How to start a war -

[rexbo 104]

Gwynne Dyer: How to start a war - American style

"I don't want to second-guess the British after the fact," said US Navy Lieutenant-Commander Erik Horner, "but our rules of engagement allow a little more latitude. Our boarding team's training is a little bit more towards self-preservation."

Does that mean that one of his American boarding teams would have opened fire if it had been them in the two inflatable boats that were surrounded by Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast patrol boats off the coast of Iraq last Friday? "Agreed. Yes."

Just as well that it was a British boarding team, then.

The 15 British sailors and marines who were captured and taken to Tehran for "questioning" last week are undoubtedly having an unpleasant time, but they are alive, and Britain is only involved in two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If it had been one of Horner's boarding teams, they would all be dead, and the United States and Iran would now be at war.

Horner is the executive officer of the USS Underwood, the American frigate that works with HMS Cornwall, the British ship the captive boarding party came from.

Interviewed after the incident by Terri Judd of the Independent, the only British print journalist on HMS Cornwall, he was obviously struggling to be polite about the gutless Brits, but he wasn't having much success.

"The US Navy rules of engagement say we have not only a right to self-defence but also an obligation to self-defence," Horner explained. "[The British] had every right in my mind and every justification to defend themselves rather than allow themselves to be taken. Our reaction was, 'Why didn't your guys defend themselves?"'

So there they are, eight sailors and seven marines in two rubber boats, with personal weapons and no protection whatever, sitting about 30cm above the water, surrounded by six or seven Iranian attack boats with mounted machine guns.

"Defend yourself" by opening fire, and after a single long burst from half a dozen heavy machine-guns there will be 14 dead young men and one dead young woman in two rapidly sinking inflatables, and your country will be at war. Seems a bit pointless, really.

It's a cultural thing, at bottom. Britain has a long history of fighting wars and taking casualties, but the combat doctrines are less hairy-chested. British rules of engagement "are very much de-escalatory, because we don't want wars starting," explained Admiral Sir Alan West, former First Sea Lord.

"Rather than roaring into action and sinking everything in sight, we try to step back, and that, of course, is why our chaps were ... able to be captured and taken away."

That emollient British approach is probably why the Iranian Revolutionary Guard chose to grab British troops rather than Americans. It was obviously a snatch operation: the Iranians would not normally have half a dozen attack boats ready to go, even if some "coalition" boat checking Iraq-bound ships for contraband did stray across the invisible dividing line into Iranian waters, which the British insist they didn't.

But it was not necessarily an operation ordered from the top of Iran's Government. In fact, there is no single source of authority in Iran's curious system of "multiple governments", as one observer labelled the impenetrably complex division of responsibilities and powers between elected civilians and unelected mullahs. The Revolutionary Guards, who are quite different from the regular armed forces, have considerable autonomy within this system.

According to US authorities in Iraq, the five Iranian diplomats arrested by US troops in a raid in Irbil in Iraqi Kurdistan last January were Revolutionary Guards, and it would seem that their colleagues want them back.

Kidnapping American troops as hostages for an exchange could cause a war, so they decided to grab some Brits instead. And it will probably work, after a certain delay.

In this episode, the American reputation for belligerence served US troops well, diverting Iranian attention to the British instead. In the larger scheme of things, it is a bit more problematic.

A quite similar snatch operation against the equally belligerent Israelis last July led to a month-long Israeli aerial bombardment of Lebanon and a retaliatory hail of Hizbollah rockets on northern Israeli cities. Well over 1000 people were dead by the end, although nothing was settled.

Any day now, a minor clash along Iraq's land or sea frontier with Iran could kill some American troops and give President Bush an excuse to attack Iran, if he wants one - and he certainly seems to.

If the Revolutionary Guards had got it wrong last Friday and attacked an American boarding party by mistake, he would have his excuse now, and bombs might already be falling on Iran. All the pieces are in place, and the war could start at any time.

He makes the most important point in the article about the difference between the US and Britain and misses it ENTIRELY!. The US attitude prevents BOTH the war and the hostage situation! The UK attitude allows for easy hostage situations AND emboldens the Iranians into keep trying until we really are in a war. This guy just wants to keep surrendering until there isn't a British or US ship anywhere near the Persian Gulf...

[JohnDeere 0]

So there they are, eight sailors and seven marines in two rubber boats, with personal weapons and no protection whatever, sitting about 30cm above the water, surrounded by six or seven Iranian attack boats with mounted machine guns.

"Defend yourself" by opening fire, and after a single long burst from half a dozen heavy machine-guns there will be 14 dead young men and one dead young woman in two rapidly sinking inflatables, and your country will be at war. Seems a bit pointless, really.

And USS Underwood would have literally killed every freakin Iranian hajee within a five mile radius.

What I don't get from the whole situation, where is the freakin Red Cross? Everytime a da-- PUC (person under confinement) gets his toes stepped on or misses his holy islamic goat cheese meal at GITMO or BAF the Red Cross is there crying to the press about the mistreatment of the 'muslims'. Cause I guarantee that Brit female sailor is being coerced to write those letters and say that crap on TV, but the Red Cross/Cresant is nowhere to be found.

[WinCrimson 61]

Riiiiight.

And the American heads of Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley, and Kenneth Bigley were also cut off because of some imaginary attitude? No dice. And while I know that those men's death were not at the hands of Iran, the point remains the same. They don't fear us because they do not fear death. That won't be changing any time soon, either.

[rexbo 104]

Riiiiight.

And the American heads of Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley, and Kenneth Bigley were also cut off because of some imaginary attitude? No dice. And while I know that those men's death were not at the hands of Iran, the point remains the same. They don't fear us because they do not fear death. That won't be changing any time soon, either.

Exactly, you are making my point too without even realizing it; the leaders of Iran are only brave enough to fund and support individual terrorist actions and groups, not take action against against the US as a nation-state. They are not going to risk now (at least before they get the nukes) a major confrontation with the United States. Otherwise, why haven't they already shut down the Straits of Hormuz?

[WinCrimson 61]

The nuke plant is set to open in Fall of this year, correct? I was under the impression that it was not going to be building weapons but rather sources of power.

As much as Khameni has played the "Islam is peace and I don't support terrorism" cards, I'd be surprised if he ever fricked with the king bee. He knows better... Yet, his foot soldiers and cronies are about as frightened by America as I am a flea. I just pray that we never give/have to give them a chance for us to see that fact.

[AFTiger 282]

"Bryant-Denny Stadium on a Saturday night is closer to the kingdom of God than my church."-- Rev. Jesse Jackson

I noticed your sig and it is more true than even Jesse realizes but for not the reason he thinks. FUNNY

[AURaptor 1,126]

Stupid thread title. Iran, not the U.S. , is trying to start a war. This is Lebannon all over again. Instead of taking 2 Jewish soldiers, the terrorist, ( and that is EXACTLY what they are ) have taken 15 British sailors from waters outside of Iran's jurisdiction.

That's how one starts a war. Only Iran knows the U.K. is too Chamberlainized to lift a finger to do anything about it. Look for these sailors to be held hostage for months, not days.

[rexbo 104]

Stupid thread title.

Thread title was headline of posted article, not my words...