Brits in the Gulf: Playing with Fire
By Barry Lando
03/24/07 "ICH"
-- -- The seizure of 15 British naval troops in the Persian
Gulf by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy has Washington
hawks all aflutter. Anything these days could be a pretext to
launch their much sought after attack on Iran. The Ahmadinejad
government may also be eager to bolster its own internal
political position by keeping tensions ratcheted up with the
U.S. and Britain.
But let’s look at this incident as many Iranians probably view
it.
First of all, though the British steadfastly maintain they were
in Iraqi waters at the time, the fact is that sovereignty over
the narrow straights nearby where the British were operating has
been disputed for centuries. The latest chapter began when
Saddam Hussein ripped up a treaty he had signed under duress
with the Shah in 1975. According to international legal experts,
the issue has still not been settled and the Iranians have
frequently acted to maintain their claims.
In June 2004, six British marines and two sailors were similarly
seized by Iran They were presented blindfolded on Iranian
television and admitted entering Iranian waters illegally, then
released unharmed after three days.
Secondly, it’s difficult to blame the Iranians for being
suspicious of the British naval presence. Reportedly, for months
now George W. Bush has authorized clandestine American military
missions into Iran. Those actions range from preparing targeted
strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, to carrying out joint
operations with opposition groups in Iran—the kind of operations
that, if the shoe were on the other foot, George W. Bush would
brand as “cowardly acts of terrorism.”
Also, as I pointed out in an earlier post, during the end of the
Iran –Iraq war, the U.S. carried out many secret raids against
Iranian forces. Any wonder that today the Iranians are not a
trifle sensitive about British warships, helicopters and marines
operating just a few miles off their coast.
The Brits are steadfast allies of the Americans in Iraq. Would
it not be natural to suspect that elite British troops—from the
SAS, for instance–are engaged with the Americans in those
current clandestine missions?
The Royal Navy may be helping Iraq prevent smuggling along its
coast, but by cruising around in those disputed waters, the
British warships and marines are also asking for trouble.
First posted at
http://barrylando.com
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