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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (191343)	6/22/2004 11:38:56 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1576612

<font color=brown> What the hell does Iran think its doing?<font color=black> ******************************************************* Fate of British Sailors Remains Unclear By William Branigin Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, June 22, 2004; 10:49 AM An Iranian state television channel reported today that eight British naval personnel would be tried on charges of illegally entering Iranian waters after they were seized aboard three small boats Monday in the disputed Shatt al Arab waterway that separates Iran from Iraq. However, the British Foreign Office said it had no confirmation of the report and that it was still awaiting an Iranian response to questions about the seizure. "We're not entirely sure" what the Iranians plan to do with the eight crew members, said Simon Shercliff, a spokesman for the Foreign Office in London. The crew members were in three small river craft that were seized Monday as one of the boats was being delivered to the Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service. In Tehran, the Iranian Arabic-language news channel al Alam, citing unidentified Iranian military sources, said the British captives would be prosecuted on charges of "illegally entering Iran's waters." It said the vessels intruded more than half a mile inside Iranian territory and that the British crew members "confessed" that they were in Iranian waters when they were arrested. Shercliff said that while the boats "obviously went close to the line," it was not certain that they had crossed it. Al Alam broadcast footage showing the captured men sitting silently on chairs and a sofa in an unidentified location, three of them in British military uniforms and the five others wearing military trousers and civilian T-shirts, the Associated Press reported. The channel reported that the British boats contained weapons, cameras and detailed maps of Iraq and Iran, suggesting that they were spies. The British Defense Ministry said the eight personnel from the Royal Navy training team in southern Iraq were traveling in three boats -- two small craft called Boston Whalers that hold about a half a dozen people -- and one British Army combat support boat. They were taking one of the boats from Umm Qasr to Basra for delivery to the Iraqis as part of a training mission, Shercliff said. "The boats were unarmed, but the crews were carrying their personal weapons," the Defense Ministry said. The Royal Navy training team is made up of more than 30 Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel and operates along 228 miles of internal waterways in Basra Province while training the Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service to combat smuggling and terrorism, according to the Defense Ministry. To seek the men's release, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw spoke this morning to the Iranian foreign minister, Kamal Kharrazi, the Foreign Office said. In addition, the Iranian ambassador in London, Morteza Sarmadi, was called in for a meeting at the Foreign Office. "The ambassador was asked to explain why the eight are being held, for their release as soon as possible and for full consular access to them meanwhile," the Foreign Office said in a statement. "He was asked for information on the reports that they will be prosecuted and told they were on a routine mission." Shercliff said British authorities were awaiting a response from the Iranians. washingtonpost.com

To: Road Walker who wrote (191343)	6/22/2004 4:09:48 PM
From: Thomas M.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576612

Your implication that the reason for the cold war was so that we could fight the Vietnam war is clearly silly. If it's silly and I didn't say it, then why infer it? The Cold War was hyped up to fight against independence movements in Vietnam, Guatemala, El Salvador, Brazil, Argentina, Laos, Colombia, Cambodia, Greece, and every other 3rd World country. Tom