Posted on 03/26/2007 4:07:58 AM PDT by Zakeet
Advocates of engagement with Tehran often claim that the Islamic Republic long ago shed its revolutionary pretensions in favor of becoming a "status quo" power. They might want to share that soothing wisdom with the families of the 15 British sailors and marines kidnapped Friday in Iraqi territorial waters by the naval forces of the elite, and aptly named, Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
In an earlier day, what Iran has done would have been universally regarded as an act of war. It was a premeditated act, carried out only hours before Britain voted to stiffen sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program in a unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution. Iran captured a smaller detachment of British forces in the same waters in 2004, claiming they had strayed across the Iranian border.
[Snip]
It is worth recalling, however, that Iran was at its most diplomatically pliant after the United States sank much of Tehran's navy after Iran tried to disrupt oil traffic in the Persian Gulf in the late 1980s. Regimes that resort to force the way Iran does tend to be respecters of it. It is also far from certain that Western military strikes against Revolutionary Guards would move the Iranian people to rally to their side: Iranians know only too well what their self-anointed leaders are capable of.
Most important, the world should keep in mind that Iran has undertaken this latest military aggression while it is still a conventional military power. That means that Britain and the U.S. can still respond today with the confidence that they maintain military superiority. That confidence will vanish the minute Iran achieves its goal of becoming a nuclear power. Who knows what the revolutionaries in Tehran will then be capable of.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
......If your country places you at risk and then abandons you then why bother to continue to serve?......
There is no evidence that the 15 have been abandoned. The only real evidence is that the action is not proceeding according to your time table.
Vote YES! on Lake Iran..............
I am in agreement with you.
When a pilot is called to drop a bomb,they dont try to convict him of murder because a civilian got killed in the explosion. So why do they keep trying to convict a foot soldier when civilians get in the way.
I still say there is no excuse for rape. If as charged an American soldier raped a woman he should go to prison for it. Killing a civilian by accident or simply becasue that civilian was in the wrong place at the wrong time is one thing, raping is entirely different.
The persian people are not innocent IMHO.
LLS
Did you think I did not know geography? I'd still destroy them before they destroy us.
LLS
When a pilot is called to drop a bomb,they dont try to convict him of murder because a civilian got killed in the explosion. So why do they keep trying to convict a foot soldier when civilians get in the way.
Great analogy!
Is that a Persian Sea of glass?
I bet the Iranians could too.
It will be a lot messier this time but the outcome would/will be the same.
Where the hell is NATO? An outright act of war has been taken against one of the member nations.
Mark
Let's get real. I lived in Iran two years before the Revolution. My wife is Persian, as are many FReepers.
Iranians in America vote 90% Republican, since they loathe anyhting Democrat and associated with Carter. I don't know why you want to kill them.
Most Iranians are innocent. Period. Any baby IS innocent.
Yes I see your point about the lack of all-out resistance. But neither the Germans nor the Japanese overthrew their Governments. Yes we killed a whole bunch of Germans (after TWO world wars) and Japanese. But we didn't wipe them out. That's not us. Our enemies are genocidals. We are morally superior to Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Saddam or Ahmadinejad.
Beside all this morality we simply aren't going to commit genocide. Dream on. The USA is not going to kill 70 Million humans... and by this outdoing any genocidal Totalitarian of the 20th century. Get real.
We will and HAVE to destroy the Islamic Republic. We will overthrew and kill the regime, it's representatives and the Revolutionary Guards. We might split up Iran's regions... whatever we do, we aren't going to commit genocide.
This is still the USA and not a Bolshevik Totalitarian meatgrinder.
We should know pretty soon if "Rule Britannia" has become "Run Britannia."
The Brits, and their American ally, should give the Iranians an ultimatum - we want the hostages alive, or Ahmawhatshisface dead - twenty four hours, or Tehran joins the stone age.
This is an important test that the British-American alliance is about to fail.
Peaceniks, lefties and moonbats in both countries have been hammering away at our willingness to defend ourselves for five years now, with the aggressive support of the MSM.
Tehran wants to find out how well their assault has gone. It will go a long way towards indicating what steps we may take when the point-of-no-return comes regarding their nuclear weapons plan.
Despite the bluster and the references to the sea of glass, does anybody REALLY believe that either the U.S. or Great Britain has ANY fight left?
I don't see it. Maybe I'll be surprised.
U.S. warships sank an Iranian frigate and shelled two Persian Gulf oil platforms near the Strait of Hormuz in response to a mine attack against the USS Samuel B. Roberts, an American frigate. 69 were wounded with no US deaths. A few months later, the U.S. Navy accidentally shot down an Iranian commercial jet carrying 290 passengers and crew. The American government mistook the plane for a military fighter jet but refused to apologize or admit any wrongdoing.
You are correct. The left has almost won in this country. They have most of the media, most of the educational establishment, have instituted PC which may kill us all and want to make sure we never get to defend ourselves or win a war. The only thing remaining is the 2nd Amendment.
"we aren't going to commit genocide."
War is Hell. People (innocent and otherwise) die and things get destroyed. The leaders of Iran are going down the same path that got Saddam removed and We have all seen what happened to him.
My suggestion: If you have any loved ones in Iran, tell them to get out...now!
A little unfair. The US didn't threaten to bomb China when they forced down a US recon plane and held the crew for 13 days. And they never returned the plane to this day. We didn't bomb NK when they seized the USS Pueblo and held the crew of 82 for 11 months and the body of one crewman who was killed in the attack. The ship is still held by NK and still remains on the roster of USN ships in commission.
The Iranians attacked and occupied our Embassy twice in 1979 and the second time held our diplomats hostage for 444 days. The still occupy the US Embassy compound.
If the goal is to gain the release of the 15 sailors unharmed, it is a bit early to start clamoring for military action, which would be counterproductive at this point.
LOL! I love that map!
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