Sailors weren't in Iraqi waters - MoD
orca | 17.04.2008 07:43 | Anti-militarism | Iraq
The Times just published a Freedom of Information request about the location of the 15 British sailors 'kidnapped' by Iran last March. The Defence Secretary told parliament that they were in Iraqi waters when he already knew that this was a lie. The Iraqi brigadier in charge of these waters immediately rubbished UK claims but was ignored in the mainstream media.
In March of last year fifteen British sailors were arrested by Iranian revolutionary guards for straying into Iranian waters and intercepting traffic illegally. The humiliation of their capture was compounded when they burst out crying after their Ipods were confiscated. This was used cynically by the government as an excuse to stoke up tabloid demands for war with Iran, with information being drip-fed to the press like any PR campaign.
As pointed out at the time on Indymedia, there is no recognised border in the waterway since the British had previously encouraged first the Iranian shah, then Saddam Hussien, to claim the entire waterway. It is worth looking back at the IM archive to see how many investigative articles were smeared as 'conspiracy theories' by pro-military, for example [1] and [2]. It seems it is not only the mainstream media who were subject to a disinformation campaign. Still, IM told you so !
“There is no doubt that HMS Cornwall was operating in Iraqi waters and that the incident itself took place in Iraqi waters . . . In the early days the Iranians provided us with a set of coordinates, and asserted that was where the event took place, but when we told them the coordinates were in Iraqi waters they changed that set and found one in their own waters. I do not think that even they sustain the position that the incident took place anywhere other than in Iraqi waters”
Des Browne, Defence Secretary, House of Commons, June 16, 2007
“Since the outset of the Iraq-Iran War there has been no formal ratified TTW [territorial waters] agreement in force between Iraq and Iran . . . In the absence of any formal agreement, the coalition tactical demarcation (the Op Line) is used as a notional TTW boundary. It is a US NAVCENT [US Naval Forces Central Command] construct based on an extension of the Algiers accord demarcation line beyond the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab [waterway] into the NAG [northern Arabian Gulf]. While it may be assumed that the Iranians must be aware of some form of operational boundary, the exact coordinates to the Op Line have not been published to Iran.”
MoD report to the Chief of the Defence Staff under the heading: ‘Why the incident occurred’, dated April 13, 2007, released to The Times under the FoI
Report reveals Iran seized British sailors in disputed waters
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3761058.ece
[1] http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/03/366108.html?c=on#c169719
"Well conspiracy theories aside"
[2] http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/03/366108.html?c=on#c169703
"Your tiresome seemingly drone like acceptance of any conspiracy theory and conincidence belies your apparant stupidity."
As pointed out at the time on Indymedia, there is no recognised border in the waterway since the British had previously encouraged first the Iranian shah, then Saddam Hussien, to claim the entire waterway. It is worth looking back at the IM archive to see how many investigative articles were smeared as 'conspiracy theories' by pro-military, for example [1] and [2]. It seems it is not only the mainstream media who were subject to a disinformation campaign. Still, IM told you so !
“There is no doubt that HMS Cornwall was operating in Iraqi waters and that the incident itself took place in Iraqi waters . . . In the early days the Iranians provided us with a set of coordinates, and asserted that was where the event took place, but when we told them the coordinates were in Iraqi waters they changed that set and found one in their own waters. I do not think that even they sustain the position that the incident took place anywhere other than in Iraqi waters”
Des Browne, Defence Secretary, House of Commons, June 16, 2007
“Since the outset of the Iraq-Iran War there has been no formal ratified TTW [territorial waters] agreement in force between Iraq and Iran . . . In the absence of any formal agreement, the coalition tactical demarcation (the Op Line) is used as a notional TTW boundary. It is a US NAVCENT [US Naval Forces Central Command] construct based on an extension of the Algiers accord demarcation line beyond the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab [waterway] into the NAG [northern Arabian Gulf]. While it may be assumed that the Iranians must be aware of some form of operational boundary, the exact coordinates to the Op Line have not been published to Iran.”
MoD report to the Chief of the Defence Staff under the heading: ‘Why the incident occurred’, dated April 13, 2007, released to The Times under the FoI
Report reveals Iran seized British sailors in disputed waters
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3761058.ece [1]
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/03/366108.html?c=on#c169719 "Well conspiracy theories aside"
[2]
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/03/366108.html?c=on#c169703 "Your tiresome seemingly drone like acceptance of any conspiracy theory and conincidence belies your apparant stupidity."
orca
Homepage:
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/03/366046.html