[lbo-talk] Brits' shit fit over seized sailors misfires

[John Thornton]

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> <http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2007/03/fake_maritime_b.html>
> March 28, 2007
> Fake Maritime Boundaries
>
> The British Government has published a map showing the coordinates of
> the incident, well within an Iran/Iraq maritime border. The mainstream
> media and even the blogosphere has bought this hook, line and sinker.
>
> But there are two colossal problems.
>
> A) The Iran/Iraq maritime boundary shown on the British government map
> does not exist. It has been drawn up by the British Government. Only
> Iraq and Iran can agree their bilateral boundary, and they never have
> done this in the Gulf, only inside the Shatt because there it is the
> land border too. This published boundary is a fake with no legal
> force.
>
> B) Accepting the British coordinates for the position of both HMS
> Cornwall and the incident, both were closer to Iranian land than Iraqi
> land. Go on, print out the map and measure it. Which underlines the
> point that the British produced border is not a reliable one.
>
> My two earlier posts have caused quite a stir, so here are some
> further observations.
>
> Sadly, but perhaps predictably, both the British and Iranian
> governments are now acting like idiots.
>
> Tony Blair has let it be known that he is "utterly confident" that the
> British personnel were in Iraqi waters. He has of course never been
> known for his expertise in the Law of the Sea. But let us contrast
> this political certainty with the actual knowledge of the Royal Navy
> Commander of the operation on which the captives were taken.
>
> Before the spin doctors could get to him, Commodore Lambert said:
>
> "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they were in Iraqi
> territorial waters. Equally, the Iranians may well claim that they
> were in their territorial waters. The extent and definition of
> territorial waters in this part of the world is very complicated".

All of this suggests to me the British may be attempting to provoke the 
Iranians into an action that would "justify" some sort of intervention 
on the part of one of their allies, namely the U.S.
The Brits know damn well this spot in the sea is contentious and that 
the Iranians have claimed it as their space previously. Although the 
British have not acceded to the Iranian position and hold to a different 
boundary the British have no authority to settle boundary disputes 
between Iran and Iraq. Even the maritime boundary between Ireland and 
England is not fixed in all places so the British are well aware of how 
much grey area there is in such disputes. The press needs to report this 
as an area in dispute rather than just parrot Tony Blair. The U.N. 
refused to side with Britain on this issue which helps demonstrate that 
the issue is not as clear cut as has been reported.

John Thornton