OK, that Iran water boundary thing.

[matgb]

Y'know how sometimes a story is both very depressing and something that will only make you angry so you avoid following it? I haven't been folowing the Iran/Sailors thing, because, well, all sides are stretching the truth past breaking point and it'll just depress me. A few aspects were bothering me though. fridgemagnet (who may be a little to my left) links to two articles by craigmurray (who really doesn't like the current Govt but does have some knowledge of the legality). Summary:

1. There is no legally recognised maritime boundary between Iran and Iraq
2. Iran does not recognise the boundary that Blair is claiming
3. The Allies know this

So, both sides are sabre rattling, both sides are obfuscating and telling porkies, both sides are playing to their domestic galleries and world opinion rather than actually being honest.

My understanding is that the event happened very close to the border Britain claims, but that that border still puts them closer to Iran than Iraq, or, as Craig puts it:

Go on, print out the map and measure it.

Everyone has an axe to grind. No one is in the right. Don't believe the hype.

I now go back to trying to ignore this story. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Comments

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

both sides are sabre rattling, both sides are obfuscating and telling porkies, both sides are playing to their domestic galleries and world opinion rather than actually being honest

O rly? How unexpected! [/heavy sarcasm]

* has also been burying head in... um... sand about this one *

Having said that...

* forwards bits of this on to Dad, who has been trying, so far without success, to convince her of one side ofver the other *

[matgb]

Bear in mind the caveats though; Craig may be a notional expert, but he's also got a big hate thing on for Blair. Understandably given what happened to him, but unbiased analysis this ain't.

Suspect it's accurate, but you never know...

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

* nodnod *

It's not like my Dad's a fan of Tony's anyhoo.

* copies, pastes, edits into email *

"I found this on the internet" being easier to explain than "Mat says, oh and incidentally, you know that Vox blog you know about? This is the blog you don't know about" at the moment... ;)

Tomorrow never dies

[eccles.livejournal.com]

Oh, and there was me thinking it was some rehashed James Bond plot.

Re: Tomorrow never dies

[matgb]

Well, it's probably that too. I mean, they probably showed it to Dubbya and he asked Tony to arrange some entertainment based on it or something.

[davidnm.livejournal.com]

On Tuesday, I didn't buy a newspaper or look at bbc.co.uk (as I wasn't at work), so I went an entire day without hearing the word 'Iraq', or the words 'George Bush'. It improved my day considerably; unfortunately, being a concerned citizen at the moment isn't particularly pleasant!

I get the feeling that the main problem at the moment with Iran is that our government has been rattling sabers at them for so long (or at least standing back quietly and deferentially while the Bush does) that we've exhausted any influence we might have had with any section of the Iranian government. As a result we just don't have any levers left to prod them with, so they have a clear playing field if they feel like causing trouble.

[matgb]

I tend to have Radio 4 on all the time, plus a huge number of politics types on my friends list, so despite no TV and not buying newspapers, still picking up lots of dullness.

But yeah, Iran is holding all the cards that I can see. Crazy, it's not like anyone could get away with launching an attack, and this isn't going to stoke enough reaction to provoke support for an invasion there. Gah!

[kcontheroad.livejournal.com]

A war with Iraq is the last thing we need right now. What we OUGHT to do is ignore them in the press, and talk with them in private. The hostage crisis in '79 showed us that the more press they receive, the more they feel there's a use to holding onto hostages.

We've be itching for a fight with Iran for some time now. The US public hasn't been going for it no matter what the Bush people keep saying. What sense are you getting from the people on your side of the pond?

[matgb]

My internet connection ate my reply, but overall there are some trigger happy loons (a phone in this afternoon had one bloke suggest we nuke Tehran) but mostly they're dismissed, as this guy was by every other caller.

We were never that keen on Iraq, any extension would probably topple the Govt, and the Labour MPs know it.

[kcontheroad.livejournal.com]

A war with IRAN. Darn my brain or lack thereof.

[0ct0pus.livejournal.com]

Good call. Thanks for the links.

[tiredstars.livejournal.com]

Good to see the underused 'maritime borders' tag getting an outing...

I've not really been following things, largely due to limited net access, but I remember on the first day of this pointing out to one of my housemates that Iran's idea of the boundaries is not necessarily the same as ours (or vice versa).
It also highlights something I'm always trying to get across to people (and should be familiar to anyone who's actually studied Iran), that there are a range of different factions and actors in the country who disagree and work at cross-purposes. If you try to view Iran as a rational, unified, actor you'll make no sense of cases like this, or you'll start thinking they're just all crazy arabs (er, persians) who can't be reasoned with.