Iran: U.K. Must Admit Fault To End Dispute

Demands Britain Admit Its Sailors Entered Iranian Waters To Resolve Standoff Over Their Capture

(CBS/AP) 
One segment showed sailors and marines sitting in an Iranian boat in open waters immediately after their capture.

The video also displayed what appeared to be a handwritten letter from Faye Turney, 26, to her family.

"I have written a letter to the Iranian people to apologize for us entering their waters," it said. The letter also asks Turney's parents in Britain to look after her 3-year-old daughter, Molly, and her husband, Adam.

The video showed Turney in checkered head scarf and her uniform eating with other sailors and marines. Later, wearing a white tunic and black head scarf, she sat in a room before floral curtains and smoked a cigarette.

Turney was the only detainee to be shown speaking, giving her name and saying she had been in the navy for nine years.

"Obviously we trespassed into their waters," Turney said at one point, her voice audible under a simultaneous Arabic translation. "They were very friendly and very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we've been arrested. There was no harm, no aggression."

In backing away from predictions that Turney could be freed Wednesday or Thursday, Mottaki said Iran will look into releasing her "as soon as possible."

Asked when Iran would release Turney, Mottaki said in the interview with the AP, "We will look into this as soon as possible."

He said earlier reports that he had said she could be freed Wednesday or Thursday were incorrect. "I was probably misquoted," he said.

Earlier in the day, Mottaki told AP on the sidelines of an Arab summit in the Saudi capital, "Today or tomorrow, the lady will be released." The Turkish television station, CNN-Turk, had also reported him saying Wednesday she would be freed "today or tomorrow."

But the talk of releasing Turney did little to calm British anger.

Before the broadcast, a spokesman for Blair said any showing of British personnel on TV would be a breach of the Geneva Conventions.

After the footage was aired, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said she was "very concerned about these pictures and any indication of pressure on, or coercion of, our personnel. ... I am particularly disappointed that a private letter has been used in a way which can only add to the distress of the families."

The third Geneva Convention bans subjecting prisoners of war to intimidation, insults or "public curiosity." Because there is no armed conflict between Iran and Britain, the captives would not technically be classified as prisoners of war.

Blair told the House of Commons that "there was no justification whatever ... for their detention, it was completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal."

"We had hoped to see their immediate release; this has not happened. It is now time to ratchet up the diplomatic and international pressure in order to make sure the Iranian government understands its total isolation on this issue," he said.

Beckett said Britain would focus all its efforts on resolving the issue.

"We will, therefore, be imposing a freeze on all other official bilateral business with Iran until the situation is resolved. We will keep other aspects of our policy towards Iran under close review and continue to proceed carefully. But no one should be in any doubt about the seriousness with which we regard these events," she said.

The statement appeared to refer to diplomatic dealings rather than business relations, but Britain's Department of Trade said the country does not buy oil directly from Iran.

Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel Wednesday to a six-month high amid worries about the standoff, which came as the U.S. Navy is carrying out its largest show of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

President Bush discussed the 15 Britons with Blair over a secured video conference call Wednesday, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. "The president fully backs Tony Blair and our allies in Britain," she said.

British officials have said the 15 Britons were taken captive after completing a search of a civilian ship near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which forms the border between Iran and Iraq.

Soon after the sailors and marines were seized, Britain had hoped to resolve the issue quickly. In 2004, six British marines and two sailors were captured by Iran in the Shatt al-Arab but released within days.

In London, British military officials released new information about the location where they said the Britons and their two inflatable boats were seized by Iranian naval forces.

The military said satellite positioning readings showed the vessels were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters.

Vice Adm. Charles Style gave the satellite coordinates as 29 degrees 50.36 minutes north latitude and 48 degrees 43.08 minutes east longitude. He said that position had been confirmed by an Indian-flagged merchant ship boarded by the sailors and marines.

He also told reporters the Iranians had provided a geographical position Sunday that he said was in Iraqi waters. By Tuesday, he said, Iranian officials had given a revised position 2 miles to the east, inside Iranian waters.

