So, Brits. What ya gonna do?

Bruce

Philosopher
Bruce
Joined
Jul 26, 2001
Messages
7,519
Iran just made you look stupid and weak. What are you going to do about it? Sanctions? Denouncement? Appeasement? Dare I say........war? :rolleyes:
 
Bruce said:
Iran just made you look stupid and weak. What are you going to do about it? Sanctions? Denouncement? Appeasement? Dare I say........war? :rolleyes:
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They got what they wanted - their sailors back. What more could they want? Oh, I know - a sculpture of Ahmedinejad carved out of chocolate.
 
Strange. I don't feel any more stupid and weak than normal, so don't think I'll be doing anything. Sticks & stones and all that...
 
JonWhite said:
Strange. I don't feel any more stupid and weak than normal, so don't think I'll be doing anything. Sticks & stones and all that...
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That's the spirit! I have little respect for people who are easily baited into violent acts. :)

As a martial arts instructor and an ex-USA Boxing trainer - getting an hothead opponent to lose his cool is the first step toward getting him to make major mistakes.
 
Yep, 100% successful negotiation without the need for concessions or force, us Brits should be ashamed. Far better to drop a very big bomb onto one of their major cities.
 
Mephisto said:
I have little respect for people who are easily baited into violent acts. :)
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I would even go so far as to say that by not letting themselves get baited at all (no violence used, and merely the implication of a threat made) and at the same time succeeding completely in getting the 15 safely returned, Britain's stature has actually improved.

Any idle threat or limited military action which failed to produce the 15 - and it would have been trivial for the Iranians to make them disappear - would have made Britain look silly and impotent.
 
Bruce said:
Iran just made you look stupid and weak. What are you going to do about it? Sanctions? Denouncement? Appeasement? Dare I say........war? :rolleyes:
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Huh? The Brits weren't touched at all by this typical third world woo-woo show. It just confirmed once again that Iran is currently run by stoneage people.
 
DanishDynamite said:
Huh? The Brits weren't touched at all by this typical third world woo-woo show. It just confirmed once again that Iran is currently run by stoneage people.
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Indeed, the general consensus around here is that the Iranians made themselves look daft with their tedious games, crap suits and unwanted gifts. The hostages did the right thing in playing along and that they have had the last laugh, however scary their ordeal must have been.
 
Ah, I see. Shrug it off as a silly little game. I don't think the hostages thought it was a silly little game.

Iran denies British Sailors were Mistreated

The 15 British naval personnel held by Iran told on Friday how they were stripped, blindfolded and handcuffed as part of "psychological" intimidation during their detention.

A day after their return to Britain following 13 days in captivity, they said they feared for their lives if they resisted and that they were threatened with seven years in jail if they did not confess to being in Iranian waters.

Royal Navy Lieutenant Felix Carman told a press conference of the mind games he said were used by their captors to get information and confessions.

"When we first went to prison we were put up against the wall, hands bound, blindfolded and people were cocking weapons in the background, which as you can imagine is an extremely nerve-wracking occasion."
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Buck up, kids. I think Iran has learned its lesson. They won't be pulling any stunts like this again any time soon. :rolleyes:
 
I can't read the thread title "What you gonna do?" without thinking "Ghostbusters!" in response. Why is that?
 
Small Town Jesus said:
Indeed, the general consensus around here is that the Iranians made themselves look daft with their tedious games, crap suits and unwanted gifts. The hostages did the right thing in playing along and that they have had the last laugh, however scary their ordeal must have been.
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This is what happened. End of story.
 
What baffles me is that at any other point in history, this would have been considered an act of war. A military ship of a sovereign nation engages a British naval ship and takes 15 hostages. What's this about the hostages doing the right thing? They were under orders not to fire upon the Iranian ship. What choice did they have? Courtmarshal or POW (sorry, I guess that would be POPG, Prisoner Of Political Games).

This isn't Iran playing the part of a playground bully. Iran did this deliberately to show the Islamic radicals, 'Hey, look what we can do. We can overtake a British naval ship without firing a shot, humiliate the crew before the whole world, and they are still willing to negotiate with us diplomatically. Not only that, but we can develop nuclear weapons right under their noses and they won't do a thing. Who's up for killing some infidels? Won't be long now. Just keep your Russians weapons locked and loaded.'

I believe historians are going to look back on these times and wonder why the free world allowed radical Islamic fascism to become so powerful. :(
 
TragicMonkey said:
I can't read the thread title "What you gonna do?" without thinking "Ghostbusters!" in response. Why is that?
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When your country's policies allow you to be taken hostage without a fight, who ya gonna call? :D
 
Bruce said:
What baffles me is that at any other point in history, this would have been considered an act of war. A military ship of a sovereign nation engages a British naval ship and takes 15 hostages. What's this about the hostages doing the right thing? They were under orders not to fire upon the Iranian ship. What choice did they have? Courtmarshal or POW (sorry, I guess that would be POPG, Prisoner Of Political Games).

This isn't Iran playing the part of a playground bully. Iran did this deliberately to show the Islamic radicals, 'Hey, look what we can do. We can overtake a British naval ship without firing a shot, humiliate the crew before the whole world, and they are still willing to negotiate with us diplomatically. Not only that, but we can develop nuclear weapons right under their noses and they won't do a thing. Who's up for killing some infidels? Won't be long now. Just keep your Russians weapons locked and loaded.'

I believe historians are going to look back on these times and wonder why the free world allowed radical Islamic fascism to become so powerful. :(
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I think historians are going to look back on this episode and wonder why anyone at the time would think anything else other than the obvious: A third-world stonage-run nation managed to corral soldiers from a free-thinking nation for a few days.
 
Bruce said:
What baffles me is that at any other point in history, this would have been considered an act of war.
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Not true. There's absolutely nothing new about border skirmishes along un- or poorly defined frontiers. They only escalate into war if one of both sides desires it to.

An interesting link to disprove your claim: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htm
through most of the 17th century the English lost at least 400 sailors a year to the slavers. (In North Africa)
This continued with only a few punitive raids by warships in response until the French colonized the area during the 19th century. So for hundreds of years the capture of hundreds of sailors a year was not sufficiently seriousl to be considered an act of war
 
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Something to anger people...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17972136/

The capture, internment and repatriation of the British sailors and marines can only be described as a shoddy spectacle. From start to finish, the Brits heaped nothing but ignominy on themselves, and one can recall few instances in recent memory in which a group of uniformed service members acted with less professionalism and more dishonor.
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Jack offers an interesting distraction from our own military and political shortcomings, but I do wonder what planet he's living on.
 
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