Who are the bad guys, again…

The Iranians continue to show themselves as dangerous, unreliable and untrustworthy. Anyone who has studied the international law understands the perpetual contention around territorial waters and borders. The Iranians make all sorts of claims, which are not recognized internationally, about the extend and shape of their territorial waters.

The United States and other nations routinely conduct FON events (freedom of navigation) to underscore the fact that these boundaries are unrecognized claims. This is not the case for the captured British sailors. To me the case is fairly clear that the British VBSS (vessel board search and seizure) team was tricked. The British MOD indicates that the reported position of the target vessel was well within Iraqi territorial waters and the arrival of Iranian naval assets was a surprise (indicating a planned event) to the UK forces.

The sailors are now in Tehran, separated to prevent any possible rescue. The Iranians will not harm them, unless they would like some serious hurt landing on their heads from US and UK forces. They are simply putting their thumb in the eye of the West reminding us that our precious rules and laws make us beholden to their outrageous behavior.

It’s enough to make me want to simply raise the black flag…