grrrrr! why can't british sailors stop violating other nations territorial borders?

who would be that cool ???? ha ha ha

 

Why should sanctions be imposed for 15 people? That's an entirely disproportionate reaction. Sanctions cripple economies, starve populations and kill hundreds of thousands. The disastrous consequences of sanctions on Iraq are testament to that. Sanctions to prevent nuclear proliferation, perhaps, but sanctions to return 15 pawns? No! By that logic, should we impose sanctions on the US for Guantanamo Bay? Moreover, it is important to recognise, as the British military commanders themselves stated before they were reigned in by the government line, the Iraq/Iran sea borders are not only strongly disputed, but are highly ambiguous. Whilst the confessions were no doubt forced, it is quite likely that the sailers were in territory that Iran claimed, even if Iraq/Britain/US did not recognise....

 

Iran's continued holding of 15 British service men including one lady is both illegal and wrong. There was a united nations thingy which was passed but iran broke the UNited nations resolution no.?

Iran should be held to account and I would vote for sanctions against Iran as it would then send a clear message that once a resolution has been passed, it should be abided by. Our men and lady were in iraqie waters. The local government of Iraq gave authorisation. It was iranian people who stepped into Iraqie waters, ambushed our men and a lady and are still being detained. Now America have got involved, I hope more international pressure mounts to a rescue operation. So that the hostages can be rescued. The iranian government have a lot to answer for and if sanctions were imposed, i hope this would also stop their nuclear weapons programmes. Irans action to kidnap british service personelle should be a clear sign that iran poses a potential risk to the international community. Any military invasion should be done swiftly and with more accuracy to avoid innocent civililians. mission to destroy the nuclear weapons and rescue hostages. I hope we can resolve matters peacefully but all peaceful tactics have so far been unaffective to the iranian government.

regarding the falklands, I was born when they started dropping the bombs. Britain won but many lives were lost on both sides. Lives taken unnessasarily. i think britain should hand over the falklands to its original owners.

 

So you want a war that would kill hundreds of thousands over 15 people? That one of them is a woman is irrelevent and is mentioned only for emotive propaganda purposes. She's a soldier, she knows the risks and she chose to be there. Her life is no more important than the men who serve with her. Yes, they should be returned, yes Iran possibly acted illegally. But becoming hawkish about it is precisely how not to get them back. Only diplomacy can work....

 

john, don't call her "little lady." she's not a dubutante, she's a serviceman.

 

and the original owners of the falkland islands are dead.

 

Yes, self-determination is an important factor. If Britain were ruling over a colony of Argentines, then I wouldn't hesitate to say give it back. However despite the territorial claims of Argentina, which are legitimate I would say, the population of the Falklands are predominantly British and their wished should probably be considered....

 

that would be seals and sea gulls

 

I was listening to Radio 4's "any answers" on the weekend and they had someone phone in suggesting we should drop a nuclear bomb on Iran in retaliation for their taking of the 15 British servicemen. Asked if he was prepared to see hundreds of thousands killed including those in neighbouring countries from the fallout, he just said "...yep". For a while I thought it was one of those clever Paul Whitehouse spoofs, but no it were totally genuine! Got to love Radio 4!

 

It's more propaganda being stirred up by the British, in part to ensure certains sections of the public have less objections when it comes round to inevitably invading Iran.
Also the Iranian chief of staff, Hassan Fayrouz Abadi, was quoted on Saturday by Iran's Fars news agency warning leaders of Arab countries that Israel plans to open a "suicidal attack" on its neighbours this summer, to "prevent the withdrawal of the US troops from Iraq and the area." Here's the article I'm quoting from, by the Jerusalem Post Staff and AP ' US ready to strike Iran on Good Friday'; http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1173879220977&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


The US and British naval build up in the Gulf is just one element of the US administration’s provocative stance against Iran, which included the imposition of tougher UN sanctions last Saturday. In January, President Bush declared that US forces in Iraq would “seek out and destroy” Iranian networks providing arms and other support to Shiite militias inside Iraq. On the same day, US special forces conducted an early morning raid on an Iranian diplomatic office in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil. The US military has detained five Iranian officials without charge for more than two months despite calls by the Iraqi government for their release.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/iran-m29.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6512927.stm

 

On a less serious note however...

