15 British sailors detained by Iran...

[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032900216.html?hpid=moreheadlines[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032900216.html?hpid=moreheadlines&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

Britain is seeking a United Nations Security Council statement demanding the immediate release of 15 British sailors and marines seized last Friday by Iran, British officials said Thursday.</p>

<p>At the United Nations in New York, British officials were circulating a draft statement, which would also condemn Iran’s actions in the case and support the British position that its troops were acting legally within Iraqi waters. The officials hoped it would be issued later Thursday, according to a spokesman for the British Foreign Office…

</p>

[Zaphod]

<p>

Britain Takes Case Against Iran to U.N.

</p>

<p>Wow. I bet nappies are soiled all over Tehran right about now. :rolleyes:</p>

[CWJones411]

<p>Ugh… I hate Iran.</p>

[RightofCentremom]

<p>Quote:</p>

<p>"There was a question whether the Blair government would end up leaving Britain with a navy too small to protect its shores. Now it seems to want a navy that can’t even protect its own sailors. "</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nypost.com/seven/03282007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/hostage[/url]”>http://www.nypost.com/seven/03282007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/hostage&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Anybody catch this? I do NOT want war or anything of the sort–but I do want my son to be part of an organization that can 'protect it’s own sailors." </p>

<p>This kidnapping episode is very serious–I pray we have the guts and leaders to not only work to get these 15 back safely–but keep our sailors from being the next victims…</p>

[rgomez805]

<p>Yeah, now all you Navy boys can attack Iran from the safety of your ships and jets. There ain’t no business like the war business aye boys?</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Propaganda war heats up after U.N. expresses ‘grave concern’ over incident</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17867509/[/url]”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17867509/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

A British military serviceman appeared on Iran’s official Arabic-language television station on Friday and apologized for entering Iranian waters “without permission.”</p>

<p>The serviceman, whose name was given in Farsi as Nighton Thomas Summers, said he was aware that the incident in which he was seized was the second time since 2004 that British military personnel had entered Iranian waters…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/AR2007033000373.html?hpid=topnews[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/AR2007033000373.html?hpid=topnews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

Britain said it was giving “serious consideration” to a proposal from Iran for freeing 15 British navy personnel and ending the week-old crisis over their capture without a “confrontation.”</p>

<p>The British government refused to disclose the details of the proposal, which could end a standoff that has added to tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and over allegations that Iran is arming Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032901985.html?hpid=opinionsbox1[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032901985.html?hpid=opinionsbox1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

We are in a season of skulduggery in the Middle East, with a strange series of events that all involve the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The murky saga is a reminder that the real power in Iran may lie with this secretive organization, which spawned Iran’s firebrand president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.</p>

<p>The Revolutionary Guard orchestrated the seizure of 15 British sailors and marines last week near the mouth of the Shatt al Arab waterway between Iraq and Iran. The British say they have technical data to prove that their people were outside Iran’s territorial waters when they were captured, and they have protested vigorously to Iranian diplomats. But the Iranian Foreign Ministry doesn’t seem to know anything about the case. Indeed, it may have been one of the indirect targets…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>LONDON (CNN) – Iranian videos showing captured British military personnel will only further Iran’s “isolation,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday.</p>

<p>“I really don’t know why the Iranian regime keeps doing this. All it does is enhance people’s sense of disgust. Captured personnel being paraded and manipulated in this way doesn’t fool anyone,” he said.</p>

<p>“The Iranians have to realize if they continue in this way they’ll face continued isolation.”</p>

<p>Blair vowed to continue the fight for the release of the 15 servicemembers “with the necessary determination.”</p>

<p>“The most important thing is to make sure that our people are returned safe,” he said.</p>

<p>International leaders have already called for the servicemembers’ release, and Blair said there will be “a strong statement from the European Union today.”</p>

<p>Blair called it “perfectly obvious that these people were in Iraqi waters under a U.N. mandate” when they were seized last Friday. He added that there is “no question about the unlawful nature of their capture.” (Posted 7:53 a.m.)</p>

[Zaphod]

<p>

Yeah, now all you Navy boys can attack Iran from the safety of your ships and jets. There ain’t no business like the war business aye boys?

