Several deep breaths, Mr. Blair!

Peoplesgeography at Reclaiming space has a post I wish I’d written.

Covering three keys of the capture of British sailors and marines by Iran, it urges a reflective response. I encourage you to read the whole short post. I think you’ll be surprised.

Here’s my synopsis of the three:

1. The map being waved about by the British (proving with such certainty that the sailors were in international waters) is a disputed map… Former British Ambassador Craig Murray insists that “the Iran/Iraq boundary shown on the British government map does not exist.” The Brits drew it. See the post for details – but the ships were closer to Iran than Iraq.

2. While British leaders have bemoaned the supposedly woeful treatment of the prisoners, one can scarcely compare it with the Western way:

3. Don’t forget who’s been threatening whom here. British and American strike forces are poised just miles from the Iranian shore. Iran has not threatened others. Iran asks only for “an apology and the right to be left in peace.” Who’s the foreign power? Whose civilian population is in whose bombsights? How can we make governments stop doing this to all of us?

And don’t forget that wariness toward the US and Britain is well justified. The US Navy “shot down Iran Air Flight 655 on July 3 1988—killing all 290 Iranians on board. After initially claiming it was self-defence [hope they never get near O’Hare!], the administration of Bush senior shushed it up … The US government paid reparations to Iran, eventually, but never apologized.” … Iran’s response was “a model of diplomatic restraint.”

More details and links to evidence at Reclaiming Space. I hope you’ll read it.

Of course the sailors and marines should be returned immediately. As always, the obedient sailors and soldiers at the lowest ranks are the victims of international foolishness. If their safety really mattered to Mr. Blair, they wouldn’t have been there in the first place.

And don’t let’s think the Iranians are proving themselves wild and unreasonable. Ordering sailors into disputed waters this close to the Iranian shore is utterly irresponsible. The British need to eat crow and get them home.

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Related posts:
A brief history of Iran-US relations, We Are Citizens of Another Nation, Take Care of Our Children.
Tags:Ann El Khoury, PeoplesGeography, Reclaiming Space, Iran, captured+sailors, British+sailors, Persian+gulf, disputed+British+map, Iran+Iraq+boundary, Blair, prisoners, Monte Asbury. Powered by ScribeFire.