wow, with that stern a warning i believe i soiled myself. i can only imagine how the camel jockeys are quaking.
The Iranian muzzies must free the British hostages in days or Tony Blair is going to severely thrash Mahmoud with his purse.
No more playing games Iran. Free the hostages or else we'll get the UN involved!
This won't stop until that litterbox is smouldering from an Alpha strike.
Or we'll....we'll....we'll repeat our demand yet again!
In all seriousness I hope the Brits don't back down an inch, get their sailors and Marines back, and lay some serious hurt on the Iranian regime. Go get 'em, chaps.
Oh, Maggie, where art thou??
Paging Mrs's Thatcher! Mr's Thatcher please report to 10 Downing Street ASAP. Tony has lost his balls and needs to borrow yours.
Mr Blair must be consulting with Mr. Carter.
a number of profound differences: if Blair is about to leave office, this incident will be what people remember about him. couple that with the fact that the UK (with the US) have quite a few assets in the area with which to do something.
a direct slap at the British Navy that once ruled the oceans - if UK does nothing, the prestige they lose will be enormous , and repercussions will be enormous. for example, the Argies will try to take the Falklands again
Properly, Iran should be told that they must return the captives by (deadline- short) or we bomb the hell out of Iran the day after the deadline. Then, if the captives are not returned, we bomb the hell out of Iran. If the captives are returned we thank Iran profusely and praise Iran for its Cooperation, wait 2 days and bomb the hell out of Iran.
Fraid it's not TOny. Their welfare is important, but not nearly as important as sending a FIRM message to Tehran that ANY attacks and captures of UK personnel will be met with SOLID, non-diplospeak military measures.
If the Cornwall had sunk one or two of those iranian boats, the UK would now be ACTING, instead of REACTING! The FIRM message should have been sent in 2004 when they did this before. It wasn't and here we are. Iran sees that they have no downside to capturing any UK personnel so why not?
These foaming at the mouth mad dogs don't attack strength, they attack weakness and they interpret all this mealy-mouthed, touchy-feely negotiations as weakness.
They took your people, they still have your people, and they are listening to you blather on about being "unhappy" with the situation while you do nothing. I submit, Sir, they know EXACTLY how "seriously you regard this act".
Days..?? How about IMMEDIATLY!
Do you ever get tired of the snide and irresponsible comments that are posted on FR these days? I do. This IS a serious situation, but every know-all-ogist on the forum just has to stand up and beat their chest and say some of the dumbest things during a time of crisis.
My recommendation: Capture the Iranian sub, and get its code books and comms technology and other assets. Work from there.
"Blair: Iran must free naval prisoners in days-(Or what?)"
What do you mean "or what?"
They'll use higher level diplomacy. And if that doesn't work then they'll attack them with "tough language", and if that still doesn't work, then they'll have no choice but to use their ultimate weapon - a package of incentives.
I pity the poor Iranians!
I worked with the British military when I was in the military. They're tough and gritty; they don't play around when its time to get serious. We sure as hell should back them up if they need us.
Or he will give the Iranian leadership a very stern reprimand.
ping