Iran Releases 10 Navy Sailors Held After Drifting Into Iranian Waters

[Tom Joad]

There are now millions of disappointed right wingers all over this country who had been hoping that Iran would behead them so that they could blame it on Obama and justify starting another war.

https://gma.yahoo.com/iran-releases-10-navy-sailors-held-drifting-iranian-101750843--abc-news-topstories.html#

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps has released 10 U.S. Navy sailors who were being held after their boats are said to have drifted into Iranian waters on a journey from Kuwait to Bahrain Tuesday.

"Ten U.S. Navy Sailors safely returned to U.S. custody today, after departing Iran. There are no indications that the Sailors were harmed during their brief detention,” according to a statement from the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs Office.

[bobabode]

Frightwing nippleheads are exploding all across the fruited plain today. :D

The black guy in the White House schools the riled up inhabitants of Planet Rage...again.

Thank you John Kerry and Barack Obama. :)

[d-ray657]

Come on! Diplomacy is for wussies. We shoulda bombed the hell out of them mooslems for kidnapping our boys.

[bobabode]

Come on! Diplomacy is for wussies. We shoulda bombed the hell out of them mooslems for kidnapping our boys.

You channeling 'Thirsty' Rubio tonight? ;)

[MrPots]

There are now millions of disappointed right wingers all over this country who had been hoping that Iran would behead them so that they could blame it on Obama and justify starting another war.

https://gma.yahoo.com/iran-releases-10-navy-sailors-held-drifting-iranian-101750843--abc-news-topstories.html#

Heh... you're probably more spot on that even you imagine yourself.....

"dreams of nuclear clouds dancing in the little GOP pinheads"

[Dondilion]

Question. Are these Swedish boats reliable?

[donquixote99]

That may depend on who's maintaining them.

[Zeke]

Come on! Diplomacy is for wussies. We shoulda bombed the hell out of them mooslems for kidnapping our boys.

Gulf of Tehran Incident? :rolleyes:

[Dondilion]

That may depend on who's maintaining them.

Latest on tv: it is navigational error. I guess we have to wait for the final official report.

[bobabode]

Prisoner swap between the U.S. and Iran making the news today.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iran-releases-post-correspondent-jason-rezaian-iranian-reports-say/2016/01/16/e8ee7858-ba38-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-banner-main_rezaian-1030am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Thanks, SoS Kerry and Pres. Obama. Well done. :)

[Tom Joad]

Latest on tv: it is navigational error.

That's going to be a hard sell considering they probably have GPS that's accurate to a gnat's ass.

[donquixote99]

The new guy didn't know how to work it?

[hillbilly]

I heard early on in this story ( on tv ) that the engines quit running. Lost all power the boats did and it wasn't clear why they lost all power and drifted. Computer hack? Dunno, never heard anything more about it.

I also didn't hear where was mother ship and why she didn't come to them.

[Tom Joad]

I heard early on in this story ( on tv ) that the engines quit running. Lost all power the boats did and it wasn't clear why they lost all power and drifted. Computer hack? Dunno, never heard anything more about it.

Maybe they ran out of gas.

[donquixote99]

They were up to something and got caught. They were lucky it was at a moment when Iran felt they needed to make nice, right before the really big payday that has now happened.

[Tom Joad]

They were up to something and got caught. They were lucky it was at a moment when Iran felt they needed to make nice, right before the really big payday that has now happened.

I think you are right.

I was in 7th grade when I first learned that the United States Government would lie to me. That was when the U2 incident went down.

[sheltiedave]

What "big payday?"

There has been a 35 year long, and a 15 year long, and a 5 year long freeze of Iranian banking assets held in foreign banks, that Iran could not access. Since a large portion of it was oil money, it was quite large on a relative basis.

This was all part of a negotiated process - IF Iran followed the IAEA rules laid out regarding operation, monitoring, and disposition of their nuc plant, then the international community would allow Iran access to their frozen funds.

Even if Iran cheated, or never stopped cheating, or plans to cheat now or in the future, it is more important that they sit at a negotiating table and act like a civilized country, than to act like North Korea, or like the Caliphate.

The bottom line is there are very few ways to moderate and lessen the inherent friction and political/religious/economic pathways between the Western world and the Mideast. We are always going to have conflict, but it is important to devise and implement methodologies that seek interim solutions at bargaining tables preferentially rather than using tanks, jets, and nuclear weapons.

Diplomacy is the art of the possible.

