Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Ingenious Iranian PR and Diplomacy - Releasing British Sailors as "Easter Gift"


British naval personnel who were detained in Iran wave to journalists after they were released as a "gift to the British people" by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran April 4, 2007. Reuters photo by Morteza Nikoubazl

MEDIA ANALYSIS - In one fell-swoop today Iran and their seemingly Napoleonic leader, Ahmadinejad, made everyone in the world further consider the possibility that Bush and Co. are all smoke when it comes to their portrayal of Iran as "warmongering" or set on anything other than than defending itself against proven aggressors. They announced plans to release British POW's as an "Easter" gift. What a coup for these witty Persians. With smiling faces on their captives they presented themselves as fair and appropriately deliberative, if not gracious.

Just as the US and France ventured into Cambodia when they said they hadn't, it is clear that the Great Britain and probably the US did their best to test the waters in the Straits of Hormuz. America fell for the aggressor crying "victim" in the beginning days of the Vietnam War. Of course most Americans still haven't read the revised yet true history books that unveil US contrivance of the Gulf of Tonkin incident which supposedly justifed US entry into the war in "French Indochina"/Vietnam.

Many years ago, when Reagan supported teasing Russia with fake missile bursts in Leavenworth to detect Russian scramble activity and radar technology, the Russians proved themselves not to be the warmongers that they were portrayed to be by the American Right. As was the case with Russia, Iran simply has a legitimate fear of America creating circumstances that will excuse the incursion of forces into their land just as they did with Iraq. Those who claim that the US had not predisposed itself to attacking the middle east, are deluding themselves. To the same extent, Bush has failed as of now in his attempts to paint Iran as desirous of confrontation.

more on the planned release of British sailors...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is obvious from the pic, that it was taken while the Brits were still in Iranian custody, yet they look really happy except for the boys on the right with a stiff upper lip.

The girl is still wearing Muslim garb, which tells us the Iranians were kind enough to give the prisoners nice suits before they were released. What a stroke of genius.

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