Now that the Iranian incarceration of British forces has been successfully resolved through diplomacy, it might be instructive to revisit what some of our thoughful conservative analysts proposed just a few days ago.
At this point the British, and Tony Blair have not a thing to lose. They have to deal with this as a hostage crisis and recognize that there can be no negotiation with terrorists. Which means that the 15 sailors and marines must be taken as dead. Tough, you bet. Politically suicidal? Yes, but Blair claims to be stepping down at any moment. So now what?
Level, or, for the less militant, threaten to level the sole Iranian gasoline refinery. Then blockade all fuel imports to Iran. Not as a negotiating chip. Once the hostages are presumed dead negotiations are over. Rather as a means of punishing the Iranian “government†for this outrage. Now, for fun, the Brits might want to start flying the mission to hit the refinery just to see what the Iranian air response will be.
Here’s the thing. This is war. It is past time for the British to recognize it as such.
“Misguided advocates of negotiation with the mullahs, beware.”
If Britain wants their people back, they have two choices. They can either submit to Iran, or they can escalate the conflict to the point where it damages the mullahcracy. They had better commence deciding between the two.
They’re likely going to TORTURE them. And probably murder them. Therefore, the Free World must bomb Iran into unconditional surrender and total submission. Period. Iran asked for it. The capture of the British Marines in non-Iranian waters is an ACT OF WAR. That’s right: I declare Iran as having deliberately committed an act of war, hoping to either spark an international war or cause the Free World to submit. Don’t submit. Destroy the Iranian regime.
Go hunting for your own examples. It’s pretty funny. Such sophisticated analysis - and what an astonishing ability to look ahead and anticipate outcomes.
Yup, these are the kind of people I want running my country.
You stole my thunder this morning Balb. I was going to write a similar post.
Not 48 hours ago posts and comments on some of the sites you note were suggesting the “emasculation” of the British calling Tony Blair a “coward” and noting it’s decline from the “enlightened” times of Maggie Thatcher. Some had to mention Churchill, of course, as if this situation had any resemblence to that of WWII.
Had any of these knee-jerking boobs been in charge we would be on the verge of, or engaged in, another world war. Instead, diplomacy proves fruitful. The sailors are home and the silence is deafening from the right corners of the blogosphere although the war drums continue to beat faintly waiting for the next opportunity to hysterically over-react.