british sailors to be released

[stevepaa]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_britain

"I'm glad that our 15 service personnel have been released and I know their release will come as a relief not just to them but to their families," Blair said outside his No. 10 Downing St. office. "Throughout, we have taken a measured approach, firm but calm, not negotiating but not confronting, either."



I'm sure there are some war mongers who think Blair did the wrong thing.

[hardflex]

Diplomacy... It's a good thing!

[Tim Hancock]

Glad to hear they are being released.

I guess having all those US ships nearby helped the Iranians make a wise choice.

[David]

Let's just make sure they're safely home before we release the cruise missles .

[legion]

What if they had refused to release the prisoners for 11 years, then started claiming they never had any prisoners to begin with?

Diplomacy should always be the first choice, but it should never be the only choice.

[kach22i]

Originally posted by stevepaa
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_britain

From the article, first line:

TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the release of 15 captive British sailors and marines Wednesday in what he called an Easter gift to the British people.

Iran's President brought religion into it?

Why?

"On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet (Muhammad) ... and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people — with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial — forgave those 15," he said, referring to the Muslim prophet's birthday on March 30 and the Easter holiday.

"This pardon is a gift to the British people," he said.

Why does this sound like something Bush would say?

[cantdrv55]

Diplomacy my a$$. Warships nearby are pretty convincing.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Doubt that's it. More likely he just figured they'd gotten whatever political/propaganda value they could milk out of the situation. One less thing to worry about.

[the]

Exactly, it had nothing to do with diplomacy, Iran just used the pawns in the way they felt best suited Iran.

They want to convince the world they are going to be responsible holders of nuclear weapons and technology, this was just a way for them to portray themselves as reasonable and responsible.

[legion]

Does Iran apppear like a paper tiger because they blinked?

[the]

Appear to who?

[legion]

The U.S..

[stevepaa]

Yep, war mongers will always say that it was the threat of military action that resolved it no matter what the truth might be.

[legion]

Do you expect Iran to admit that they were persuaded by anything other than diplomacy?

[the]

No, it does nothing to change the US's view of Iran as a tiger, non-tiger, paper tiger or non-paper tiger.

[cantdrv55]

Who knows the truth?

[stevepaa]

Why would we think that US warships could possibly have done anything, except to down an Iranian airplane, which would then lead to a downing of an American plane?

[cantdrv55]

We have more airplanes than they do?

[svandamme]

they snatched them because they could
they released them because they could

Iran, was in full control, the whole time
and did not even break a sweat, because they knew they didn't have to

UK and US knew they couldn't
not without paying a higher price then they could afford to pay

[Superman]

Originally posted by legion
Does Iran apppear like a paper tiger because they blinked?

No. Iran looks like a good chess player. My guess is that if there were a chess tournament involving the leaders of all the world's nations, Dubya would finish dead last.