Posted on 03/28/2007 4:23:24 PM PDT by UKrepublican
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Iran's foreign minister says Britain must admit that its 15 sailors and marines entered Iranian waters for the standoff to be resolved.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
On the new capture video released today, you can actually see her taking a drag in the boat during the capture!!!
I was thinking the same thing. Or maybe when they showed that letter to home there was something not right in the letter! At least I hope so.
The post on Free Republic explains why Iran will be in no hurry to release these illegal prisoners. They are making money on the increases in the price of oil due to this crisis.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1808817/posts
Iran Rakes In A Profit
forbes.com ^ | 03.29.07, 12:54 PM ET | Tom Van Riper,
Posted on 03/29/2007 11:33:21 AM PDT by BenLurkin
What's a single British sailor worth to the Iranian government? In excess of $2 million, so far.
Oil analysts have pointed to the political tensions stemming from Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines on March 23 as the prime catalyst that has moved crude prices higher every day since. That's provided a nice little windfall for the world's fourth-largest oil producer.
From a closing price of $61.69 a barrel the day before the capture to the latest trading price of $65.34, crude has risen from as little as four cents to as much as 67 cents in each of the last five trading days. Multiplying the increases by Iran's average daily production of 4.2 million barrels nets an extra $38 million in proceeds that have hit the country's coffers, or just over $2 million for each sailor captured.
Shareholders of big Western oil companies have benefited too, of course. Shares of BP (nyse: BP - news - people ) are up 6.5% since March 22, leading the sector higher in tandem with oil prices. Exxon Mobil (nyse: XOM - news - people ) is up 3.3% and Chevron (nyse: CVX - news - people ) 4.5% over the same period.
Iranian authorities said the sailors were in its waters illegally, a claim that the British deny. Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that if the fleet members are not released, the conflict will reach a "new phase."
And if that happens, the structure of oil prices would likely hit a new plateau of its own, making Iran's extra take this past week look like chump change.
"If things get out of control, this will spill over beyond Iran and affect supplies--it could get very ugly," says Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. He doesn't think the standoff over the sailors is likely to push oil prices to the $80 and beyond level by itself, but an escalation would do the trick.
Some warning signs are certainly there. The U.S. recently launched a series of military exercises in the Gulf, interpreted by many as a stern warning to Iran that it's serious about not tolerating the country's nuclear program. And the United Nations Security Council agreed last week to tougher economic sanctions on Iran in response to its failure to suspend uranium enrichment.
For Iranian leaders, there's certainly been a benefit for bad behavior. Thumbing their noses at the U.S. and U.N. on nukes, taking British sailors hostage and publicly declaring a wish to see Israel "wiped off the map" all succeed in creating tensions that result in rising oil prices. That means cash for Iran. Theoretically, the country could keep pushing until the U.S. or one of its allies got fed up enough to bomb its nuclear facilities.
Escalating hostilities could also result in Iran blockading the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world's oil passes. If the country's control of that waterway results in $100 a barrel oil by, say, the end of May, then it would parlay the $34 million Iran has raked in to date into a cool $5 billion, possibly enough even for some type of reactor.
Is it likely? No. But, as Gheit points out, a group of hostages Iran grabbed up 28 years ago "spent 444 days as [their] guests."
That's not a rebuttal. Look at the relationship between Bush #41 and Clinton, now. Almost father/son. Given the lack of action to seal our borders and the stealth efforts at a merge between USA, Canada and Mexico, I put Bush #43 in exactly the same category as Clinton, without the egrigious gun bans. That's only because for most of the terms in question pro-gun forces were in control of the Congress. Bush #41 coined the term New World Order as much that it came into general usage as a result of his speeches. Bush #41 is CFR. Clinton is CFR and although Bush #43 is NOT, his VP and most of his cabinet belong to that supremely secretive and powerful group dedicated since 1921 to bringing about a Single World Government. Blair is a globalist. Where did he stand on joining the EU? Does he belong to the Bilderbergers? Yep.
You are talking some nonsense.
What exactly is your point?
Blair has stood by clinton and bush on american foreign policy no matter how unpopular.
Smear him all you want, he's been your countries greatest friend in a long while and continues to be.
I'll believe all this 'global government' crap when I see it.
In our part of the world, it was rejected when the EU constitution got defeated.
I agree that a UAV or balloon could provide a possible platform, but we'd know about it the second they turned them on and would adjust accordingly. Jammers make wonderful targets. Also, the theories and claims regarding GPS jammers have been incredibly optimistic. The Iraqis actually bought some of the best money could buy, and we took them out...using GPS weapons. Gotta love it when the bad guys spend a lot of good money based on false advertising. Of the thousands of GPS guided munitions we've dropped, our confidence level regarding their performance has continually climbed. Likewise for the Israelis. And as the Brits have implied, they knew exactly where their folks were when the Iranians ambushed them. Our tracking capability of our forces has evolved to being able to track individuals to a very tight range and is done using redundant systems including GPS. Nobody on our side gets near the Iraq/Iran border without our knowing about it in advance. And any enemy spoofing effort would have to overwhelm our very robust command and control capability in that region.
2 UK patrols have strayed into Iranian waters...1 U.S. patrol has done the same. We've had 4 UAVs crash inside Iran and we had 4 cruise missiles land in Iran during our intial bombardment of Iraq in 2003.
