15 British Sailors Nabbed by Iran

And now for things that make you go huuummmmm: oil prices surged over $2 YESTERDAY. Brings back memories of big profits by unknown invidual(s) with airline stock options before 9/11.

Susan

Thanks for the additional links concerning this story. I’ve been following it since early morning. Could you possibly post some links concerning the stories coming out about the Turks mobilizing on the northern Iraqi border reportedly to counter a planned attack by the Kurds. This story ahs been buried by all of the other headlines. From what I have read the Turks are serious and really pissed at the U.S. lack of influence on the pesky Kurds.

The USA is a wheat EXPORTER. Since when did we import wheat from China? Canada maybe just like we import corn from Mexico. Who is the source of the claim that this is Chinese wheat ( not the FDA one hopes ).
Is there any independent confirmation that the English were not in Iranian waters? England has a long naval history of cavalier treatment of national boundries.

CK, you’re not the only one wondering why a company IN KANSAS would import wheat from China. The New York state Dept. of Agriculture just held a press conference confirming the report.

MEP, that’s the first I heard about the Kurd story. Dammit. Will try to look for stories …

MEP, I went to Google News and searched for “Turkey Kurdish” — you can look at the same search results:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Turkey+Kurdish&btnG=Search+News

There was this story from AINA (Assyrian news service):
US Struggles to Avert Turkish Intervention in Northern Iraq
http://www.aina.org/news/2007032395335.htm

[BEGINNING] Ankara — The US is scrambling to head off a “disastrous” Turkish military intervention in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq that threatens to derail the Baghdad security surge and open up a third front in the battle to save Iraq from disintegration.

Senior Bush administration officials have assured Turkey in recent days that US forces will increase efforts to root out Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) guerrillas enjoying safe haven in the Qandil mountains, on the Iraq-Iran-Turkey border.

But Abdullah Gul, Turkey’s foreign minister, MPs, military chiefs and diplomats say up to 3,800 PKK fighters are preparing for attacks in south-east Turkey — and Turkey is ready to hit back if the Americans fail to act. …

and another new news report said Kurdish separatists attacked and killed three Turkish soldiers in SE Turkey.

THey confirmed the rat poison, did they also confirm that evil China was the source? Googling Chinese Wheat exports doesn’t show china exporting any wheat to the USA and just beginning to export some to SE Asia.

things heating up with Iran – 15 British sailors are in Iranian custody – guess it will be up to us to go and get them and start a confrontation. its all bogus – the more this DOJ and Karl Rove subpoena keep getting traction, Bush will start another attack on Iran to get the media and everyone off what is obviously, just moments away from impeachment, high crimes and treason. The rats are desserting and the news about Bush is going to get worse. This time though, he, Rove and Cheney won’t have the support of America. I would think that Dubai, Paraguay and other locations would be looking good to these three right about now.

Thanks ..Susan if I run into anything other than already posted I’ll link it . Tried to get your attention earlier on the story below. Next time I’ll yell louder. Hope both of these stories are overblown.

Thanks ..Susan if I run into anything other than already posted I’ll link it . Tried to get your attention earlier on the story below. Next time I’ll yell louder. Hope both of these stories are overblown.

would anyone be outraged if the iranians had been taken into british custody? I doubt it. good for them, it’s the persian gulf after all.

I just don’t believe any of this anymore. Captured? OK. Deal with it, Great Britain. Explode the earth to get back at ‘em.

It’s just another convenient crisis. One convenient crisis after another.

I don’t think I’m being cynical. I just don’t believe a god-damned word coming out of this administration’s ass.

crackers- this is from the AP not hte administration

After 6+ years of corporate controlled media, like I said, I don’t believe a word coming out of this administration’s ass.

Tonkin. War criminal Blair.

Lester, I had exactly the same reaction today when I read about it. So the Persians grabbed some British in the *Persian Gulf*. Maybe the British should stick to the North Sea, and get out of the Persian’s Gulf.

Lester It’s from the AP quoting some English Ministry of Defense spokeman. Doubt that the English MOD is anymore deserving of unquestioned acceptance than the US DOD spokespimples.

Captured without firing a shot. Just like their USSA counterparts. Small wonder, considering the USSA commander in chief has no clue how to or desire to KILL THE ENEMY, POST 911.

I don’t see any news on this site, but it is an interesting view of Kurdistan.
http://www.theOtherIraq.com/

I found some MaoMart trail mix in my Mother-in-Law’s cupboard, and the ingredients were from China and Vietnam. I threw it away.

