Oh no, not this $h!+ again.
Posted on 11/30/2009 5:36:31 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Five British sailors are being held captive in Iran after they strayed into the country’s territorial waters on their way to an international yacht race.
The Britons were part of the nine-strong crew of the Kingdom of Bahrain, a racing yacht, which was apprehended by the Iranian navy on Wednesday.
It is thought the boat, which carried a satellite tracker, may have drifted into Iranian waters after its propeller was damaged.
The newly refitted vessel was making its way from Bahrain to Dubai for a 350-mile race to Muscat, which began on Thursday.
When the yacht failed to arrive, expatriate yachting enthusiasts assumed that it had turned back because of technical problems but the Foreign Office disclosed last night that the crew had been taken captive by an Iranian patrol vessel on Wednesday.
It is understood that they were taken to Iran where they were said to be safe and well. Their families have been kept informed.
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that British diplomats had been in close touch with Iranian officials and hoped to resolve the matter “swiftly”.
The incident has echoes of the capture in 2007 of 15 Royal Navy sailors and Marines who were seized during a routine inspection of a merchant ship. The incident lead to a prolonged diplomatic stand-off.
Iran claimed that the British sailors were in its territorial waters but the MoD said they were in Iraqi waters.
The names of the captured sailors have not been confirmed, but sources said those on board were Sam Usher, Olly Smith, Luke Porter, Oliver Young and David Bloomer, a Bahrain Radio presenter who was planning to give regular updates through the race.
The official team website named the skipper as Nick Crabtree, a New Zealand-born businessman, who was not thought to be on the
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Test: Is Brown as big a wuss as carter was?
More importantly, it is is clear our enemies see the TOTUS-reader as weak.
Oh no, not this $h!+ again.
This doesn't make much sense to me. If the propeller was damaged, why not put up the sails, under reef if necessary. A crew of five should have been sufficient, for a while at least, until they were out of danger.
Is it possible that the Iranians are only SAYING that they crossed the line, but actually seized them somewhere further out?
You pegged it. Peoples memories are short. I hope this group of Royal Navy sailors has a little courage and pride. Somehow I doubt it.
I don’t think these guys are Royal Navy. I think they’re just some guys who are crewing a racing sailboat.
What’s Iran’s play here? They’re losing it over there. So what if some civilian sailboat transits their territorial waters? That happens all the time. Over in the strait of Hormuz it’s probably just about impossible not to. I know Iran is run by crazy people, but I can’t really see what their game is by doing this.
Britain will say it’s allright , keep them as long as you like we are trying to get up some ransom money even as we speak.
Humiliate the infidels and cow the Arabs. It shows the whole Muslim world that they are strong, and the west is weak. They have (correctly, IMHO) decided that the west has no stomach to use force against them, and soon they will have nukes.
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