"It is hard to understand a legitimate reason for this change of coordinates," Style said.

[gaye5]

1400 isnt it dphaffner and you are dead right...
We cant stop it by stopping muslims as it isnt the people which is the problem but what is written in the Quran and others of their holy books so every last book would have to be destroyed...which is impossible... there is no way around it but to fight... and the sooner our leaders wake up to that the less people will die...

[dphaffner]

I should have said stop THEM

[dphaffner]

If all you good people would just read a little more.
I am sure you will find that the war against the Jews and Christians by the follers of islam, has been going on for about seventeen hundred years.

And it will not stop until we "Christians and Jewish people" stop it.

[geoweb4]

How is the territorial waters defined? by some physicial features or by a set of coordinates?

If by set of coordinates, what datum, projection, and coordinates are being used displayed by the UK; and what datum, projection, and coordinates are being used by Iraq or Iran to define the boundaries. Are they using the same information? and are they using it correctly

[gaye5]

mcdazz, you said that I should check my facts..but perhaps you didnt know that...
I was trying to point out to people that Muslim fanatics had been conducting successful attacks on American targets abroad for nearly 30 years before Sept. 11. They had bombed our embassies in Kenya and Tanganyika, all but sunk the destroyer Cole in Aden, and simply assassinated various American officials around the world -- all without attracting much notice from the American public, and without suffering any serious retaliation.
bin Laden threat was recognized at the highest levels of the Clinton administration as early as 1993. What's more, bin Laden's attacks kept escalating throughout the Clinton administration; all told bin Laden was responsible for the deaths of 59 Americans on Clinton's watch.

President Clinton learned about bin Laden within months of being sworn into office. National Security Advisor Anthony Lake said that he first heard the name Osama bin Laden in 1993 in relation to the World Trade Center attack.
bin Laden made his first attack on Americans was December 1992, a little more than a month after Clinton won the 1992 election. His target was 100 U.S. Marines housed in two towering Yemen hotels.
and no I am not keen on Bush, but the alternative is even worse...
yes there have been over 6890 terrorist attacks since sep 11th, and no I did not have any agenda in not saying that..

[radiob-2009]

Isn't this issue, alone, worthy of further investigation?


www.boston.com/news/nat
ion/washington/articles/2006/08/05/2_mem
bers_detail_sept_11_panels_frustrations/
Posted by feelfree1


The majority of the issues raised in the article can be answered by reading Against All Enemies by Richard Clarke. The issue over documentation is not addressed there. As far as the comments in the article regarding Iraq and why the planes were not ordered shot down, those answers can be found in the book. There is no definitive answer on Iraq itself, or the reasons for the war. The Price of Loyalty brings up Iraq also prior to the actual war itself. Again there is no definitive answer.Both authors are republicans and served under Bush. There is a great deal of information that suggests that Iraq was preplanned before 9-11 and that blame was to be shifted on Iraq immediately after 9-11. It is conjecture, if it was definitive or could be proven the President would not be in office. I am not a supporter of Bush, there simply is not enough evidence to support any of the claims that have been made in regards to Iraq.This war should never have been waged, it was wrong from the beginning based on either faulty evidence or manipulated evidence.I still have the films to watch that you suggested.

jdweymouth wrote:

"But while we're talking about "hidden agendas" why don't we talk about whose administration the anarchist movenment boomed? Under which administrations executive power was increased nearly dictarorily enabling the freedom that Clinton, and yes George Bush, have exercised. I like George W. Bush, and I like most of his policies, but I can admit that he has made mistakes."

In my opinion Clinton deserves nothing but contempt.

I do get a little tired of the old Republican argument that "Clinton is to blame for everything".

Well, guess what, Clinton's been gone for over six years, and Republicans are still b*tching about that moron.

People need to get the hell over it.

I could point out numerous mistakes that have cost numerous American lives by both Reagan and Bush Snr.

Ultimately, GW Bush is the current leader, and the focus should be on him and how he handles things.

