What are the chances this entire British-Iranian situation was staged?

[BushOut06]

We've been kidnapping Iranians lately. Is it any surprise that they might retaliate in kind? What are the chances that we (the US and Britain) deliberately put ourselves in a situation where Iran might take some of our servicemen prisoner? I think that BushCo has been secretly hoping that something like this would occur, going so far as to try and provoke Iran into doing something.

[PDJane]

1. The US has been provoking Iran

for years. They're just getting more blatant about it.

Yeah, it's entirely probably that this was an attempt to provoke outrage. (Read Seymour Hersch's last article).

[JackRiddler]

2. I wonder how Iranian forces determine whether a given point is in their own waters.

Do they use the same GPS system as we do? Anyone know?

[CJCRANE]

3. Who knows.

But it is possible (as per the Downing Street Memos which showed that B*sh & Blair wanted Saddam to shoot down US/UK/UN plane before the war to provide a casus belli).

[TheDebbieDee]

4. I'mve become such a cynic that when I first heard about

the abduction of the British sailors by the Iranians, my first thought was, "How can we really be sure that their abductors were Iranians?"

Edited because "they're" and "their" mean two different things.........

[whistle]

5. 100.0% that this has been a false flag operation...

...staged by the British under the secret direction of Tony Blair who confided with Bush about such a move on their last meeting together which just recently but I can't recall the date

[cali]

9. Then why have the Iranians

copped to having taken the brits?

[whistle]

12. Brits are captured, just like the two Israeli commandos were captured

....to get a conflict going against Lebanon, so to this staged incident as the excuse to start an Iranian conflict and get the U.S. involved

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. That's not what 'false flag' means

'False flag' is when one group pretends to be another.

[CJCRANE]

20. That's why

I call 9/11 "false blame" terrorism.

It was carried out by a group linked to Bushco allies but he blamed on someone else (Saddam and Iraq).

[whistle]

29. You have that right!...false flag, false blame, let's pretend

...it all ends up the same, our policical leaders take the country into war which no one but the rich want because the rest of us end up paying

[CJCRANE]

11. Not so much false flag...

probably the sailors were ordered to carry out inspections in the disputed area (just like the airstrikes on Iraq before the Iraq invasion where B*sh & Blair were hoping one of the allied planes would be shot down).

[ShortnFiery]

6. Yes, the whorish M$M insists that the Brits were in Iraq BUT it's disputed ...

territory. Therefore, it could be said, "What the hell were the Brits doing in disputed waters RIGHT on border between Iran and Iraq?

Our puppies within the UK Government are loyal little critters. I wish that they would show some independence from what is the total realized insanity of our Unitary Executive Branch. :shrug:

[JuniperLea]

7. That was my first thought

Damn them for making such a mess out of things and doing so many stupid crappy things that I would think such a thing possible... but I do believe it is.

[Warpy]

8. We'll see how long it is before they're all released

The Persians don't want war, they've had enough of it for quite some time.

If they're released within a week, it might be legit.

If they're not released within a week, then it's a lot of made up hooey.

It may be legit. We just don't know now. They've been poking their fingers into Ahmedinejad's eye for months.

[Fovea]

10. It is no more staged than the gulf of tonkin incident

n.t.

[youngdem]

13. 100%

It was either an intentional provocation or an out and out black flag operation. I predict the first. The reason is that Bushco knows that this EXACT thing happened in 04. Several Brits 'wandered' into Iranian territory and were detained for six days then released unharmed. Bushco probably provoked this knowing there was little risk of the soldiers actually being harmed and it makes great agit prop for the next neo-con debacle...I mean, WAR OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY AND FUZZY PUPPIES.

[Astrad]

14. It happened before in 04.

8 british soldiers were held for three days. Seems to be a repeat of the same issue. Foreign troops entering Iranian territory.

[IChing]

16. None, what were the Iranians doing off the White Cliffs of Dover anyway?

I mean, come on, they had no business in that area.
Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
Bluto: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!

[Vidar]

17. Better than 90%.

[WinkyDink]

18. Remember the "Maine"!

[OneGrassRoot]

19. Wanna know what an idiot I am? Today I learned . . .

something while reading info on various presidents with my daughter. She was reading about Carter (I was in high school during his presidency), in a typical history-type book (not a political website or anything), and it said something to the effect that "even though it can't be proven, it is suspected through findings of congressional inquiries 10 years later that the release of the Iran hostages being delayed was part of the deal the CIA made which was part of the Iran-Contra scandal."

OMG. I was upset because I don't recall ever hearing that before and it makes such PERFECT sense! I was paying attention by the time the Iran-Contra trials were on TV, so I was aware of the basic premise, of course, but being surrounded by Reagan lovers at the time (and B*sh lovers now), I never heard this.

I just called my mom who is pretty much comatose when it comes to politics, just to see if this was something she remembers hearing discussed way back when. Of course, she didn't have a clue. But she put her neighbor on the phone. 50-ish military guy, in the Marines when Carter was in office, obviously LOVED Reagan, and said, "Yeah, there's always those conspiracy theorists out there. I'm sure they thought it was a setup since the hostages were released the same day Reagan took office. But it's just that they (Iran) knew he'd kick their ass, unlike Carter."

I had to stop him there and tell him that, based on what I've witnessed the last six years, I'm one of those conspiracy theorists, and wouldn't put anything past these people, and thanked him for his time and insight.

I knew the extreme corruption started with Reagan, with many of the same players on the scene today, but I never thought back to consider how they manipulated things to GET Reagan into office. And never read that anywhere. Of course, based on my perception and what I've seen proven here over the last few years, I most certainly believe that's exactly what happened. I can't help but believe the worst of the whole lot of them. They've never given me a reason to believe otherwise.

I'm stunned at my own ignorance.

[Truthiness Inspector]

21. The Iranian gov't would never think of taking hostages

Right.

Sorry, but why blame the U.K. when it is Iran (agents of) who took these British officers? I don't understand why some here are so quick to blame anyone but the captors...

[CJCRANE]

23. If you put people

in harm's way then it's likely they'll get harmed.

I've mentioned this several times but it's clearly shown in the Downing Street Memos that B*sh & Blair considered scenarios to bait Saddam into shooting down an allied plane (before the war) to provide a casus belli. This could be a similar set-up - send sailors into disputed territory while the Iranians are conducting an exercise and see if they take the bait.

[Truthiness Inspector]

25. Even so

if you take the "bait", you take the bait. Still responsible.

What's the latest status of these Brits, if you know? Have they been released? I don't know since I'm a little behind on the latest developments.

[CJCRANE]

26. I don't agree with using people as bait.

(If that's what happened - of course it's just my conjecture).

[Truthiness Inspector]

27. Nor do I

and like you said, that position is only your conjecture at this point.

[brettdale]

22. Actually

When i first read the story, I thought they have got their reason to go after Iran, but because of the muted response so far by the media and the UK and USA Govenrment, I dont think they want war with Iran anymore.

[CJCRANE]

24. In itself

it's not enough to provide a case for war - but it ratchets up the tension.

A few more incidents like this and we (the public) will be ready/expecting something to happen.

[CJCRANE]

28. I'm just wondering

why the cargo couldn't have been inspected at the boat terminal on land?