I will never understand why so many on the political left will excuse any bad behaviour by anybody so long as their general stance is anti-US foreign policy and anti-Zionist. I write this as somebody who is firmly anti-US foreign policy and anti-Zionist.
Why is it that the left cannot see that it voids their entire argument, if they claim (correctly) that Blair and Bush were in breach of international law, and are war criminals, but that Iran does not need to respect international law?
Why is it that people who rightly see that it is wrong for Muslims to be detained without trial in the UK just because they are Muslims, cannot see that it is wrong for Britons to be detained without trial in Iran just because they are Britons? Why can they not see that the “They must have been up to something” argument used by the right in relation to the arrest of innocent student Muslims in Manchester, is precisely the same as the “they must have been up to something” argument used by the left in relation to the British yachtsmen in the Gulf?
The answer is – because they are as stupid and blinkered as the right. The left may have a less selfish world view, but it does not protect against the blind prejudice inculcated by self-righteousness.
The media are equally stupid. Amazingly, if you do a google news search on the term “innocent passage”, you get not one result. In all the acres of media coverage there has not been a single mention of what in fact is the law applicable to this situation.
UN CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA
Article17
Right of innocent passage
Subject to this Convention, ships of all States, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea.
Article18
Meaning of passage
1. Passage means navigation through the territorial sea for the purpose of:
(a) traversing that sea without entering internal waters or calling at a roadstead or port facility outside internal waters; or
(b) proceeding to or from internal waters or a call at such roadstead or port facility.
2. Passage shall be continuous and expeditious. However, passage includes stopping and anchoring, but only in so far as the same are incidental to ordinary navigation or are rendered necessary by force majeure or distress or for the purpose of rendering assistance to persons, ships or aircraft in danger or distress.
Article19
Meaning of innocent passage
1. Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State. Such passage shall take place in conformity with this Convention and with other rules of international law.
2. Passage of a foreign ship shall be considered to be prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State if in the territorial sea it engages in any of the following activities:
(a) any threat or use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of the coastal State, or in any other manner in violation of the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations;
(b) any exercise or practice with weapons of any kind;
(c) any act aimed at collecting information to the prejudice of the defence or security of the coastal State;
(d) any act of propaganda aimed at affecting the defence or security of the coastal State;
(e) the launching, landing or taking on board of any aircraft;
(f) the launching, landing or taking on board of any military device;
(g) the loading or unloading of any commodity, currency or person contrary to the customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations of the coastal State;
(h) any act of wilful and serious pollution contrary to this Convention;
(i) any fishing activities;
(j) the carrying out of research or survey activities;
(k) any act aimed at interfering with any systems of communication or any other facilities or installations of the coastal State;
(l) any other activity not having a direct bearing on passage.
…Article24
Duties of the coastal State
1. The coastal State shall not hamper the innocent passage of foreign ships through the territorial sea except in accordance with this Convention. In particular, in the application of this Convention or of any laws or regulations adopted in conformity with this Convention, the coastal State shall not:
(a) impose requirements on foreign ships which have the practical effect of denying or impairing the right of innocent passage; or
(b) discriminate in form or in fact against the ships of any State or against ships carrying cargoes to, from or on behalf of any State.
2. The coastal State shall give appropriate publicity to any danger to navigation, of which it has knowledge, within its territorial sea.
You can read the whole thing here.
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part2.htm
For those who watch too many James Bond films, there is nothing you can see from the deck of a racing yacht that cannot be seen better by the surveillance satellites constantly trained on Iran or from the very sophisticated equipment on board the US and UK naval ships just outside Iran’s territorial seas.
For me, a major interest in this story, in the light of the Dubai magic money collapse, is another example of how vast wealth is frittered away in the Gulf on things like racing yachts and Grand Prix. That squittering away of money seems very real as I sit here in Accra working on ideas for development and poverty alleviation.
David Milliband, rather than insist on the right of innocent passage, has decided to take a low key approach in the hope that Iran lets the sailors go. I am not sure that will work. There is no fun for Ahmadinejad if we do not get hysterical about it, as we did about the naval sailors – and in that case we were in the wrong. This time we are in the right. Perversely that may make it harder rather than easier for Iran to back down.