And to be perfectly blunt, he hasn't done a great job of anything except looking after his rich buddies and his old friends the Bin Ladens and the rest of the Saudis.

Talk about fraternizing with the enemy.

[jdweymouth]

mcdazz:

I'm pretty sure he didn't mention them because he was showing that there were plenty of attacks before Bush came to office, therefore proving he's not the cause of terrorism.

But while we're talking about "hidden agendas" why don't we talk about whose administration the anarchist movenment boomed? Under which administrations executive power was increased nearly dictarorily enabling the freedom that Clinton, and yes George Bush, have exercised. I like George W. Bush, and I like most of his policies, but I can admit that he has made mistakes.

Former President George HW Bush once said:

"Whose life would be on my hands as the commander-in-chief because I, unilaterally, went beyond the international law, went beyond the stated mission, and said we're going to show our macho? We're going into Baghdad. We're going to be an occupying power %u2014 America in an Arab land %u2014 with no allies at our side. It would have been disastrous."

Thanks to his idiot son, we now know the consequences.

Gaye5 wrote:

"Why did bin Laden start his attacks on American targets during President Clinton%u2019s administration."

He didn't.

Bin Laden's first strike against the US came in December of 1992, where a bomb was planted in the Gold Mihor Hotel in Aden, Yemen, where approx 100 US Soldiers had been staying.

The explosion killed two people and injured another person.

Perhaps you should check your facts next time.

Gaye5:

Here's a list of attacks that have occurred under GW Bush's watch.

2002 - June 14, Karachi, Pakistan: bomb exploded outside American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12. Linked to al-Qaeda.
2003 - May 12, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: suicide bombers killed 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners. Al-Qaeda suspected.
2004 - May 29%u201331, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: terrorists attack the offices of a Saudi oil company in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, take foreign oil workers hostage in a nearby residential compound, leaving 22 people dead including one American.
2004 - June 11%u201319, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: terrorists kidnap and execute Paul Johnson Jr., an American, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 2 other Americans and BBC cameraman killed by gun attacks.
2004 - Dec. 6, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: terrorists storm the U.S. consulate, killing 5 consulate employees. 4 terrorists were killed by Saudi security.
2005 - Nov. 9, Amman, Jordan: Suicide bombers hit 3 American hotels, Radisson, Grand Hyatt, and Days Inn, in Amman, Jordan, killing 57. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.
2006 - Sept. 13, Damascus, Syria: an attack by four gunman on the American embassy was foiled.
2007 - Jan. 12, Athens, Greece: the U.S. embassy was fired on by an anti-tank missile causing damage but no injuries.

Gaye5:

Do you realize that there have been attacks on US targets while Bush has been President (since 9/11)?

Why have you not mentioned them?

Or is it that you've got some hidden agenda?

ie You are a Bush supporter?

[gaye5]

1995 13th Sep, A rocket-propelled grenade pierces the wall of the US Embassey in Moscow ...

1995 13 Nov, a car bomb detonates at the US military Headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,

1996 25th June, a fuel truck bomb explodes outside the Kobhar Towers housing complex near Dharan Saudi Arabia, killing 19 U.S Air Force personal
and injuring more than 500 Americans and Saudis.

1998 7th Aug, twin blasts rock the U.S Embassies in Nairobia, Kenya and Dar es Salaam Tanzania. killing at least 257 people, with more than 5,000 injured.

2000 12th Oct, a bomb triggered by suicide bombers destroyer USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden, .and so on..

[gaye5]

Why did bin Laden start his attacks on American targets during President Clinton%u2019s administration.

1983 12th Dec, a Shiite extreemist set off car bombs in front of the US amd French Embassies in Kuwait city.

1984 20th Sep,, a car bomb at the US Embasy annex in East Beirut Lebonon.

1985 12th April, near a US base in Madrid, a bomb exploded in a restaurant popular with Americans.

1985 14th June, Shiite gunman seized a TWA Flight 847 and forced it to Beirut, Lebanon.

