Investor's Business Daily, March 23rd, 2007
Axis Of Evil: Iranian forces captured 15 British sailors and marines Friday morning in Iraqi territorial waters. This is an act of war. How will Great Britain respond?
A century ago, the British would have responded swiftly, with ruthless ferocity. Even 25 years ago the reply would have been just as prompt -- as it was in 1982, when Margaret Thatcher sent ships and troops to the Falklands. We fear today's response won't ruffle the sensitivities of the Code Pink crowd.
The British sailors and marines who are now hostages had just completed a routine inspection of a merchant ship in the Persian Gulf when Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy, a fanatic corps that operates outside of Iran's regular naval forces and traditional maritime procedures, surrounded the two small Royal Navy patrol boats. The British were then forced into Iranian territorial waters.
The fact that Iran disputes who controls the waters the sailors and marines were operating in at the time of their capture is no excuse for what in reality is a military attack. A 1975 treaty assigned the waters in the northern Gulf to Iraq; U.S. and British ships have regularly operated there. Iran has chosen this time to stir up trouble.
So far, the sum of the British response has been to call Iranian ambassador Rasoul Movahedian into the Foreign Office and demand "the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment."
That's what's publicly known. We trust more is going on behind the scenes. Tehran must know that if it doesn't return the seamen with haste and apologize, Britain will come down fast and hard.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's government will make a weakling's mistake if it lets this drag on without a quick resolution. The Iran that held 52 Americans captive for 444 days from 1979 to 1981 is the same Iran that now holds 15 British subjects.
Sky News reports that "analysts" are saying that "such cases are normally resolved peacefully." Resolved like the case of the eight Brits that Iran kidnapped from the same area in June 2004?
Those seamen were humiliatingly blindfolded and flaunted on Iranian TV. Only after they had admitted, certainly under duress, that they had illegally gone into Iranian waters were they released.
Should Blair's government continue to pursue diplomacy beyond 24 hours, it will send Iran the signal it's looking for and ensure that the demeaning scene of those eight seamen will be replayed many times over with British and U.S. sailors as the hostages.
Terrorists control the government of Iran. It's unfortunate, but violence is the only language they understand. A bold show of force, if not raw force itself, is exactly what is needed in this situation.
Copyright 2007 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.