[mpholland]

Stories on the news these days just perplex me. I suppose if a couple small Iranian military vessels full of soldiers floated by in American waters we would just tell them "carry on, have a nice visit".

[Tom Joad]

What "big payday?"

There has been a 35 year long, and a 15 year long, and a 5 year long freeze of Iranian banking assets held in foreign banks, that Iran could not access. Since a large portion of it was oil money, it was quite large on a relative basis.

This was all part of a negotiated process - IF Iran followed the IAEA rules laid out regarding operation, monitoring, and disposition of their nuc plant, then the international community would allow Iran access to their frozen funds.

Even if Iran cheated, or never stopped cheating, or plans to cheat now or in the future, it is more important that they sit at a negotiating table and act like a civilized country, than to act like North Korea, or like the Caliphate.

The bottom line is there are very few ways to moderate and lessen the inherent friction and political/religious/economic pathways between the Western world and the Mideast. We are always going to have conflict, but it is important to devise and implement methodologies that seek interim solutions at bargaining tables preferentially rather than using tanks, jets, and nuclear weapons.

Diplomacy is the art of the possible.

So you think if Iran hadn't released those sailors that the sanctions would have been lifted anyway? I kinda doubt it. I think we would have found a way to make the UN put a hold on that bargaining chip until they did.

[Rajoo]

.................................................. ..................
Diplomacy is the art of the possible.

Except with Israel, now they want $5 billion instead of the paltry $3 billion they get annually. Since Netanyahu did not get his way when he sabotaged the the nuclear treaty, he now wants us to bribe him to the tune of $2 B. I hope Obama tells him to take a flying leap. :mad:

[donquixote99]

What "big payday?"

There has been a 35 year long, and a 15 year long, and a 5 year long freeze of Iranian banking assets held in foreign banks, that Iran could not access. Since a large portion of it was oil money, it was quite large on a relative basis.



That big payday, getting that money back. If you thought I meant anything else, or further, I didn't. The fright wing is spewing all sorts of nonsense about this whole business, but you didn't hear it from me.

Part of negotiation is choosing not to let some incident screw things up, even if on another occasion you might have chosen a totally different path.

Given the timing, it suddenly occurs to me that someone who wanted things screwed up, for some reason, might have engineered this naval misadventure. Goes in the conspiracy file, but I think it's a possibility.

[Boreas]

Stories on the news these days just perplex me. I suppose if a couple small Iranian military vessels full of soldiers floated by in American waters we would just tell them "carry on, have a nice visit".

The stories are worse than mere sensationalism. They are calculated to make the American people hate and fear "The Other" so that they will support huge government expenditures for military hardware and, ultimately, will be in favor of more wars. It's the "Two Minutes Hate".

"We have always been at war with Eastasia."

[Tom Joad]

Given the timing, it suddenly occurs to me that someone who wanted things screwed up, for some reason, might have engineered this naval misadventure. Goes in the conspiracy file, but I think it's a possibility.

It won't be the first time if it is.

[donquixote99]

So you think if Iran hadn't released those sailors that the sanctions would have been lifted anyway? I kinda doubt it. I think we would have found a way to make the UN put a hold on that bargaining chip until they did.

Going with my conspiracy theory, I think the guys who got the gimmicked GPS onto the boat (or whatever) really expected the Iranians to hang onto the sailors. Then one of two things happens:

1. The Iranian assets stay frozen, and the whole nuke deal unravels, and war with Iran is on the table again.

OR

2. The assets are unfrozen anyway, and the howl from the right machine that Obama is a weak inept coward, and a Muslim-lover, and a traitor abandoning our heroic sailors, becomes absolutely deafening.

Good diplomacy (and savvy Iranians who saw through this) allowed both of these bullets to be dodged.

[Tom Joad]

Going with my conspiracy theory, I think the guys who got the gimmicked GPS onto the boat (or whatever) really expected the Iranians to hang onto the sailors. Then one of two things happens:

1. The Iranian assets stay frozen, and the whole nuke deal unravels, and war with Iran is on the table again.

OR

2. The assets are unfrozen anyway, and the howl from the right machine that Obama is a weak inept coward, and a Muslim-lover, and a traitor abandoning our heroic sailors, becomes absolutely deafening.

Good diplomacy (and savvy Iranians who saw through this) allowed both of these bullets to be dodged.

Sounds like a reasonable possibility to me.

[donquixote99]

Were I investigating this, the first thing I want to know is who had access to those boats. Specifically, we got maintenance contractors out there? If so, who are they?