However there are potentially highly damaging consequences to the whole system of world navigation if we simply accept the right of states to ban foreign vessels from their territorial seas. Not mentioning innocent passage sets a bad precedent on which others will be keen to seize
This is not theory. I was involved in the negotiation on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and at one stage was the Leader of the UK Delegation to the Preparatory Commission on UNCLOS. Indonesia for one is very keen indeed to assert rights to ban navigation through its territorial waters – which would be potentially an economic disaster for Australia. Look at a map.
Iran should let these sailors go on their way. And the left should stop making fools of themselves. But doubtless they still will make fools of themselves in comments below.
Abe,
What kind of lesson do you think Iran needs — and why? Am I not correct in saying that Iran hasn’t attacked/invaded another country since the 1700s? And is it not under constant verbal assault and threats of military attack by the USA and Israel? And under the NPT doesn’t it have the right to develop nuclear plants for peaceful means? And who has firmly established that it is doing otherwise? And hasn’t the USA been interfering (again) in Iran’s internal affairs with a budget of at least $473 million courtesy of Bush for covert ops?
(The fact that Iran accused the USA of being behind the recent terrorist attack which killed several senior members of the revolutionary guard did not surprise me, and I’m quite prepared to believe that Iran was correct.)
And why should Iran accept that Israel can sit there and loudly threaten it with a nuclear arsenal that supposedly doesn’t exist, but does, and nobody demands inspections of? Why does the world not demand the same sauce for goose and gander?
If I was in charge of Iran, the double standards of the West would sicken me to the point of doing something stupid. But I’m a woman not known for her patience. I happen to think that Iran has been admirably patient up to now.
[BTW, thanks for the kind words on my 3 haikus, on the other thread. It was me who forgot to add my name.]
Craig,
Get out of that sun, and find somewhere in shade!
This post is over the top, premature, full of bluster, and hot air, and out of character.
Assertions, assumptions, and denunciation are the stock in trade of primitives and those enjoying the valour of ignorance, and not you Craig.
As per following;
A- Noting that Mr. Clawson (Washington Institute “Expert”) is doing the TV rounds and in an as matter of course manner, citing the Israeli attacks on Syrians “facilities” (the very same abandoned sheds in which, no one found any kind of nuclear development, including the IAEA mob sent to Syria to investigate.) and explaining that he consideres this act of violation of sovereignty of Syrian air space, as well as criminal damage, and casing explosions on Syrian soil to be an ideal nostrum for Iran too.
B- considering the cloak and dagger:
quote
==
“Mr Turner said he had been informed that the crew had drifted in windless conditions into Iranian waters last Wednesday. They were then boarded by Iranian security forces who confiscated the yacht’s navigation computers. Once the Iranians were satisfied that the computers were harmless, they were returned to the boat and the crew was told they were free to go.
At this point the sailors, who are described as “delivery crew” and do not include any well known British racing yachtsmen, tried to start the boat’s engine but it broke down and they continued to drift on a flat sea.
They were reported to have made contact with a shipping company in Dubai to try to arrange a tow but, before this was organised, the Iranians seem to have had a change of heart and re-boarded the yacht and seized it.
Although the precise sequence of events remains unclear,”
==
NB taking account of Ann Brooks post, and noting that Wednesday 25th is the start of the saga whilst Gulf News is looking forward to start the race as per the Thursday 26th article.
C- Noting that article 19, paragraphs 1, and 2, as well as subparagraphs 2a to 2d, and 2j are applicable given the conduct of the Iraq war, and its continued occupation, as well as the hostile Bahrain that is further made more interesting with the involvement of Andrew Pindar the owner of the Yacht named after the kingdom of Bahrain.
In conclusion we can safely assume that the “delivery crew” and their intention for calling further vessels into the area, give rise to questions that these “hanger pilots” need to answer, given that they are not recognised as yachtsmen even by the rabid “media”.
Finally given the state of international lawlessness product of neo liberal/conservatism and the degrees of hypocrisy in the action of the current British government by harbouring the murderer of Neda Agha-Sultan the so called “green revolution martyr” in UK. Whilst Israel is left to get on with bombing Palestinians in the Gaza concentration camp, and cock a snook at IAEA with no less than four hundred nuclear and thermonuclear (hydrogen bombs) warheads as well as the necessary delivery vehicles for these, in addition to Israeli secondary retaliatory capabilities, afforded by the free Dolphin Class submarines donated by the Germans. (ie Israel can still bomb after it is totally destroyed, sort of revenge from beyond the grave so to speak of).
