Posted on 04/02/2007 9:02:35 AM PDT by LibWhacker
HAS Britain's standing in the world ever been lower? The country that was once a byword for freedom is now seen as a bully and a weakling.
Bully enough to follow America's lead and cause mayhem in Iraq, but weak enough to stand meekly by while 14 British men and one woman are exhibited like trophies and gloated over by the mad thugs of Iran.
Our 15 British hostages are forced to act like performing seals for one of the vilest regimes on the planet, and the bitter truth is that our chums in the civilised world do not give a damn. Advertisement
The Americans?
The Americans are calling us wimps for allowing British sailors and marines to be kidnapped without a fight, and even bigger wimps for being so pathetically toothless in our response.
"The British government wrings its hands in despair and does little else," sneers the New York Post.
"Wimping out on Iran," shrieks the New York Daily News, mocking Britain's humiliation.
The Europeans? Well, of course the Euros didn't want us marauding through the Middle East in the first place so we can hardly be surprised that our Continental cousins are completely indifferent to the plight of our people.
It took the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, almost a week to even bring himself to denounce the kidnapping. Since then the EU has requested the release of the hostages and said that "appropriate measures" will be taken if they refuse.
But several EU countries have already stated they will not consider freezing links with Iran. So the EU has really got them trembling in their sandals in Tehran.
Then what about the United Nations? The British were in those waters operating under a UN mandate. When we went to the UN seeking a demand for the immediate release of our hostages, it should have been a rubber-stamp formality.
But many countries, including Russia, simply refuse to believe the evidence that British sailors were operating in Iraqi and not Iranian waters. And even if the British are telling the truth, many countries don't give a toss because they're scared stiff of joining Britain and America as the hate figures of the Muslim world.
AFTER hours of debate, the UN Security Council issued a meaningless statement expressing its "concern" over our hostages.
And this country's humiliation was complete.
We are told that diplomacy is the only thing that will bring our people home. Well, it is now.
There was a moment when military action was a possibility, and indeed the best option - and I'm not talking about sending a gunboat or sabre rattling. The 15 being held hostage were not bob-a-jobbing. They had guns, too - but they didn't use them to defend themselves.
And HMS Cornwall, armed with enough firepower to blow a few Revolutionary Guards all the way back to downtown Tehran, was about as much use as a rubber duck.
Lieutenant-Commander Erik Horner of the US Navy, who works with the Royal Navy in those waters, was astounded that 15 British sailors and marines were captured without a shot being fired. "Our reaction was, why didn't you guys defend yourselves?" says Horner.
Good point.
It does seem strange. Perhaps they were under orders not to put up a fight. Perhaps they were wary of turning a drama into a bloodbath.
But the truth is we're jaded. We are tired. We are frightened. We no longer have the stomach for a fight.
We want to get out of there and go home.
The Iranians believe that we are taking part in a war that we don't believe is right and don't have the nerve to fight.
They are absolutely correct.
That is why Tony Blair will ultimately be remembered as a failure. He lied to get us into an unwanted war, and then he lacked the will to fight it, or the wit to get us out.
Blair has left us impotent in the leering face of Iran and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: one of the biggest pigs on the planet, he's a Holocaust denier who talks of "exterminating" Israel and routinely uses the language of the Nazis as if it were rational political discourse.
With the usual baying mobs in Iran calling for the execution of our 15 hostages, the responsibility for their fate falls on the sloping shoulders of Tony Blair, and all the lies and misjudgements that have made this country despised, mistrusted and mocked by friend and foe alike.
It is difficult to see how Blair's legacy could possibly sink even lower.
Unless Prince Harry gets shipped off to Iraq and then gets killed.
By the Americans.
Part of it is. Why should any Country believe us anymore?
Displace a brutal dictator and attempt to establish a democracy = "bully". As per usual.
Keep in mind that The Mirror is a left-wing rag. They have opposed the war all along, and are delighted by this sorry business.
Are you listening, Argentina?
America's fault? Seems to me they're blaming Blair.
Saddam made the shredders run on time.
Yep Im sick of euros. We can stand alone if need be.
I also seem to remember the Brits on the ground cedeing a village to the Taliban in Afghanistan based on some vague promises. The village later had to be retaken by force with casualties. This whole idea of not "rattling their teacups" is stupid. No wonfer their sailors and marines were captured. Upper class twits are evidently in charge.
Two Maggies MARGARET Thatcher and Margaret Beckett share a first name but that’s all.
We all stand around with our fingers crossed behind our backs and hope Israel will pull some kind of a hat trick. Sick.
Things today are not much different today than they were in early 1939.
"The British government wrings its hands in despair and does little else," sneers the New York Post.
"Wimping out on Iran," shrieks the New York Daily News, mocking Britain's humiliation.
And how is this inaccurate? It's sad, but true.
Then what about the United Nations? The British were in those waters operating under a UN mandate. When we went to the UN seeking a demand for the immediate release of our hostages, it should have been a rubber-stamp formality.
Yup...further proof, if any were needed, that the time of the UN is past. It's a blight of corruption on the face of the world and should be disbanded.
Blair has left us impotent in the leering face of Iran and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: one of the biggest pigs on the planet, he's a Holocaust denier who talks of "exterminating" Israel and routinely uses the language of the Nazis as if it were rational political discourse.
So if Blair declared war on Iran you'd support him? Thought not.
What do they do for us anyway?
The Maldives await...
Total, utter confusion.
Are you mad? Perhaps you're a troll.
It's our fault?? Go back to the DU!
I think the Brits will soon 'admit' that the ship was in Iranian waters. I heard they're already talking about ways to make sure it never happens again.
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