Why Iran Seized the British Marines

TIME ^ | Friday, Mar. 23, 2007 | HOWARD CHUA-EOAN

[MinorityRepublican]

The most ominous detail about Iran's seizure of 15 British Royal Marines in the Shatt-al-Arab waterway on Friday morning is that the servicemen were reportedly taken into custody by the navy of the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC is a powerful, separate branch of the Iranian armed forces. Soaked with nationalist ideology, it has grown into a state within a state in Iran, with its own naval, air and ground forces, parallel to official government institutions. The IRGC is directly controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, the ultimate font of religious and political power in Iran.

The IRGC also has its own intelligence arm and commands irregular forces such as the basij — a voluntary paramilitary group affiliated with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — and the Quds force, which has been accused by the U.S. of supplying material to Iraqi insurgents bent on killing American soldiers.

The IRGC is also known for its clandestine activities including logistical support for militant organizations like Lebanon's Hizballah, which it helped to set up in the 1980s, and several Shi'a militia groups in Iraq. The IRGC's activities are often a thorn in the side of Iran's Foreign Ministry, which is forced to repair the ruptures in Tehran's diplomatic relations with countries the Guard has inflamed with its self-directed adventures. Nevertheless, it has been one of Iran's main instrument in projecting power and influence over the last few decades.

Because the IRGC's actions are always interwoven with the religious-nationalist ideology of Iran's hardliners, extricating the British may be complicated.

[SE Mom]

Discussing this all right now on FOX- oil prices..pre-emption etc..

[quantfive]

"Discussing this all right now on FOX- oil prices..pre-emption etc.."

Very inetersting, guess I am not the only person to connect the dots.

[firewalk]

Because they lack respect (fear) of the British.

They would have taken Americans (again) if they were there instead...
thanks to carter...

[Txsleuth]

Thanks...I got home just as Fox was finishing an interview with Richard Miniter and Mansour Ijaz....

Ijaz said that there must have been some cargo on that ship that the Brits were after..

[Always Independent]

I think they took the Brits because they want to use them to get back the Iranians we snatched awhile back. If they took our GIs' they wouldn't be able to hold off an attack on them. By taking the Brits, they can use the Brits to put pressure on our gov't to give back theirs. JMT

[Pox]

That's precisely what I believe as well.

The west will do nothing other than squeal about this. Iran knows it, and is the other reason they didn't hesitate.

Another issue is exactly what was on the ship that was being searched.

[SE Mom]

And now MadMood says he won't come to address the UN...becuase we didn't get the visas ready in time?! Pppffttt...

Tom Clancy has nothing on this..

[FreedomNeocon]

It was just last week that I read media report that Iran was "contemplating kidnapping American soldiers" in response the "embassy" in iraq we went into and are holding the Quds force generals.

Sounds like they decided to do it, but pick the Brits as some kind of internal compromise they made with each other.

[knarf]

The Brits are siezed the day before monkey boy shows up on US real estate as a guarantee we won't keep the punk.

Any act that even appears to be aggressive will trigger the murder of those innocent men.

Iran dares us to throw the first punch, which we won't, and monkey boy goes home to brag what pussies we are.

The socialists bray loudly about what a coward President Bush is and what a further embarrassment he is to us and the world and the pressure to get Rove and Cheney is increased.

I can only hope that the first round against the house (public announcement that President Bush will not cave to the bill passed today) is the beginning of telling the internal assassins they will not take Rome down and that we will defy the 'if you don't know history you will repeat it' mantra.

God bless America and God help President Bush and our administration.

[Txsleuth]

Oh, he is really scaring me!!

I am glad he is not coming...I was hoping the US would deny him a VISA because of this incident with the Brits.

[VA_Gentleman]

If I was Tony Blair right now, I'd let Iran know that they now have 24 hours to return their soldiers unharmed, or we will commence bombing of all suspected Iranian nuclear facilities.

[FreedomNeocon]

"an Arab source in the gulf believes that the incident may have been an Iranian political message to the U.S. and the world — a reminder that Iran has assets in the gulf to threaten American and its allies there"

ROTFL... they captured a few rubber speedboat rafts, while they were distracted searching an Iranian vessel for smuggled cars (carbombs they didn't want them to find?)

In any case... let them come try to do that with one of our carrier groups.. see how their "assets" do against the big boys.

[firewalk]

I wish that you were right, but I believe iran (& their friends) have much bigger plans...
even if these men are traded (this is only a distraction)
jmo

[Stultis]

The Royal Marines, assigned to HMS Cornwall, had been on an anti-smuggling procedure sanctioned by the U.N. but were apparently taken into custody anyway by Iranian naval vessels in the Shatt-al-Arab

Hey, wait, guys. The Marines were on a U.N. approved mission. We can count on the U.N. to come down hard on Iran! [ducks flying pig]

[britemp]

'Will the British people ever tire of being urinated on by islamic thugs?'

I didn't see America rushing to do anything when they had their soldiers detained by the Iranians. Don't you tire of it as well?

[truth_seeker]

"If I was Tony Blair right now, I'd let Iran know that they now have 24 hours to return their soldiers unharmed, or we will commence bombing of all suspected Iranian nuclear facilities."

Absolutely.

[Red6]

It's sad isn't it?

Nothing will happen. The Brits will say it's a big misunderstanding, even though this is the second incident like this.

[bruoz]

I would give them 24 hours to release the Brits. If they don't then NATO should wipe out the entire Iranian "navy." That should take about an hour or so.

[Santiago de la Vega]

The IRGC is a powerful, separate branch of the Iranian armed forces. Soaked with nationalist ideology, it has grown into a state within a state in Iran, with its own naval, air and ground forces, parallel to official government institutions.

This is the Iranian version of Hitler's SS.

[SE Mom]

~snip~

" The IRGC is a powerful, separate branch of the Iranian armed forces. Soaked with nationalist ideology, it has grown into a state within a state in Iran, with its own naval, air and ground forces, parallel to official government institutions. The IRGC is directly controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, the ultimate font of religious and political power in Iran. "

~snip~