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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LTK007 who wrote (74874)	4/1/2007 3:54:57 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

The opinion of fools The Telegraph goes into hysterical condemnation of the anti-war movement, which they wrongly blame for the Iran hostage stand-off: "Not any more. Teheran is well aware that we have been taking on additional military responsibilities while running down our capacity. Struggling to meet our commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are in little position to pick a new fight. Public opinion, too, has changed. Where our great-great-grandfathers clamoured for the rescue of Gordon, we have reacted to Iran's provocation with a resigned shrug. Americans, in particular, cannot understand why we seem so indifferent to the fate of our own people." As though the UK was dragged kicking ans screaming into Iraq and as though the UK did not know that the "facts" would be "fixed around the policy." Our great-grandfathers were fighting a just war if I remember correctly. But what really gets me about this negligent piece of finger pointing propaganda showcased as a reputable editorial of a reputable paper is the following: "Part of this indifference has to do, disgracefully, with anti-war sentiment: there is a feeling that we have no business being in the Gulf, and that we therefore are in no position to complain when things go wrong. But our sailors were carrying out their task at the behest of the Iraqi government and the United Nations. The rights and wrongs of the original invasion have no bearing on the criminality of their abduction." Negligent journalism at its finest. We are all very much in a position to complain when things go wrong, hence the loss of support for the war. The rights and wrongs of the original invasion have absolute bearing. To say that original invasion is somehow unrelated to the consequences that have now engulfed the whole region is idiotic at best and woefully uninformed. But let's put Iraq aside for a moment and consider that Iran has been under siege for roughly six years now. While the US/UK have conducted a war of aggression against Iraq, the US - at least - has also conducted a covert war against Iran. As a result, roughly 70 Iranian officials have been assassinated, government buildings have been bombed, and other violent activities have been engaged in. If these activities were to have happened in the UK or in the US, they would be called terrorism. Now, let me be quite clear, I do not support the current regime in Iran nor do I take lightly their constant threats against Israel. But to suggest that the these 15 soldiers were kidnapped by some evil, hostile force and for now apparent reason is dangerous and it is a lie. This is absolute negligence and failure of the press to make clear the cause and effect the situation. Do I defend the Iranians taking these 15 soldiers prisoner? No. But I don't see them as hostages. I see them as POWs, because like it or not, we have declared war on Iran and in doing so, we have given up any claims outside those guaranteed by Geneva Convention for prisoners of war. The point is, actions have consequences and fighting a dirty, undeclared war against a sovereign nation, all the while playing the public game of diplomacy, sets up very dangerous rules of engagement as we are now seeing. Even if we assume that these 15 poor souls were picked up in Iraqi waters, it still does not change that the US and its allies have declared war on Iran and are fighting one in Iraq, making the region a war zone. Like everyone else, I wish that the Iranians would let these prisoners go in good faith, despite us holding their own people. But to claim clean hands and then wring them in hysteria, disregarding all context, is a disgrace to journalism. atlargely.com