Call That Humiliation??

I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this - allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills. And as for compelling poor servicewoman Faye Turney to wear a black headscarf, and then allowing the picture to be posted around the world - have the Iranians no concept of civilised behaviour? For God's sake, what's wrong with putting a bag over her head? That's what we do with the Muslims we capture: we put bags over their heads, so it's hard to breathe. Then it's perfectly acceptable to take photographs of them and circulate them to the press because the captives can't be recognised and humiliated in the way these unfortunate British service people are.

It is also unacceptable that these British captives should be made to talk on television and say things that they may regret later. If the Iranians put duct tape over their mouths, like we do to our captives, they wouldn't be able to talk at all. Of course they'd probably find it even harder to breathe - especially with a bag over their head - but at least they wouldn't be humiliated.

And what's all this about allowing the captives to write letters home saying they are all right? It's time the Iranians fell into line with the rest of the civilised world: they should allow their captives the privacy of solitary confinement. That's one of the many privileges the US grants to its captives in Guantánamo Bay.

The true mark of a civilised country is that it doesn't rush into charging people whom it has arbitrarily arrested in places it's just invaded. The inmates of Guantánamo, for example, have been enjoying all the privacy they want for almost five years, and the first inmate has only just been charged. What a contrast to the disgraceful Iranian rush to parade their captives before the cameras!

What's more, it is clear that the Iranians are not giving their British prisoners any decent physical exercise. The US military make sure that their Iraqi captives enjoy PT. This takes the form of exciting "stress positions", which the captives are expected to hold for hours on end so as to improve their stomach and calf muscles. A common exercise is where they are made to stand on the balls of their feet and then squat so that their thighs are parallel to the ground. This creates intense pain and, finally, muscle failure. It's all good healthy fun and has the bonus that the captives will confess to anything to get out of it.

And this brings me to my final point. It is clear from her TV appearance that servicewoman Turney has been put under pressure. The newspapers have persuaded behavioural psychologists to examine the footage and they all conclude that she is "unhappy and stressed".

What is so appalling is the underhand way in which the Iranians have got her "unhappy and stressed". She shows no signs of electrocution or burn marks and there are no signs of beating on her face. This is unacceptable. If captives are to be put under duress, such as by forcing them into compromising sexual positions, or having electric shocks to their genitals, they should be photographed, as they were in Abu Ghraib. The photographs should then be circulated around the civilised world so that everyone can see exactly what has been going on.

As Stephen Glover pointed out in the Daily Mail, perhaps it would not be right to bomb Iran in retaliation for the humiliation of our servicemen, but clearly the Iranian people must be made to suffer - whether by beefing up sanctions, as the Mail suggests, or simply by getting President Bush to hurry up and invade, as he intends to anyway, and bring democracy and western values to the country, as he has in Iraq.
· Terry Jones is a film director, actor and Python

Taken from Terry Jones in Saturday's Grauniad

 

heheeeheheheeeeee.

 

APRIL FOOL!!!! arty:

 

John, I must say, it sounds like you're speaking out of your arse.

I don't think you really...get it.

 

Yeah, that does sound suspiciously like an April Fools. And John's incapable of talking out of his mouth when it comes to politics....

 

Hah, I had to double check - Any Answers is broadcast on Saturdays, so it wasn't an April fool, it really was real

 

Wow, you think thats harsh? I am in favour of sending is a shitload of nuclear submarines armed to the teth with nuclear weapons and blasting the shit out of them unless that countries leaders stop acting like a bunch of twats with nothing better to do than piss everyone off.
I mean have you ever stopped to think what would happen if a canadian ship strayed into American water ?
You can imagine the yanks capturing them and holding them hostage and parading them on TV like criminals huh???

The Iranian governments are, always have been, complete assholes, it would be doing the world a big favour believe me.
When a horse is lame you shoot it dont you?

 

Yes, because that's really sensible foreign policy....

 

well, at least the british sailors are admitting their trespassing

 

Don't be so naieve, I suppose if the Iranian government told you the earth was flat you'd support the idea.

I've got some gold going cheap only £20 an ounce send me your money and I'll forward some to you.