All of the above could be contributed to natural errors/malfunctions expected in the course of war. I have no problem with that.
However, I see no harm in verifying the altitude shown on the picture (circa post #61) in order to insure that the above events are not part of a larger operation against us (e.g. GPS spoofing).
Wow! "...could be contributed to..." should be "could be attributed to"
When will people wake up and realize that bombing Iran is past due?
Give them their just desserts.
They already did. See here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1807959/posts
I'm going to make a distinction here. Your country has been our greatest friend and ally for many many years. Sure, sometimes even best friends squabble. But the relationship between the peoples I think is very strong. Face it: We LOVE and adore y'all!
Politicians and leadership are different. They have AGENDAS that over arch the people they represent. Bush #41 did. Clinton's carried that forward and it seems now that Bush #43 is in line to nearly finish the job. The public over here is asleep and won't recognize the loss of their liberties until the Constitution flies out the window and then it'll be too late.
I'll believe all this 'global government' crap when I see it.
It's been staring you in the face for thirty years. When it picks up a baseball bat s'cuse me CRICKET bat and smacks you between the eyes, it'll be too late. Maybe it's because I teach both world and American history that I can pick up the signs rather easily. The EU constitution is a mere setback. The Euro tells the story that will eventually lead to the eradication of all national borders and eventual submission to the UN, or whatever infrastructure will replace the ailing and corrupt UN. Wait until the USA and Mexico and Canada all merge...wait for the appearance of the AMERO to supplant the floundering US Dollar. What's the exchange rate today for the dollar against the Pound or the Euro? Time was when the dollar ruled. Now even OPEC doesn't do business in dollars anymore. They switched over to the EURO.
It's time for Americans here in the states and our great friends across the pond to wake up and ACT before we lose not only our freedoms..but we lose our national identities and our cultures. That process is well underway. Heard London referred to as Londonistan recently?
There's a book you should read by Mark Steyn called America Alone that illustrates exactly how we are allowing ourselves to be outbred into eventual eradication. Read it. It'll scare the trousers off you.
The smoking was to make her appear inferior. Muslim woman cannot smoke in public. That would be shoddy and whore-like.
"Iranian mullahs want and need war. Been obvious since the hostage taking in 79. The west used the proxy Saddam to feed and tame the Iranian Mahdi wannabes, but Saddam got out of control and had to be eliminated. Iranians know that ground forces cannot enter Iran without suffering massive suicidal attacks. Would be comparable to the US invading Japan during WWII instead of just nuking a couple of cities and demanding and getting an unconditional surrender."
Agree with all if it except for the USA's hestitation to not want to go in because of potential mass suicide attacks. Iran used this to some level of success against Iraq, but they wouldn't get within 2 miles of our fleet of tanks, armored personele and troops. We have massive air power, daisy cutters and MOABS. Methinks it all goes down like this: Britain does not capitulate, the USA, Israel and Britain conduct a massive bombing campaign on all of Iran's nuclear facilities and military command complexes. Iran responds with a nuclear attack on our carrier fleet. I firmly believe they already have them in limited number. Oil prices skyrocket to $115 a barrel overnight. The USA and Iran have a temporary peace agreement.
British counter demand should be for the President of Iran to get down on its knees and grovel and beg for forgiveness and only then consider whether or not to destroy every Iranian vessel.
If Iran used a nuke on any NATO force, EVER, an SSBN would incinerate the country within 24 hours. You can take that to the bank.
Just some food for thought...first, the Shat al Arab is claimed by both Iran and Iraq and the actual border down there is about as clear as the mud the place is composed of; second, I'm not saying this is necessarily the case with regard to the UAV's we've lost in Iran, but one of the nice things about UAV's is they are cheap and unmanned, making one way trips worth the loss of a UAV depending on the route; and third, we dropped cruise missiles all over several countries during our initial cruise missile attacks on Iraq. Many of them were older versions, and all have a known failure rate. Kind of a cost of doing business situation when you are launching several hundred cruise missiles.
" I see no harm in verifying the altitude shown on the picture"
I guess if you could get the dimensions of the ship in the picture and compare them to the dimensions of the GPS, you could do the math to figure out if 91m is correct. But really, if the Iranians were trying to jam or spoof anything, we'd know it. You can't jam or spoof passively.
Having said all that, you can always be counted on for looking at things from an alternative and logically feasible viewpoint. And...you could be right.
"If Iran used a nuke on any NATO force, EVER, an SSBN would incinerate the country within 24 hours. You can take that to the bank."
I disagree, if we attack first they would simply say they were defending their country from attack. A nuke used against a fleet is a lot different then lobbing one into an allied city. We will not nuke populations centers killing millions of people for a self-defense move against our fleet. Just my opinion.
Speaking of the bank, unless you're discussing the use of NEUTRON weapons, have you considered the impact of irradiating all that oil on the world economy? Granted, WE don't buy oil from Iran, but there are those who do who'll suddenly be in a very competitive market and willing to pay big bucks for a constant supply. Unless we can pry the oil platforms from the hands of the ENVIRO-NUTS in the Gulf of Mexico and open the taps in ANWR we might be in for a spot of trouble. Might happen anyway since we've not built a new refinery in about 27 years....But there's still that pesky problem of supply with Iran glowing in the dark....
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