Yesterday I said walk softer Iran, Today, announced release of Brits: This plays into Bush's hand!

Yesterday I said walk softer Iran, Today, announced release of Brits as both sides play coy but Bush benefits the most! Today we have British navy personnel, seized by Iran, waving to the media after their meeting with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the presidential palace in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 4, 2007. Just think about this before you breath a sigh of relief.
The President of Iran was clearly relishing his role as beneficent liberator of the 15 British Marines and sailors detained by Iran for nearly two weeks. At a press conference today, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the release a "gift to the British people" on the occasion of Easter as well as a commemoration of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. The smiling President then met with the British detainees, nodding his head munificently as they lined up to offer thanks for their release. "It is for Islam," he reminded one. Ahmadinejad said it was not being done because of the conciliatory letter sent by Britain but rather it was being done as a gift to the British people. I mean come on get real
The office of the presidency in Iran does not really have a say in matters of foreign policy. Indeed, British analysts were quick to credit another political personage for the resolution of the drama. John Williams, the former Director of News of Britain's Foreign Office, asserts that Dr. Ali Larijani, the secretary general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was more important in calling the shots. "It seems that around the weekend, Dr. Larijani decided to settle this and took control," says Williams. "He has proved himself a significant power broker, a man who, if he feels it is in Iran's best interests, will do business with the international community." Other observers warn against giving Larijani too much credit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, they say, may have decided that Iran had squeezed as much advantage out of the situation as possible and simply got Larijani to do the legwork to end the crisis and I agree with the latter.
Observers in Britain don't doubt that the release of the detainees was in Iran's best interest. "If the saga had dragged on, it would have led to an escalation of international opinion against Iran. Sir Christopher Meyer, Britain's former ambassador to the U.S., describes the decision as "a shrewd move. The detainees were a wasting asset." The sudden announcement also reinforced a sense that Iran, and not Britain, was dictating the pace. I agree with that too of course.
However As the crisis dragged on, government sources acknowledged that Iran's intransigence was exposing Britain's comparative impotence. It had failed to secure a strong denunciation of Iran's actions from the U.N. Security Council; its European allies were balancing support for Britain against their business interests; and although Prime Minister Tony Blair warned a failure to reach a quick resolution would lead to a "new phase" in response to the detentions, nobody detected in his words the martial sounds of rattling sabers. "There's no mood here for military adventures in Iran or elsewhere," says Malik a Muslim member of parliament. "Iraq wasn't what we thought it would be. There's a somber mood in this country." http://www.time.com/...
I just heard on the news that a crisis has been avoided. I hate to inform Iran and Britain but it has only been avoided by the 15 captives and their families. It has only been stayed for a little longer for Iran. As some of you know, I did a post yesterday about the Carriers on station in the Gulf.
Knowing the Nimitz is on its way to the Gulf and The United States already has two aircraft carriers and their battle Groups in the neighborhood, the Eisenhower and the Stennis to which the French recently added one of their own, the Charles DeGaulle right outside the Gulf.
With four aircraft-carrier battle groups, several hundred carrier-based strike fighters, and 20 strategic bombers just minutes or hours from Iran, the United States will have assembled everything it needs to cripple the regime and wipe out the most important elements of its nuclear program. Iran needs to know that this is the only alternative to complying with the Security Council resolutions.
Remember who the Decider is, it is not Ahmadinejad and it is not Blair. the Brits are now out of danger and Bush still has those 5 captured Iranian's. I also want to know what ever happened to the missing Iranian spy, does anyone know? Anyway to me all of this plays into the hand of the warmonger Bush. There is no way at this too convenient time that there will soon be 4 carriers and their Battle Groups at the Gulf that Bush does not plan on using them against Iran. He will not let this opportunity go regardless of what Iran or Britain thinks!

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com