</p>

<p>As opposed to you, who will watch the war from your comfy chair in your mother’s basement between games of Grand Theft Auto and bags of Doritos? :rolleyes:</p>

<p>“People sleep peacefully at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”</p>

<p>Enjoy the freedom that others pay for, junior. At least they will be able to stand before their family, their people, and their God with pride that they held something greater than themselves more dear than their own skin.</p>

<p>What will you do? :rolleyes:</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>TEHRAN (CNN) – Iran on Friday released a third letter purportedly from female British sailor Faye Turney.</p>

<p>CNN cannot independently determine whether Turney wrote the letter and does not know the conditions under which the captive wrote it. </p>

<p>British Prime Minister Tony Blair slammed the Iranian government Friday after it released a second video of the British service members. The following is the text of the hand-written letter, released by the Iranian Embassy in Britain:</p>

<p>"To British People,</p>

<p>"I am writing to you as a British service person who has been sent to Iraq, sacrificed due to the intervening policies of the Bush and Blair governments.</p>

<p>"We were arrested after entering Iranian waters by the Iranian forces. For this I am deeply sorry. I understand that this has caused even more distrust for the people of Iran, and the whole area in the British (sic).</p>

<p>"The Iranian people treated me well and have proved themselves to be caring, compassionate, hospitable, and friendly. For this I am thankful.</p>

<p>"I believe that for our countries to move forward, we need to start withdrawing our forces from Iraq, and leave the people of Iraq to start rebuilding their lives.</p>

<p>"I have written a letter to the people of Iran apologising for our actions.</p>

<p>"Whereas we hear and see on the news the way prisoners were treated in Abu Ghrayb and other Iraqi jails by British and American personnel, I have received total respect and faced no harm.</p>

<p>“It is now our time to ask our government to make a change to its oppressive behavior towards other people.” (Posted 9:34 a.m.)</p>

[Zaphod]

<p>…and to think some bozos are actually going to believe that these letters are sincere and not coerced or fabricated. :rolleyes:</p>

[subvet]

<p>Would the expression “ALPHA HOTEL” mean anything to you rgomez?</p>

[USNA69]

<p>From his other posts, it appears he has been accepted at Berkeley. Don’t waste your time. I am sure there he is just one more “ALPHA HOTEL”.</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

My assignment was to write a piece on the Iran hostage crisis. Not the current crisis, but one from long ago, 1979.</p>

<p>Sixty-six men and women, members of the U.S. Diplomatic Corps and civilian employees, were doing their jobs at the U.S. embassy when a group of students cut through the locks on the embassy gate and took them hostage. The students were angry because the now-deposed Shah of Iran traveled to the U.S. for medical treatment, and they wanted him put on trial in his own country for crimes against the Iranian people…

</p>

[USNA69]

<p>

CNN cannot independently determine whether Turney wrote the letter and does not know the conditions under which the captive wrote it.

</p>

<p>Think the Brits have a Code of Conduct:</p>

<p>

Article I: I am an American, fighting in the armed forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.</p>

<p>Article II: I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.</p>

<p>Article III: If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.</p>

<p>Article IV: If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.</p>

<p>Article V: When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.</p>

<p>Article VI: I will never forget that I am an American, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

</p>

<p>Not trying to be judgmental but this is ours.</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/31/iran.sailors.trial.ap/index.html[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/31/iran.sailors.trial.ap/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

Iran’s ambassador to Russia has renewed a threat Iranian officials made earlier this week, saying 15 British sailors held by Iran could be tried for violating international law, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported Saturday.</p>

<p>Gholam-Reza Ansari told Russian television Vesti-24 on Friday that Iran had launched a legal investigation of the British sailors. “They will be tried if there is enough evidence of guilt,” Ansari was quoted by IRNA as saying…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/31/iran.sailors/index.html[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/31/iran.sailors/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett says Britain has written to Iran to seek a peaceful resolution to the standoff over 15 sailors and marines, now held for nine days.</p>

<p>“We have made our response and now we are beginning to discuss. As you may know it’s a holiday period in Iran and that is perhaps not too helpful,” said Beckett, speaking to reporters at the European Union foreign ministers’ meeting in Germany.</p>

<p>The contents of the diplomatic notes have not been disclosed…

</p>

[2011marine]

<p>Why is it that nobody is discussing how a British warship and/or British servicemen were captured without a fight? Perhaps I have an obsolete sense of honor, but I belief it is embarrassing to surrender without a single shot fired. If you are going to call yourself a ‘warrior’ surely there must be something you are willing to die for.</p>

<p>Seems to me that nobody across the pond has heard of the phrase “Don’t give up the ship”.</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>^^^^^
There are Rules of Engagement. The Ministry of Defense decided to not engage the Iranians. The situation was bucked all the way to the top in London.</p>