“Mao*Mart”
Always Outsourced to Communist Slave Labor. *Always*

Lack of standards and lack of quality control is part of the price for imported food or domestic food handled by imported workers, a la Spinach.

Remember the USS Turner Joy and the Gulf of Tonkin incident? I don’t believe anything the Brits or Bush says. Just why couldn’t the ship that was carrying the Marines before they departed in the RIBs intercede on their behalf??

There are too many unanswered questions here.

how obnoxious an occupation appears to one who is sensitive to the language used to describe it

“Mao”Mart … that I love. Btw, here are a couple blogs that are really on top of the pet food recall story, which is a lot more serious than the Menu Foods company + MSM are letting us know — such as the numerous deaths being reported from DRY, not wet, food.

http://www.howl911.com/
– exhaustive –
http://www.itchmo.com/
– also on top of things –

Larry wrote: “Lester, I had exactly the same reaction today when I read about it. So the Persians grabbed some British in the *Persian Gulf*. Maybe the British should stick to the North Sea, and get out of the Persian’s Gulf.”

Yeah, well. That will NOT happen until the U.S., Brits, et al. are no longer dependent on Middle Eastern oil … and until then, it makes some sense to protect that vital interest.

The stench of bullshit is pretty strong on this one.

I don’t believe it for a minute.

Susan

The Brit’s are none too popular with the Iranian people. They did back the Shah to the hilt you know. My father was part of the team that sold them the Trident system, was it?

Anyway that’s beside the by. China, rat poison and the daily….whatttttheffff…

Ahhh, I see what is going on. Standards. Chinese versus ours. They have a valid point. There is more to the steel industry than melting pots and pans in the back yard.

Finally:

“Yeah, well. That will NOT happen until the U.S., Brits, et al. are no longer dependent on Middle Eastern oil … and until then, it makes some sense to protect that vital interest.”

No it doesn’t. It makes injustice!!!!!!

The British sailor capture is a curious story. It’s unlikely that the British sailors lost their bearings. These are the British, descended from generations who pioneered ocean navigation. The British know how to do the water thing.

Regardless of which side of the virtual water line this took place, it was close enough to create an argument, in the context of confrontation. Chalk it up to careless disregard for heated emotions on both sides.

Susan,

Wanna be scared about our food?

Harmonization Upward or Downward?

Theoretically, international harmonization could occur at the lowest or highest levels of public health or environmental protection or somewhere in between. Unfortunately, the actual provisions in NAFTA and the WTO requiring harmonization or providing incentives for harmonization could result in the lowering of the best existing domestic public health, social, economic justice, natural resource conservation and environmental standards around the world.

For instance, under NAFTA and the WTO, international standards serve as a ceiling which countries cannot exceed rather than as a floor that all countries must meet. The agreements provide for the challenge of any domestic standards that go beyond international standards in providing greater citizen safeguards, but contain no provisions for challenging standards that fall below the named international standard. Thus, the provisions in NAFTA and the WTO promoting harmonization are likely to serve only as a one-way downward ratchet on domestic standards. Challenges of domestic standards that exceed international standards will be resolved in the binding dispute resolution system built into these agreements.

http://www.citizen.org/publications/release.cfm?ID=5193

Before we go beatin’ up on the Chinese, lets cast our minds back to a fine American Corporation, Monsanto.

This shining example of American Imperialism bullied their shitty product in place of a perfectly good existing product. Yep….genetically modified milk. I think it has been ruled unsafe by the United Nations, even.

More interesting if you look at interviews compiled by journalists, the MD [from memory] made a joke about his wife who was alarmed at the posibility of total replacement of milk stocks by GM milk. You know what he replied….

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to drink it”

I rest my case!!!!!

‘Routine boarding’ is standard nomenclature for Gitmo interrogations.

Did KSM admit he ‘kidnapped the 15 marines’ too?

Don’t forget that this is not the first time we’ve had sailors and marines captured by the Iranian navy. This is a repeat of a June 2004 incident where eight Royal Navy sailors were forced to admit wrongdoing and apologise on TV and were released three days later. Somthing of that ilk likely to happen here. Or at least I hope it does.

I might have missed it, but questions I don’t see asked, so I’ll ask:

Why were British sailors captured the same week as the UN security council vote on Iran sanctions? Maybe Iran reinforcing their contention as a player? Or maybe the British wanted to sail close to the edge to push the sanctions as a threat? Maybe both?

What a load of PC twaddle from you people. These troops were policing shipping under a UN charter. You do gooder twits would be the first to grizzle if the British did not follow a diplomatic process, yet you do not back up the peaceful diplomatic process of the United Nations when some Iranian despot craps all over it. You twits are hypocrites.