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All About Arrests, Brits, Iran, Intel And A Sky News 'Spy' Scoop ...
Seen right, reading a prepared statement regarding recent Iranian arrest related 'events' involving himself and 14 other British military personnel mates, is Royal Marine Captain, Chris Air.
But there's something else this same young officer recently had to say ... to a Sky TV News reporter ... some days before being 'invited' to take a fortnight's all-expenses-paid, Iranian interlude.
An offer which, as the whole world now knows, was one that he and his buddies could not refuse.
But to get back to the basics of 'the latest'.
Read this.
In His Own Words
Thursday April 05, 2007
Captain Chris Air of the Royal Marines revealed to Sky News that he and his colleagues had been gathering intelligence on the Iranians.
Here follows the full transcript of that interview.
Captain Air: "This is what's called an IPAT - an Interaction patrol whereby we come alongside or even board the fishing Dhows and basically interact with the crew.
"It's partly a hearts-and-minds type patrol, whereby we'll come along and speak to the crew, find out if they have any problems and just sort of introduce ourselves, let them know we're here to protect them, protect their fishing and stop any terrorism and piracy in the area.
"Secondly it's to gather int (Intelligence).
Read the rest of the Sky News 'spy-scoop' right here and now.
Then when you've read that, you MUST watch this -- to see & hear young Captain Chris Air interviewed for Sky News -- while actually engaged in Gulf operations (live upon the proverbial high-seas), shortly before the shit hit the fan.
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Labels: Arrests, British Sailors, Captain Chris Air, Freed, Iran, Marines, Sky News
posted by Richard at Friday, April 06, 2007
11 Comments:
About the only thing that surprises me is that Murdock's Sky ever aired this at all. Though God know what would have happened had they not sat on it until now.
The Iranians are not stupid though, they were already well aware -- but to have heard this fellow saying it publically -- while still in their custody -- argh! Just imagine it.
I agree with every word Charles said. What's to add?
The one thing about this whole episode that really scares me is to think how things would have turned out if the Americans had been involved in this.
At the very least all their men would have died, along with some Iranians. Then after that? God only knows. Perhaps the start of the next real world war?
What is it about sucessive US governements and their military that prevents any joined-up thinking?
I can see by the related articles that the spinmasters at Sky news are busy to frame the release, and do some damage control by throwing mud at the Iranians, rather shamelessly and without substance.
A rather pathetic, low level propaganda may I say.
All sides involved in this episode, including all sorts of media, is using it to try to promote its own agenda, which began as predictable rhetoric and morphed into pretty much its own face-saving public relations.
Sky News, by withholding (and then possibly exaggerating) the actual intelligence gathering component of the British sailors' mission, is scoring credibility points ...and it makes sure viewers and readers know that.
Some of the media made a point of the required "debriefing" by the military (standard Intelligence OP, actually), BEFORE the sailors could be reunited with their families, so readers could be prepared to possibly doubt any change in the "official" story or, conversely, believe the sailors had been "brain-washed" or coerced by the Iranians if the story becomes different now. We can at least FEEL like we are drawing our own conclusions about where the truth lies.
The first reports I read were over at The Independent which took a much more belligerent attitude, extremely critical of the Iranian's "grandstanding" "showmanship" "long diatribe", etc. Other descriptors like "ill-fitting gray suits" looked, in photos I saw later, much more like what the BBC described as "smart suits."
I was disturbed by Robert Fisk's earlier piece which was very critical of the Iranians. He believed Faye's letters home were forced and dictated by her captors. It seemed out of character for Fisk. As I re-read it now, I see he is extremely critical of everybody on all sides.
Rosemary in this instance, I'm willing to suspend my ever in the forefront suspicious attitude, and say that the Iranians executed an act of Blessed Mercy, thus I would never in this episode equate the two sides morally, in any way.
Now it is possible, that they'll gain politically and accrue a large degree of goodwill, but you know morally superior acts, have a general tendency to accomplish that. I'm willing to say, that they acted that way out of the impetus originated from inside, and reaped the just reward, than suppose some prior cold calculation in their part, and conclude things from there. If they are willing to be gracious, so am I.
I do think however, that we in the West are under the influence of an intensely hateful Islamophobic propaganda, by masterminds who dearly wish a Civilisational conflict between Christian/Secular West and Islam.
I recommend you to listen on You Tube a lecture made by a British journalist, about her experience in Afghanistan.
Captive to Convert:Yvonne Ridley
Oh, yes, Tom, I agree with everything you said. I was just fascinated by the various media treatments and how it changed over the course of time. It was shocking to see how biased it was at the beginning.
"The one thing about this whole episode that really scares me is to think how things would have turned out if the Americans had been involved in this."
The US is involved in this. Among Britain's EU and NATO "allies," only the US offered significant support in this crisis: for example, two Nimitz-class carrier battle groups with a third on the way.
"What is it about sucessive US governements and their military that prevents any joined-up thinking?"
Well. If I were British, I would be asking why the helicopter flew back to the Cornwall, leaving those Sailors and Marines stranded. Giving them active support would have represented "joined-up thinking."
The point is that the Mullahs are rank bullies who look for weakness. The kidnappers lay in wait and then pounced when they found an opportunity. They've done it to Yanks and they've done it to Brits. What are we in the West going to do to confront a common threat - other than blame ourselves?
John,
What are we in the West going to do to confront a common threat - other than blame ourselves?
Well the first thing you need to do is wake up. Maybe then you'll realise that the same liars who dragged us into a needless war on Iraq want to do the same again, with some fresh lies.
Of course if you still swallow the bilge your MSM feeds you daily then maybe you should sign yourself up fast and get on over there and 'go get'em'.
The US was absolutely not involved in this arrest incident, John.
This "arrest incident" was in fact an ambush and kidnapping, the kind of stunt the Mullahs have been pulling since 1979.
In response the EU did... nothing at all for Britain. The UN Security Council, unable to agree that "outrage" was appropriate language, expressed "grave concern." Big deal. In marked contrast, the US immediately sent a third carrier battle group to the region in response. We're NATO allies and Coalition partners, after all. Last I checked a World War hasn't broken out as a result.
Where was the EU when the armed forces of a member state were attacked while engaged in entirely legal boarding operations directed at smugglers? Trade sanctions at least were in order.
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