London-based Iranian blogger Azarmehr explains why the conduct of the Marines and sailors - with a couple of exceptions - was so destructive. But first, he also posts a complete picture of the group as they were being freed, and I reproduce it here:
Look at the three men on the right. They were behaving properly, refusing to smile, refusing to wave. Now look at this picture, cropped (I think by AP) to the form most newspapers and media outlets have been showing. This example comes from The Telegraph:
The disappearing men were refusing to give the Iranian government the weapon Azarmehr describes:
Ask an average Iranian, if he or she would like to see an Iran without the mullahs, but instead as a secular democratic country, and most probably he or she would jump with joy and say 'more than anything else'. Ask the same person, if he or she would like to do anything about it and the answer would most probably be "there is nothing we can do, its a waste of time, they are too strong and too shrewd"Just so.
This image of invincibility has been cultivated carefully by the mullahs for over 28 years now. Islamic Republic's top priority is to make sure the Iranian people become disappointed, hopeless, indifferent and accept the clerical rule as their only alternative.
[...]
Iranians saw images of the Royal Marine officers, apologizing time and time again for having entered 400 metres into Iranian waters, jumping about and acting like school girls, ruffling each others hair when they heard the news that they are about to be released, and then bending over backwards thanking Ahmadi-Nejad for his hospitality. Iranians saw images of Ahmadi-Nejad telling off a UK sailor, not to cover the camera when he is shaking hands with him, and the Marine, then re-adjusting himself like a scared school boy in front of a headmaster.
UK news channels interviewed the mums and dads of these sailors, with mums talking about how much they are looking forward to cuddling and pampering their little boys and telling them off for having been such a naughty boy.
Hardly the same image of a military power that stood up for her citizens in the Falkland Islands, thousands of miles away, two decades ago.
Read it all, then scroll down the comments until you see this:
At 8:45 PM, Tariq Khan said...I don't think Khan is an Iranian name. This lesson has resonated with every Islamist and we're all at greater risk as a result.
No one can mess with the government of Allah :)
Anyone fighting Allah will be doomed.
1 comment:
Good one. Someone posted a key picture at Free Republic ive re posted at ATW. My view is the media has more to answer for than ever despite the military mistakes made here. Starting a war over this would have been nutty. Certainly wising up to the precarious situation in those waters and on borders is key. But starting a war over this? No. Too much going on. The MSM could have helped better in minimising the negative propaganda. Many institutions have lost their wiser ways.
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