British Navy suspends boarding operations in Gulf...

[Little Raven]

The British navy has suspended all boarding operations of cargo vessels in the northern Gulf while a complete review of the practice is under way following the capture - and release - of 15 navy personnel by Iran, it was confirmed Friday. The head of the British Navy, Admiral Jonathon Band, said in a BBC interview that the boarding operations of merchant vessels suspected of illegal cargo had been suspended while a "complete review" of the incident which led to the sailors being seized is carried out.

Mind you, this is all part of an internal security review. There was no deal with Iran on the part of the hostages.

Don't get me wrong, procedures OBVIOUSLY need to be reviewed, but I doubt the bad guys are going to be upset that British naval interdiction in the Northern Gulf has been effectively neutralized, at least for the time being.

Between this, and recent rumblings in Najaf, I’m beginning to think the British will cash in their chips soon. We in the US should be prepared for that eventuality, assuming we plan on sticking around.

 

[IglooDame]

It's very brave of them to go public with this, given how much more weak it makes them appear.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Is the American position really that much stronger? Could you really handle war with Iran? Will you really be able to keep the lid on Iraq for years to come?

 

[sonorakitch]

Is the American position really that much stronger? Could you really handle war with Iran? Will you really be able to keep the lid on Iraq for years to come?

We can do whatever we want to do. That is actually what is scary.

~Chris

 

[Xanikk999]

We can do whatever we want to do. That is actually what is scary.

~Chris

Well we cant handle iraq with ground troops and stop the insurgency that way.

 

[JollyRoger]

I wonder how Bush is handling Blair finding a new pimp.

 

[sonorakitch]

Well we cant handle iraq with ground troops and stop the insurgency that way.

No, you missed my point. The US, like many other powerful countries (ie. Britain), could turn Iraq into glass. If we wanted too. We could handle Iran, and we could keep the lid on Iraq, if the American people wanted to...the old, old fashion way.

~Chris

 

[Xanikk999]

No, you missed my point. The US, like many other powerful countries (ie. Britain), could turn Iraq into glass. If we wanted too. We could handle Iran, and we could keep the lid on Iraq, if the American people wanted to...the old, old fashion way.

~Chris

Of course, but its hardly relevent since it would never happen.

 

[sonorakitch]

Anyways, to the OP, it makes absolutely no strategic sense to actually bring this suspension to the public, as it merely invites further smuggling while simultaneously placating Iran.

It would have been far wiser to perhaps curb these inspections without sending out a wire about it.

~Chris

 

[IglooDame]

Anyways, to the OP, it makes absolutely no strategic sense to actually bring this suspension to the public, as it merely invites further smuggling while simultaneously placating Iran.

It would have been far wiser to perhaps curb these inspections without sending out a wire about it.

~Chris

Precisely. Admiral So-and-so gets on a private line to his skippers and says "Back off for a few days while we look at this" and that's that. Announcing it to the world means that in the future more countries might try what Iran did, anticipating that the Royal Navy won't put up a fight. And I can't believe I just used the phrase "the Royal Navy won't put up a fight"

 

[Little Raven]

Precisely. Admiral So-and-so gets on a private line to his skippers and says "Back off for a few days while we look at this" and that's that. Announcing it to the world means that in the future more countries might try what Iran did, anticipating that the Royal Navy won't put up a fight. And I can't believe I just used the phrase "the Royal Navy won't put up a fight"

For what little it's worth, I doubt this was meant for 'the world.' It was meant for the British people...to assure them that the Royal Navy does realize there's a problem and that they're trying to fix it. Unfortunately, the days when one could give separate messages to the domestic and international audiences are long since passed...

 

[bhsup]

We could be misinterpreting the statement. Are they, perhaps, replacing inspections with summary sinkings of all suspected ships?

 

[innonimatu]

Anyways, to the OP, it makes absolutely no strategic sense to actually bring this suspension to the public, as it merely invites further smuggling while simultaneously placating Iran.

You're right that something doesn't make sense.

Smuggling of what, from where to where?
If the purpose was indeed to prevent smuggling into Iran through the Gulf, then the fact that all other Gulf countries are allied to the US and the two carrier groups in the Gulf (and can they be three soon?) should be more that enough.
And why search boats for drugs? I mean, the british have troops in the single most important producer of opium in the world, and don't seem to be doing anything to reduce production there.

 

[Little Raven]

Smuggling of what, from where to where?

Illegal goods into Iraq, from all over the place.

Many of these illegal goods will be your standard black market fare...petrol, cars, generators, kerosene, heroin...all sorts of stuff, really. A few will no doubt be of a more violent and dangerous nature, and while I’m sure coalition troops place extra emphasis on finding that sort of cargo, anything that strengthens the authority of Coalition government is important from their perspective.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Clearly, the Brits don't believe in the concept of losing face anymore ...