Act of War, anyone?

A number of things this week, so while I have the opportunity to post, in the interest of my loyal readers (I know there are at least a few of you) I shall do so.

Number One with a bullet, mainly because of the lack of bullets, is the seizing of that British boarding party by the Iranians. This is not the first time they’ve done this, nor will it be the last, since our side has proven repeatedly that we’ll bend over and take it.

There is a lot of foolishness in the news about who was in whose waters, but with current technology I’m sure the Brits knew exactly where they were, and the Iranians did too. The CTV story that I linked to is doing a marvellous job of backing up the Iranian news agencies; I hope Fars gives them an award or something. There’s balanced reporting, and then there is a recognition of who your friends are. This story fails on both counts, as it reads like something the Iranians would have put out, and marginalizes our historic and NATO allies.

Personally I’m disgusted that the boarding party was taken without a fight. Everyone (who matters) knows that Iran is backing a lot of the Shia factions in Iraq who are killing British and American troops. With that in mind, being taken hostage (gee, Iran likes to do that) by an obviously antagonistic power without trying to fight your way out points to a bunch of glaring weaknesses on the Brits’ side.

From a strictly military perspective, sending the boats out where you couldn’t support them from the ship is, in the circumstances, pretty negligent. There is no excuse for not seeing the Iranian boats coming, and REALLY no excuse for not suspecting they’d try something like this given half a chance. If our side doesn’t have enough naval and air firepower on hand to deal with anything Iran might try, we have a serious problem.

Now we just wait to see what happens. Were I Tony Blair, I’d have told the Iranians that if my troops and equipment weren’t returned intact within 3 hours, I would systematically sink every boat in the Iranian navy. If that still didn’t work, then the port facilities, and anything military that my planes could reach. I’d make sure the whole world knew, and then start actually doing it.

I can usually find some Kipling for any situation and I have a piece here:

If there should follow a thousand swords to carry my bones away,
Belike the price of a jackal's meal were more than a thief could pay.
They will feed their horse on the standing crop, their men on the garnered grain,
The thatch of the byres will serve their fires when all the cattle are slain.
But if thou thinkest the price be fair,--thy brethren wait to sup,
The hound is kin to the jackal-spawn,--howl, dog, and call them up!
And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and stack,
Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way back!''

That’s from “The Ballad of East and West”, and it’s about trying to get a stolen horse back from some Afghan chieftain in the mid 1800s. The Colonel’s son has just been captured and is telling buddy “the way things are”. A bit more of that sort of attitude these days and I think less of this would happen.


Ok, and something that encourages me that all is not lost; kudos to PM Steven Harper for telling the Liberals what a lot of us are thinking. It was in the news a few days ago and I can’t find the link, but first telling Dion and Co. that they care more about the Taliban than about Canadian troops, and then refusing to apologize for it shows some real stones and has definitely scored him points with his supporters. Politics are polarizing and fragmenting at the same time in this country. I try to stay out of that, but parts of it are interesting to observe. Perhaps more on that in the near future…