British Soldiers in Iran...Why No One Cares

The Iranian hostage “crisis” -if it could be called that compared to the Iranian hostage (real) crisis of 1979 involving American soldiers- has important implications for the international community. It is an important chance to see the political prowess of the Iranian regime as they interact with one of the West’s most prominent powers. How Ahmadenijad choose to engage or not engage in negotiations with Britain can give the United States unequivocal data into the psyche of the Iranian President.

Apparently not everyone sees the importance. I was disappointed not only at how little attention was paid to the situation but most importantly, the level of analysis applied when the crisis was covered. It seems American media is infatuated with the millions fundraised by Presidential candidates more than the international implications of a British-Iran diplomatic showdown.

BBC remains my preferred news source because of its analysis and unbiased presentation of important international news. Case in point…quotes from both Iranian and Middle Eastern newspapers were collected by BBC and offer a broader perspective on the circumstances and the global implications of the release.

After some searching, I did find some substantive engagements in the crisis and its implications in the American media. I disagree somewhat with Slate’s view of the crisis as a total Tony Blair/ British failure. Clearly the situation had an international impact and using Blair or the British government as a scapegoat is ignorant.

The Moderate Voice is entertaining on the matter, but not necessarily analytical.

I greatly appreciated Charles Krauthammer’s op-ed in the Washington Post which explored other institutional failures. He was disappointed in the failure of the European Union, who prefers soft power diplomacy to “the brute military force those Neanderthal Americans resort to all the time” as well as the United Nations.

It is very evident that Ahmadenijad attempted to use the hostages as political leverage. Specifically coining the release “a gift to the British people,” and awarding the Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who captured the British naval men. The moderate Iranian news, Kargozaran, states, “Iran’s withdrawal of all its legal demands has surprised the people because we did not see any obvious flexibility from the UK.” Reformist news, Aftab-E Yazd, said, “The release of the British sailors just a day after Tony Blair’s empty threat did not arouse any sense of pride among Iranians but possibly even a sort of repulsion.”

As news of Iranian soldiers in Iraq being released and the treatment of the British sailors are uncovered, this issue is not over and done with. I’m looking forward to finding more pieces of the puzzle and hopefully uncovering support for my belief that the crisis was not a complete Iranian victory.