Whilst as we all know it is Iran that is in breach of NPT despite her observing the NPT part one to the letter of the law!
Never mind all this let us tune into BBC to hear the nice news man helping the parent of young Luke by putting emotive phrases in to their mouths and the slide show of the nice little boy playing, swimming and sailing.
Propaganda, what propaganda?
A small detail: I don’t know what passport David Bloomer (presenter on Radio Bahrain, who was “embedded” with the racing crew when captured) is currently holding, but he’s Irish. Born in Co Wexford, and a member of Howth yacht club before moving to Bahrain.
Abe Rene claimed:
“it may be time for the Royal Navy to begin patrolling the Arabian Gulf, and respond with force the next time any Iranian naval force threatens British subjects. It’s about time that Iran learned a lesson.”
Hmmm. Well I hope that the gunboat will be better manned than the last time our sailors met up with Iranian military. The only lesson learnt there was that Brit boats are now manned by children.
If you think that any number of Royal Navy vessels are a match for the Iranians off their own coast, you really are off your trolley. But on a par with most of your posts. Even the Americans wouldn’t consider as reckless a proposal as yours.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Iranian_seizure_of_Royal_Navy_personnel
Craig, I am not sure what the purpose of this post is: if it is to moderate parts of ‘the Left’ you disagree with, it is a rather silly way to go about it. You even make an inflammatory prediction that anything written here is foolish, presumably if you disagree with it. I really do normally enjoy reading this blog, even despite our recent fall-out over comment deletion, but this is just plain silly.
Here is my foolish contribution: it is disingenuous to pretend that the behaviour of Iran and its superpower enemies can be directly compared. That is not intended to let Iran off the hook, but to understand that if Iran feels it is at risk of imminent air attack, or it detects CIA activity within its borders, then we cannot be surprised if it reacts in an unpredictable way.
None of my ‘Left’ contribution however is intended to stop you having a go at the Iranian regime. I just wish that you would stop making an equivalence between the threat Iran poses to the West, and the threat the West poses to Iran.
Side note: @dreoilin says it better than me, at 10:12 – good post!
Sorry Craig but ‘the left’ (according to you) emphatically did not make fools of themselves here. As for James Bond and satellites, it seems that in the race between sigint and humint, the latter is a late scratching. Is that what you’re saying?
Otherwise given the propensity of the Western spooks to pretend to be reporters, or medical staff, or whatever the hell they like (for God’s sake don’t they know humint is dead?) are you seriously suggesting that their taking advantage of the law of the sea regarding innocent passage is impossible?
Iran is to be bombed. The tenor of the campaign of hysteria that Iraq received just before its destruction is now being precisely reproduced for Iran. All manner of special forces were rife through Iraq in the run up to the invasion proper. Remember – Iran is to get what Iraq got: as sure as eggs is eggs there will be special forces in Iran right now. In this big picture, yachts come where exactly?
I’ll concede that it’s possible your yacht is in fact as pure as the driven spindrift. But given the size of the we’ve-seen-it-all-before campaign against Iran, I’d put that down as sheer dumb luck.
>The answer is – because they are as
>stupid and blinkered as the right. The
>left may have a less selfish world
>view, but it does not protect against
>the blind prejudice inculcated by self-
>righteousness.
Who is “the left”? I have NEVER given myself a label, but in politics – which I despise and loathe – I must. So I’m “left”.
I hate Ahmadinejad. When the Iranians rose up after the elections, I thought, great, destroy this damn evil Iranian government. Unfortunately, ordinary Iranians just ended up dying.
The reason some care less when Britain and America are on the receiving end is simple human psychology: the bullies for once are suffering! Now let’s see how they like it!
It’s a knee-jerk reaction, perfectly natural, perfectly understandable.
Humans tend to respond emotionally at first to anything that is close to their heart, and although some are better at keeping their emotions in check than others, it doesn’t mean the emotional ones are any less rational. Once the “emotional haze” has cleared, a process of reflection begins: who is actually suffering? Not the people responsible. What does this actually change? Nothing!
You fail to make a distinction between political types on the left, and ordinary people on the left.
Generally speaking, the politicos cannot be trusted, have agendas, and have little concern for human beings. What they say, therefore, must be taken with a very large pinch of salt.
