in Iraqi waters, and Iran still got a diplomat back for those people.
You can't negotiate with these people. It's not smart. They don't respect "civil" discourse. Dr. Rice isn't a dumb woman. She's done he work and studying ont he Middle East. She ought to know better, but I'll chalk it up to PC thoughts in this day and agae. And as I said above political correctness has no place in this war, let alone in the world as a whole.
Publius II
After intense internal debate, the Bush administration has decided to hold on to five Iranian Revolutionary Guard intelligence agents captured in Iraq, overruling a State Department recommendation to release them, according to U.S. officials.
At a meeting of the president's foreign policy team Tuesday, the administration decided the five Iranians will remain in custody and go through a periodic six-month review used for the 250 other foreign detainees held in Iraq, U.S. officials said. The next review is not expected until July, officials say.
The five, seized in a Jan. 11 raid by U.S. forces in the Kurdish city of Irbil, are at the center of increasing tensions between Washington and Tehran. The decision is certain to further irritate Tehran, which has ratcheted up pressure on the United States and on its allies and even its friends in the Iraqi government to win freedom for the Irbil five.
The decision came as Iraq's government spokesman, on a White House visit Friday, urged better ties. "We feel that the improvement and the better relations between the United States and Iran could minimize -- could make the [Iranian] interference less," Ali Dabbagh said in a news briefing with White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
Differences over the five Iranians reflect an emerging divide on how to deal with Iran. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice went into the meeting Tuesday advising that the men be freed because they are no longer useful, but after a review of options she went along with the consensus, U.S. officials say. Vice President Cheney's office made the firmest case for keeping them. Their capture signals that Iran's actions are monitored and that Iranian operatives face seizure.
I don't know what's gotten into the people in the administration that we are suddenly dealing with one the largest terroris-sponsoring nations in the region, but this has got to stop. This ranks right up there with trusting the Saudis to be our friends. It's not smart. It's not wise, and it's anything but prudent. Our enemies love it when the West capitualtes. It emboldens them. They realize, at that point, that they can do virtually anything, and they're nearly guaranteed a slap on the wrist. This was evident with the release of Salafi in exchange for the British hostages.
I'd like to point readers in the direction of this piece from the WSJ from 3 April of this year. It's written by Tawfik Hamid, and it might help to open some eyes about the sort of people we're fighting and wheeling and dealing with. Especially "our friends" the Saudis. The militant form of Islam espoused and practiced by these nations is not the sort we want to be friendly with, or even include in PC games. When our enemy sees capitualtion like this, or dissent like this coming from the last remaining superpower int he world, it sends the wrong message.
It tells the world that we'd rather negotiate and deal than fight against an openly hostile group of people. They see caving in to demands as a form of weakness, and they're right. The more nations like us cave to demands and threats, the more likely they are to be bolder the next time around. Take, for example, the Brits. This incident involving the fifteen sailors and Marines kidnapped by Iran isn't the first such incident between the two. And the first time around Iran only took eight people. This last time they took fifteen. The first time around, Britain negotiated their release, and both sides agreed it was a misunderstanding. (Given the events surrounding this seizure that is likely the case thanks to inclement weather.) This last time, that wasn't the case. The sialors and Marines were leaglly in Iraqi waters, and Iran still got a diplomat back for those people.
You can't negotiate with these people. It's not smart. They don't respect "civil" discourse. Dr. Rice isn't a dumb woman. She's done he work and studying ont he Middle East. She ought to know better, but I'll chalk it up to PC thoughts in this day and agae. And as I said above political correctness has no place in this war, let alone in the world as a whole.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 6:57 AM
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