BUSH OFFERS BLAIR WAR PLANES TO SOLVE IRANIAN PROBLEM

Think Progress reports on Bill Kristol's comments on Fox News that the United States came closer this past week to war with Iran. Kristol is one of the leading intellectual proponents of world war with Iran, no doubt as a way for the U.S. to maintain its hegemony over the rest of the world.

The Guardian of London says that the U.S. offered Tony Blair the use of U.S. war planes as help in obtaining the release of the 15 British sailors/marines held by Iran.

"In the first few days after the captives were seized and British diplomats were getting no news from Tehran on their whereabouts, Pentagon officials asked their British counterparts: what do you want us to do? They offered a series of military options, a list which remains top secret given the mounting risk of war between the US and Iran. But one of the options was for US combat aircraft to mount aggressive patrols over Iranian Revolutionary Guard bases in Iran, to underline the seriousness of the situation."

Thanks to the gods that Tony Blair and the British military rejected this reckless and foolish U.S. offer. The United States might actually find itself in a world war this week with Iran, as Kristol, Bush, Cheney and all the other war-mongering neo-cons, want so much.

THE NEWSHOUR ON THE 15 BRITISH SAILORS

I listened to Margaret Warner on The Newshour last night interview a former U.S. military officer as to the propriety or impropriety of cooperating with the Iranians in the way that the released group of 15 British sailors/marines did recently. But for me that was not the main story. Rather I wanted The Newshour to investigate the discrepancies between the captured sailors' statements while in Iranian custody and their statements at the news conference yesterday in England.

Margaret Warner kept asking the same question, "what may soldiers say or do while in captivity?" This was not arduous reporting. I wanted her to do some hard reporting. As I suggested in a previous blog, I am most suspicious of governments, including that of Tony Blair, spinning what really happened for political or domestic gain. Why wasn't there any report on The Newshour about only six sailors/marines in attendance at the news conference? Why didn't Margaret Warner investigate why Faye Turney was not present to answer questions?

STRANGE NEWS CONFERENCE YESTERDAY WITH ONLY FIVE BRITISH SAILORS

I watched the TV excerpts from the news conference of the British sailors/marines last night. For one thing, there were only six of the 15 giving their experiences and recounting their version of the events. Where were the other ten? Specifically where was Faye Turney, the female sailor who wrote the two handwritten notes back to her family from Iran? Did the British military authorities order them not to talk? Is there hidden information that the authorities fear will be made public?

Second, why did the five spokesmen read from prepared reports? It is almost as if someone else wrote the reports, someone maybe in higher military authority, and ordered the returned junior officers to read the pre-authorized accounts for public consumption. Admittedly, some readers might find this suspicion too darkly paranoiac, but stranger things have happened with the military and with governments as intransigent as Tony Blair's.

FREED BRITISH CAPTIVES SAY THEY WERE IMPRISONED AND CUFFED

Now it seems like the British sailors/marines are being forced to condemn Iran for arresting them, including blindfolding, cuffing and jailing. The spin begins. The BBC here gives personal recollections of some of the sailors during the captivity. I see no torture nor extreme treatment. Look for your self.

I see where some Britons are wondering why the sailors, when in Iran, said nice things about the Iranians, as if that in se were a punishable offense. Why are some Britons so hostile towards Iran? Why does the official position of the British government incorporate such animosity towards Iran and the Iranians? Was it reasonable for Iran to arrest the British sailors or not? Did they stray into Iranian sovereign waters or not? If they did, which is a 50/50 possibility, then the actions of Iran are reasonable and justified, and Tony Blair and some in the U.K. should quit whining.