I wouldn’t worry, though. Next year, this country gets an extreme right-wing government. The Tories are vowing to remove the safety net and make people homeless – i.e. those who try to claim more than 24 months of unemployment benefit over their lifetime. The American economic model is being exported to the UK!
Kenny Johannemann lived in America. He rescued a burning man from one of the WTC towers. A year or so later, he slipped into a depression. In 2008, facing eviction from his apartment, and unable to face homelessness, he picked up a gun and shot himself. His pet cat was found shaking in another room.
“The reason I killed myself was cause I was getting evicted and can’t handle homelessness. I was also very depressed since I was in 9/11. I’ve been drinking way too much…I’m very lonely. There is nothing left for me to be happy about other than my cat. Sounds weird, but it’s true. I just wanted to say I’m sorry 2 any people I ever hurt in my life. I really was a good person when I wasn’t drinking. I hope people remember that.
Goodbye!!!
Kenny Johannemann”
–
More males die from suicide in America than from Alzheimer’s.
Next year, a bunch of upper class schoolboys – who’ve grown up physically, but not emotionally! – get an opportunity to kill people with their policies. They themselves have enjoyed a private welfare state all their lives, but, will, in an act of complete hypocrisy – and in order to maintain their financial advantage over the rest of us – double their salaries.
In Britain, we don’t have guns, so people will be forced to end their lives in more horrible or painful ways.
Actions speak louder than words, Craig. I’d prefer self-righteous hot air over evil deeds any day.
Good posts, Jon, Expendable, Selma. The more I thought about this piece the more I thought about Jeremy Hardy, Mark Steele, Jeremy Corbyn, Tony Benn, Corin Redgrave, Peter Tatchell, Paul Flynn, Glenda Jackson, Carol Churchill, and my next door neighbours. ‘Blinkered and stupid’, eh? What a rotten piece of unqualified, hyperbolic tosh. Like an Oxbridge version of the Sun, or a bad Spectator article.
The ‘yachtsmen’ have been released. Was there some provocation involved? Put some pressure on the Iranians whilst a war upon them is being hyped up?
The ZBC are extolling the virtues of the FCO for their behind-the-scenes work in this episode. Not a dicky bird when the Free Gaza aid boat Dignity was thrice rammed in international waters 50 miles from shore or when the Spirit of Humanity was pirated to Ashdod and the passengers put in cells. There were British passengers and crew on both boats
@technicolour: surely “bad Spectator article” contains a tautology! On a serious note, though, I did worry about the position of that organ when they wrote an editorial supporting McCain for the US presidential election – on the grounds of his foreign policy experience, if memory serves correctly. You couldn’t make it up!
@mary, you are quite right to point out the glaring hypocrisy of the BBC, though whether this makes them deliberately Zionist (presumably that’s what your Z stands for!) is debatable. I think this is more an accident, and they have – like much of the corporate media – inculcated the priorities of the establishment whilst having persuaded themselves that their reportage is accurate and unbiased.
What about *this* incident in 2005:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4427096.stm
There is very little doubt in the minds of many journalists (including that of the Telegraph at the time, Ben Fenton) that Rupert Wise was a MI6 spook, and that the Island that Wise was sailing to, Abu Musa was one of the most politically charged hot-spots on Earth at the time and the subject of intense dispute between the UAE and Iran.
Interestingly, Frank Gardner – who did a BBC report on Wise’s sea-fairing arrest (Gardner was a fellow pupil at Marlborough when Rupert Wise was *Head Boy* there which you will *not* find mentioned in Gardner’s autobiography) also took over Rupert Wise’s job as Head of the Bahrain Office of Robert Fleming investment bank – on Wise’s suggestion – and you wont find Gardner mentioning that conflict of interest in his anti-Iran piece on Wise’s arrest.
All spooks together.
Sorry for the tirade;
I am sick of ignorant morons who have bought into this “poor Iranian people” crap, and think they have arrived at this “conclusion” all by themselves!!!!!!!
Who the hell do these think revolted, and overthrew the Shah whose secret services had trained dogs, and bears to rape, and maul those getting interrogated by the notorious SAVAK, that is under the careful tutelage of Israelis?
Who the hell do these think fought the said pervasive secret service, and massively supplied by US, UK, et al armed forces of Shah in the streets and overthrew the despotic regime of Shah?
