Third letter from prisoner British soldier in Iran

Post #280,103 by JayMehaffey 3/30/07 1:37:01 PM Reply	Third letter from prisoner British soldier in Iran [link\|http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-03/30/content_5917885.htm\|Xinhauanet] The Iranian embassy in London released Friday a third letter allegedly written by detained British sailor Faye Turney, saying she was "sacrificed" for the policies of the British and U.S. governments. "I'm writing to you as a British serviceperson who has been sent to Iraq, sacrificed due to the intervening policies of the Bush and Blair governments," the letter said. The letter, addressed to the British people, said she had been treated well, unlike the prisoners held at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. "Whereas we hear and see on the news the way that prisoners were treated in Abu Ghraib and other Iraqi jails by the British and American personnel, I have received total respect and faced no harm," said the letter. "It is now our time to ask our government to make a change to its oppressive behavior towards other people," it said. The letter was alleged to have been signed by Turney, dated March 27. According to Sky News, this letter was released a day after the second letter purportedly written by Turney, in which the woman sailor asked the representatives of the House of Commons to withdraw troops from Iraq. Very weird wording, fairly obvious at this point that it is coached or entirely fake. These letters and videos worry me, because as more of these are put out it makes it harder and harder for Iran to release these soldiers. The more 'their' words get weird and admit guilt, the more likely they are to reverse themselves as soon as they are freed, and the worse Iran will look. Iran is really trying to play this hard for political advantage and popular support. But it will backfire if they keep this crap up. And they are giving the US and British governments a good reason to go to war. Jay
Post #280,106 by Another Scott 3/30/07 1:45:13 PM Reply	Letter from Iran to UK embassy in Tehran [link\|http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-britain-iran-letter,0,7304913.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines\|Newsday]: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran presents its compliments to the British Embassy in Tehran and draws the attention of the latter to the following: According to the information received from relevant authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, two British naval vessels manned by 15 fully equipped crews trespassed on Iran's territorial waters on 3 Farvardin 1386 (March 23, 2007). Since similar acts had taken place in the past and prior warning had been given against the repetition of such acts, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran protests strongly against this illegal act in violating Iranian territorial waters, emphasizes the respect for the rules and principles of international law concerning the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, underlines the responsibility of the British Government for the consequences of such violation, and calls for the guarantee to avoid the recurrence of such acts. It will be appreciated if the esteemed embassy conveys this note to the relevant authorities of its government and informs this Ministry of any explanation in this regard. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the British Embassy the assurances of its highest considerations." I assume the first and last paragraphs are standard boilerplate. If that's all they want, there's probably a diplomatic way out. Cheers, Scott.
Post #280,119 by JayMehaffey 3/30/07 2:46:51 PM Reply	You would hope You would hope, but the situation is more complex then Iran's diplomatic note suggests. The exact line of the border is in dispute, and thus the British government will be loath to admit guilt unless they where clearly way over the border. Plus, the two governments have not yet agreed as to exactly where the soldiers where arrested. Plus, Iran's airing of statements by the soldiers makes clear they want more then an apology by the British government. If that is all they wanted, they wouldn't be going out of their way to offend the UK. Jay
Post #280,120 by Another Scott 3/30/07 3:00:51 PM Reply	Iran's not speaking with one voice. A big part of the problem is that the Iranians aren't speaking with one voice. IIRC, the Foreign Ministry said the woman sailor was going to be released. The next day another Iranian group said she wasn't. There's no doubt that it's a complicated situation. My guess is the Ayatollah or his deputy will have to tell the groups what to do, and after that it'll be resolved fairly quickly. All bets are off though if Iran puts on a show trial or the like. I don't expect the UK to take military action, but things could get very messy. We'll see. Cheers, Scott.
Post #280,123 by inthane-chan 3/30/07 3:42:28 PM Reply	I was hearing on NPR yesterday... ...that speculation is the British sailors are being held by Revolutionary Guard, and that is where much of the hard-line stance is probably being brought from. Odoru aho ni miru aho! Onaji aho nara odoranya son son!
Post #280,159 by Ashton 3/31/07 12:42:04 AM Reply	Shades of Cuban missile matter.. When JFK opted to simply ignore.. a particularly hard-assed response -- which he deemed to have come from the Rove-feld/Cheney [equiv] wing of wacko militarists, not from Khrushchev. Deemed Correctly, it turned out (or perhaps.. none of us here would Be h - well, you know.) There is thus, and at least - a precedent for cherry-picking which messages to respond to. Not that one would ever ascribe to the bumbling Junta the niceties of such dances; more's. the. Pity. every day.

Welcome to IWETHEY!