Vol. 71/No. 17      April 30, 2007

At the same time, ruling-class politicians and armed forces chiefs here are responding by preparing renewed imperialist aggression against Iran.

The Royal Navy is undertaking a wide-ranging review of its resources, rules of engagement, and operating procedures in the Arab-Persian Gulf.

Soon after the 15 were released, Prime Minister Anthony Blair publicly attacked Tehran for its alleged “backing, financing, arming, supporting terrorism in Iraq.”

The government announced that it may use its forthcoming presidency of the United Nations Security Council to place on its agenda Tehran’s capture of the 15 and Iran’s ongoing nuclear program.

The White House said it was “very concerned“ at the April 9 announcement by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Tehran was now in a position to enrich uranium on “an industrial scale.”

Meanwhile, Washington continues to hold a number of Iranian citizens, including five Iranian security officers it captured during a January 11 raid in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan. At the same time, the U.S. Senate is set to approve Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan who has spoken out for more aggressive action against Iran, as U.S. envoy to the UN.

From the London Times to the weekly Economist, newspaper editorials here have commented on the capture of the British troops as a defeat for London.

The Daily Telegraph targeted the Royal Navy’s “incompetence” in providing insufficient cover for the operation, and the apologies of the detained sailors on Iranian TV. “The old military practice of giving name, rank and number, and no more, has obviously been abandoned,” the paper opined. “It appears that the Royal Navy has a lot to answer for.”

Unanimous was the derision that greeted the decision, which was subsequently reversed, of Vice Admiral Adrian Johns, backed by Secretary of State for Defence Des Browne, to allow the freed troops to sell their stories to the press.

When one of the sailors wrote that he was “crying like a baby” in his prison cell, the Times said his remark would not offer “a foreign army or terrorist unit any reason to fear encountering British forces in combat.”

Former defense secretary Michael Portillo called for Browne to “consider his position,” and an online petition for his resignation has been posted on the Downing Street web site.

Tehran “should not have been allowed to capture our personnel,” Conservative Party defense spokesperson Liam Fox said, adding that the Tories would make the state of the Armed Forces an election issue.

Meanwhile the government is implementing a major upgrade of naval hardware designed for expeditionary warfare. A new generation of ships is being introduced, including landing platform docks designed for dispatch of amphibious craft, and there are plans for two new large aircraft carriers.
 
 
Related articles:
‘London hands off Iran!’
Communist League candidate campaigns in Scotland
U.S. occupiers to cordon off parts of Baghdad
Free 5 Iranians U.S. holds in Iraq  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home