Why do these think that for the last thirty years Iran has been out of the “fold/favour/despotic/regime”, and USA hot on her trail to thwart any notions of equality, justice, and dignity for all Iranians that was the basis of the revolution in Iran?
The fact that none, I emphasis none of the so called democracy loving posters on this board can go outside and kick a post box, and or a bus shelter, without first informing the relevant authorities, and getting permissions/licences in triplicate from various pooh-bah, otherwise they will be as sure as rain put in the slammer and DNAed for a plethora of reasons/trumped up charges, none political of course!
It is very annoying to read, day in, day out “Iranian regime” and “poor Iranian people”, fact is Iranians do not have 675 that is six-hundred and seventy five agencies to keep tabs on Iranians, but as sure as rain; UK does have these, and the same agencies empowered by a bunch of expense scrounging parasites masquerading as “people’s representatives”; are using their surveillance powers for matters of “national security, and high treason”; such as fly tipping and or lying to school boards to get a better schooling for a poor unfortunate child that is to grow up in UK with a remote chance of getting a better a more secure Job than their parents, never mind anyone forming a group and marching in the streets.
Fact is everyday the propaganda bugle blows and the morons processing these signals get busy typing away; “sure as hell Iran will be bombed”.
Not in a month of Sundays, if anyone could do this, by now there would have been no Iran left. Fact is everyone of the blustering hot air merchants know that Iran is far too thorny for anyone to swallow, and furthermore, as the latest “green/velvet/colour revolution” showed the Iranian society is far too cohesive and politically aware to fall for this kind of chicanery, as opposed to the Georgians, Latvian, and Ukrainians whom fell hook, line and sinker for the empty promises tutelage of “national endowment for democracy” (yet another dubious front organisation) funded by Soros et al, which so far have delivered even more oppression than the good old Soviet Union.
Simple fact is the oh so “democracy loving/breathing/eating” posters on this board and elsewhere have not understood that If Iranians wanted to, there would be no one to stop them from confronting their oppressors, and changing the power structure arrangements in Iran, they have done it, and they are highly likely to do so again, and there would be no chance of any Saddam or his ilk to hang to power in Iran. Which is a darn lot more certain way, than ticking a box and awaiting to see the difference in their quality of life which as ever is a downward spiral of disappointments and let downs, no matter whomever gets the most ticks, as the posters on this board and elsewhere are fully cognisant of, and well know, and understand, with some of these even going on strike and not playing the voting game any more.
Fact is physician heal thyself pops into mind, instead of sitting there and pontificating and repeating the inaccuracies and conjectures about Iran, is it not time for these to glance around their own neighbourhoods to see the crumbling and decaying infrastructure that is ever so prevalent, and so manifestly indicators of total failure of the neo liberal/conservative model that have been busy peddling their “freedom” brand, which these so called opinion holders verily believe in?
But hey hang on, lets bring in Sex into the debate and talk about gays now, right?
Well, yeah, Vamanos Bandidos.
Found this rather heartfelt plea from Iranian.com though:
They say we have millions of people who are using drugs, millions of people who live under the poverty lines. Millions of people have no work that can do any bad and criminal action any time and any moments. Millions of people have been sent out of the countries with analogical excuses or with childish excuses. Or many people have to live their country. Our country is the last country in the view of credit; between fifty countries our country has the fifty places. Our national capital is slowly destroying. Our factories are old and should be replaced. Their machines cannot work properly any more, they cannot produced the same quality as the other countries do. The concurrence is very law and nobody is willing to buy them as the China has cheaper and better quality. The country which lay on the sea of oil cannot have enough gasoline for his own people and should bring gasoline from other countries, because our factories do not work properly. Six billion dollars gasoline should be imported from other countries to Iran, as our factories are old and almost useless and cannot produce enough any more and the government does not replace them? The newspaper wrote that seventy present of our people live under the poverty line? Nobody can critics, because critics are verboten.
Sounds pretty similar to me. I think the common people are all in the same boat; talks of yachts are stupid, except to counter propaganda, and, yep, we need to look to our own neighbourhoods because otherwise…
Innocent passage just like Rory Stewart’s innocent walk into Afghanistan in 2001?
I’m surprised to see the left being criticised here as if it is a monolith with a readily identifiable leadership and membership. If people have criticisms to make of a state then go ahead and make them and see what transpires.