1985 8th Aug, a large car bomb exploded at a US base in Frankfurt.

1985 7th Oct, Palastinians hijacked the cruse liner Achille Lauro which was sailing in the Mediterranean sea.

1985 18th Dec, an Arab suicide squad simultaneously attacks US and Isreali check-in decks at the international airports or Rome and Viennia. Killing 207.

1986 2nd April, a bomb explodes under a seat on a TWA airline, on route from Rome to Athens.

1986 5th April, a West Berlin disco frequented by Americans is bombed.

1986 5th Sep, Hijackers seized a Pan Am 747 carrying 358 people at Karachi airport.

1988 21st Dec, on it's way from London to New York a Pan Am Boeing explodes over Lockerbie, scotland killing 270 people.

1993 6th Feb, a bomb explodes in a parking garage below the world Trade center, in new York, killing six and wounding more over 1,000.

[gaye5]

newster1 you say that there is a lot of evidence to prove that it America caused the sep 11th..
I also saw the evidence on this, and laugh myself sick.. yep, I can just see it, Bush says lets kill 3000 Americans so as we can start a war...He didnt have to do that to start it, Muslims have been trying to force us to attack them since about 1970, and havent... there have been many terrorist attacks against americans before sep 11th, they didnt need that to go to war with Iraq...
here are some examples...
1973 1st March terrorosts, operating under the Black September banner stormed the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum, Sadan.
1979 4th Nov. Islamist radicals stormed the US embassy in Tehran and, with the support of the Ayatollah Khomeini.
1979 4th Nov, Islamic from the U.S Embassy in Terhran, Iran holding 52 Americans hostages for 444 days.
1993 18th April, A massive car bomb at the U.S Embassy in Beirut murdered 63 people including 17 Americans.
1993, 23rd Oct, A Shiiti suicide bomber blows up the U.S marine barracks in Beirut the attack killed 241 Marines and 48 French paratroopers.

[grazinggoat]

ok kidds, got to snooz abit before waking up. Got things to do. Gdnight ye all.
Kiss yall

[randalds]

-I guess you were the father and Hugghard came uinto you... you are a pityful cretin.


Posted by grazinggoat at 02:06 AM : Mar 29, 2007

GG, GG, GG! I know ricky is fun to make fun of, but I hope you don't waste any time thinking you might actually get through to this moron? Of course recreationally beating up on him is fun, though pretty easy to do. lol! [e-mail]. Drop me a line.

[gaye5]

thanks Rick I will look at that, I have a lot of Robert Spencers books also, (he writes "Jihad watch" on the net,) and parts of the quran and other of their books...
I cant for the life of me understand how anyone can say that it is a peaceful book, if you take out the bad verses, there would only be about 12 pages left...this is why I keep telling people to please read the last three quarters of the Quran as the first part is mostly good... it had to be or else they could have not had any converts...For a Muslim to keep his word to an infidel at the expense of opportunities to expand Islamic power is the Islamic equivalent of a mortal sin.
When it comes to, war, murder, assassination, plunder and theft... Although Muslim scholars will tell us that in Islam telling lies is a serious crime/sin, and it is to other muslims unless in times of war, to the infidel, to the enemy etc..so there are times that Allah allowed them to lie... and Muhammad did many many times.
They have always lived by war, they plundering the enemy for booty which was their only means of survival and no where do they cultivate the land, as Allah/Mohammad hates culitivation...

[grazinggoat]

and that NO man cometh unto the Father but by Me".
Posted by singinrick

-I guess you were the father and Hugghard came uinto you... you are a pityful cretin.

[gaye5]

singinrick, you are dead right, (must stop using that word) but it is meant to happen, and many christians are so sickly with the way that they talk that they are sadly doing a good job at turning people off...
Rick we are told that Allah is the same God as ours.. people are so lacking in knowledge of the Quran and those times that they dont know that Allah was one of 360 gods of Mohammad's days, and Mohammad chose this one because Allah was the god of agriculture, (even though Mohammad hates agriculture), the sword and war...