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Iran captures pawns in ongoing war game
By Jaime Wright | March 23, 2007
As tension has been slowly ratcheting up between the U.S. and Iran, 15 British sailors and marines were arrested by Iranian forces during a routine, U.N. sanctioned, inspection in Iraqi waters of the Persian Gulf.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4655773.html
I’m sure this is in some ways connected to the overall situation between Iran and the U.S. (and by extension coalition forces, primarily the U.K.). Perhaps, it is more specifically related to the arrest of an Iranian diplomat in early 2007: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/06/iraq.main/index.html
And the arrest of other Iranians in Iraq: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00052.htm
However, I’m sure that if Iranians had acted directly towards America it could easily start a war or at least some military skirmishes. It’s hard to say at this point.
Now more than ever it is going to be important to measure all consequences of our actions in the Middle East. If this was a move on U.S. soldiers, I imagine a typical American response might be, “How dare you. Don’t fuck with us, we’ll crush you.” Although, I’m not immune from that immediate knee-jerk reaction, there is enough going in the entire Middle East as it is without opening a new military front. At this point living with tension and constant talks and small moves is much more in our best interests than in opening a new military front.
In hindsight, it might not have been a bad idea to normalize relations with Iran during the term of the former Iranian President Hatami who is more pro-Western and reformist. In fact, anywhere in the Middle East where there are moderates, the U.S. needs to reach out to them. We should also acknowledge and respect the moderate tendencies and humanitarian aspects of those people-powered movements of the Middle East, rather than flatly dismissing anything anti-Western.
Although, to be cynical it’s all about power, cash, and guns in the end–in the Middle East it also seems to be about age-old rivalries (at least in rhetoric). I suppose that’s what will influence the outcomes we’ll actually see.
Topics: Middle East, current events |
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