I know there are many who identify with the left who are profoundly disturbed by various actions and the structure of the Iranian state but they don’t want to line up with the massive imperialist and zionist forces ranged against Iran. It’s a separate point to my first one but this unconditional support for victims of imperialism (actual or potential) should not be confused with uncritical support for a regime or ideology.
Boy the heartfelt plea found in a site (iranian.com) that is protected by umpteen layers of organizations and happens to have it’s address as a post box in a little known town (Drums) Pennsylvania, which apparently gives a platform for the grieving, and lamenting Iranians. Yeahp I am convinced, bona fide SIS front shop does not come into the equation at all there!!!! (US congress budgeted seventy four million dollars needs to be spent, think of the little spooks, what about their families, they too need clothing and feeding)
FAO those student of facts;
Fact that shortly after the revolution Iran found itself subject to criminal invasion of Saddam forces whom drove 168 miles into Iran, in a single night, and at the start of the Saddam aggression (think about it, Saddam could not have had, his forces driving for a picnic so far) starting the barbaric killing spree and mass murder for the duration of eight years war. During this war; UK, US, French, German generals were at times actually present in Iraq and helping in planing for Saddam’s forces’ attacks on Iran, and at times these were in the thick of the battle conducting the planned operations and instructing the Iraqi forces, in person.
That is in addition to the satellite download station built in the down town Baghdad that was getting its feed from the various US and European spy Satellites in real time, nevertheless these not being enough Saddam was forced to use Chemical Weapons too, which the West never acknowledged and anyone lucky enough to find the worn out TV package of the ZBBC Panorama reporter running away when the Iranian guides proceed to dismantle an unexploded Iraqi chemical bomb. Fact that the same reporter is seen to be disputing that Saddam had been using any Chemical Weapons in his war with Iran, and denying that Saddam could ever do so, and suddenly taking flight upon the accidental stumble on the Chemical Bomb, were it not for the severity of the human losses it would be almost a comedy clip. (mary see note 1).
Fact that Saddam bombed the refineries, and factories, and any Iranian infrastructure he could find from above thrifty thousand feet to total destruction, which were then followed by the biting sanctions that were unilaterally set in place by US which translated to any attempt by any outside contractor to get involved in the reconstruction of these destroyed facilities, was met with US threats to the contractor involved resulting in the departure of the said contractor amidst contract, leaving the work unfinished as well as the sub-sequential and resultant damages unpaid. (hence the need for importation of Gasoline, and construction of nuclear power stations)
The murky and criminal conduct of the various US, UK governments in which someone such as Michael Cardeon a Chilean arms manufacturer (see note 2), whom was sold a working US production line of cluster bombs for a peper corn price and given the blue prints of the bombs, and instructions for dismantling the factory in US and reassembling it in Chile so that he could provide the cluster bombs produced to Saddam at half the costs of European and less than half the costs of US manufactures (12000 dollars a pop). Evidently, the US, SIS could foresee the long span of war and were trying to provide a bigger bang for the same buck of Saddam, aiding Saddam to drop one half of one million of the said cluster bombs produced by the Cardeon outfit, on Iranians.
Then there was the UK Thatcher government who helped and aided Saddam to acquire Matrix Churchill in addition to the two billion pounds of military aid to Saddam to fight and kill as many Iranians as possible. (thes former outfit came to bite the conservatives on the butt, when Saddam paired up with the Canadian Gerald Bull to build a super-gun).
Fact is the drivel that has been left as the heartfelt plea, is certainly a heartfelt plea but whose heart is it ought to be point of debate. No Iranian, has forgotten the bombings of Tehran and death and destruction of these bombs, no Iranian has forgotten the total destruction of the Iranian cities in southern Iran, and furthermore no Iranian has forgotten the total destruction of the infrastructure and factories, refineries, ships, craft, and the multitudes of the victims killed, and even more numbers maimed, and incapacitated. Moreover all Iranians know damn fine well who ought to be blamed for the destruction spree that lasted eight years, and upon trying to make good the destruction, the sanction were set in place to slow down the progress of the work and increase the costs born by the nation and the country.
Finally given that credit has been used yet as another tool of the neo liberals/conservatives to induce the foregoing of the target nation’s, nationals’ rights and privileges in return for loaning sums of IOU. This has been customarily done through the IMF, et al, hence the arbitrary credit ratings, which came to bring death and destruction in the banking world due to the phony baloney AAA, etc. ratings. Therefore Iran stands well and good due to her isolation from the banking melt down and the turmoil in it’s wake.
