Iran/Britain Standoff: The Aftermath

With the British sailors safely home, we're learning new facts about what happened.

First up, Sky News reports the following, based on information they gathered just prior to the arrest of the sailors in Iran: "The captain in charge of the 15 marines detained in Iran has said they were gathering intelligence on the Iranians." If true, I don't know why that hasn't been bigger news.

The British government, natch, still maintains that they were in Iraqi waters at the time.

Then there are the revelations that-- surprise, surprise-- the 'confessions' the British sailors made in Iran were made under duress. They described psychological abuse... mock executions, fake letters from family, the isolation of the female soldier.

You'll notice, though, that the U.S. government had nothing to say about those revelations. Their official, legal approval of indefinite detentions, kidnapping, and torture (from sleep deprivation to waterboarding to occassionally even fatal beatings) has made it impossible to criticize any other nation on the issue of human rights. We have the Republican party to thank for this shame.

Speaking of, as part of a tit-for-tat for the sailors' release total coincidence, we released one of the Iranian diplomats we grabbed in northern Iraq in January. The freed diplomat now details of his interrogation and torture by the CIA. The U.S. denied any involvement with his disappearance or release. And we totally believe them too! {*cough*}

And then there are the further revelations that the Bush administration offered to intervene on Britain's behalf (read: lots of shows of military aggression). The response from London... Do us a favor, Dubya, and stay out of this, let the grownups handle this.

The right-wing is of course, disappointed that this didn't end in war. King Neocon himself, William Kristol, told his friends at Fox News that the proper response to the crisis would've been military strikes on Iran. Tough-guy Michelle Malkin laments that the sailors didn't get themselves killed with some "let's roll"-esque bravado. And the National Review's John Derbyshire states that the captured sailors "disgraced their country and dishonored their uniforms" with their cowardice.

That they did what was necessary to survive is a loss to them. The right-wing brain in action.

Finally, was this really a PR win for Iran? The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum says no.