Posted on 03/23/2007 5:17:44 AM PDT by Eurotwit
Fifteen British sailors and Marines are being held by Iranian forces, says the Ministry of Defence.
More follows...
Yes, I was surprised that the French carrier actually made it that far without a tow.:-)
But they need a military pride thing badly, as their public needs to be pacified and anger misdirected away from the French government's failures.
That what wars and threats of wars often do politically. I think that may be underway.
To be human shields for Tehran?
R you a troll from Indonesia?
"Source, please? Everything I've read so far says that the Brits were picked up in Iraqi waters.
My boo-boo.
I could swear I read Iranian waters. Yes, you're correct: British sources say Iraqi waters. But I don't trust the media. So, I'll wait for confirmation.
It doesn't work like that. If the Iranians had opened fire then Coalition forces could have responded with armed force. No port is going to be bombed and the last thing you want is a warship ie HMS Cornwall running into Iranian waters.
It may seem maddening, but no commander is going to start a conflict or escalation over such an incident. It becomes a diplomatic incident like all the other incidents.
Could be that he is doing the same, and it is connected to this seizure as Iran is fighting back against the Big A'Hole of the west.
This incident may be a pretty good indicator as to how we are going to approach the Iranian issue over the remainder of Bush's presidency.
Most of the assets are in place for us to make a move if we want to
This is as good as a pretext as any (take that back, if it was U.S. sailors who had been abducted it would be about as good as a pretext as you could get)
Condi should call AHMANUTJOBS bluff and issue a statement immediately that his visa was 'approved' and the US is ready to 'greet' him in NYC!!
"There is a point in time, when crap like this does indeed escalate and escalate very fast.
I don't think the Iranians have the wherewithall to escalate this incident into a full-fledged war with the British.
This incident, which is not infrequent, will be resolved in a matter of days, I think.
How far was the boarding party from their Frigate?
"IB4TZ!"
No!
It's not one of them posts.
This is real.
I'm talking about Coalition forces. What exactly do you think is going to happen? If you think any bombing of Iran or any armed response in direct retaliation is going to happen then it isn't. Do you think that UK forces are going to detain Iranians in retaliation. Do you think that UK subs are going to start sinking Iranian Navy vessels?
I believe the use of force must be authorized in the orders. Or new orders.
You may be right, but France is quickly becoming a colony for third world Muslims and they are likely to have more riots if they intervene. France is in quite a pickle if you ask me.
"Do you think that UK forces are going to detain Iranians in retaliation. Do you think that UK subs are going to start sinking Iranian Navy vessels?"
Not over such immaterial incident.
Such incidents happen frequently between nations' territorial waters, oftentime with sailors and others involved in maritime commerce.
Bullshit, Brits are not powerless to stop them and all these snide remarks about our allies is useless.
"What the heck are the ROE (rules of engagement) for Coalition forces in the Gulf?"
I always thought ROE meant return on investment - ie the yield. LOL!
Learned something new.
I think I have the answer to this. The Iranians have been trying to get shippments of munitions and such to Iraq. The crackdown has made it harder for them and were desperate. So they devised a plan to seize the very men patroling those waters to get a very important shipment through. It was a calculated risk. It may have worked. I doubt anything serious will come of this. They will have gotten away with it.
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