Considering the above we can safely conclude that plutocratic powers that be, have deemed the self determination of the Iranians ought not be a model that can succeed! Therefore the strategy of all men to pump alert, to sabotage and stop the success of “rights of man” model trumping over “rights of the property” model which evidently shuns equality and fairness and instead promotes “freedom” which conveniently pushes aside the thorny issue of equality and instead leaves the masses to be free to enjoy their neo serfdom and neo slavery where the work is owned by the plutocrats and not the worker. ie the best of slavery models.
FAO mary;
Note 1; Hasbara means “propaganda” in Hebrew, in the following link you will find some interesting members of the “Hasbara Authors'” list numbering 2276 names of persons and organisations. Furthermore to prove the point the coverage of the John Lyne of the BBC, whose voice-over in the package broadcast dated tonight (new 24) showing the protests in front of the British Embassy in Tehran misleadingly passes opinions instead of relaying the facts and the reason for protesters presence, whom are demanding the extradition of Arash Hejazi to face trials for the murder of Neda Agha-Sultan, who became to be youtube symbol of the “colour revolution”. Also anyone noticed the abrupt feed cut in the press conference of the “yacht crew”, which was hastily explained away as the difficulties in editing the package received earlier. The crew were busy telling that they had been treated very well during their detention, when the feed was cut abruptly.
http://tinyurl.com/ya6lwmx
The hasbara list includes, interestingly:
The BBC
David Aaronovitch
Ayman hirsi Ali
AndrewRoberts
David Milliband
Note 2; Industrias Cardeon SA and Los Conquistadores 1700 were reported
to have produced at least eight types of air-dropped cluster bombs (CB-130 bomb, CB-250K bomb, CB-
500 bomb, CB-500K bomb, CB-500K2 bomb, CB-770 bomb, WB-250F bomb, and WB-500F bomb).
@jon: I should have said “a particularly bad Spectator piece”
yeah, Vamanos Bandidos, don’t think anyone’s disputing the evil hand of the oligarchs here. Still, ru saying that the people of Iran (or Iraq) are more liberated than the people in the UK? think not. had the privilege myself of escorting an Iraqi refugee around town recently; she explained that she would always hate Iranians because they had killed her cousin. Then emerged that they had killed her cousin by shooting him down because he was on a bombing raid to Iran at the time. Honestly, cut it out.
Since (A) Britain’s ally America has been infiltrating terrorists into Iran from Iran & our inteligence is closely linked to the US & (B) we are ramping up to engage in some unspecified action against their nuclear capacity it was not unreasonable to suspect there might be something dodgy about these guys. I remember, before the Kosovo war, similar outrage when Yugoslav police arrested British soldiers “holidaying” in Monetnegro who just happened to have accidentaly brought along there guns. Not all tourists ar tourists.
Re. Majid Tavakoli:
This has nothing to do with Western designs on Iranian oil-fields. I am well aware of global dynamics in that regard. What the Iranian authorities did to Tavakoli – and simultaneously to all women in that country – was disgusting and is a sign of the weakness of their own moral and ethical position (and the strength of… his), debases the mandate of their authority and also debunks all those, throughout the world, who argue that such pantomime coutures-for-women-only are simply the outcome of ‘choice’ (the third most-abused of words, after ‘freedom’ and ‘Islam’). The burqa, chadur, headscarf, etc. fetish, which has infected even pre-pubertal Muslim girls in my home city and most others in the UK , is not even based on Islamic principles. Basically, the Quran says to both genders: ‘Dress modestly and don’t draw inordinate attention to yourself’. That’s it. The Iranian authorities, as good as the Shah was at torturing their own citizens, also grossly misread the mood and sense of human decency of the vast majority of the Iranian people. I think their attempt at hamfisted propaganda has backfired on them; they’ve shot themselves in the foot. These pics have gone round the world. The student may have been wrapped in a chadur, but everyone now knows that the emperor has no clothes.
http://www.payvand.com/news/09/dec/1146.html
I agree with levi9099. The political and human rights situation in Iran right now is grim for many Iranians, the regime is increasingly oppressive and everyone should say so. This must not be used as any kind of pretext for imperialist military or other actions, though, actions which always are aimed at maximising hegemonic control of resources and neutralising all obstacles.