Our Very Good Friends the Iranians!

I put up a quick post yesterday regarding Obama's last SOTU address.  The more I read and thought about it, the worse I think it was.  It was the most blatant, partisan, devisive, political SOTU that I can remember.  Of course, it's in line with almost everything he's done.  It's disappointing, but it is what it is.

And then right before the speech we heard that two USN riverine boats were "captured" by Iranian forces in Iranian territorial waters in the Arabian Gulf.  Nice.  The good news?  They were all released today after some diplomatic maneuvering.  The bad news?  Oh man...let me count the ways. Now much more needs to be known but the initial story is that the two boats were making a transit from Bahrain to Kuwait.  They either drifted off course or somehow one or both became disabled and drifted into Iranian waters.  Huh?  I've been there.  These boats have the latest GPS equipment.  Not sure how they could take a wrong turn!  So if they had power, their position was deliberate.  Okay, so maybe one lost power.  Didn't they have a tow rope?

But let's just say that they wound up where they did by legitimate and unfortunate means.  Then our very good friends the Iranians came out and intercepted them to see what was up.  Now, keep in mind our boats came from the largest and most powerful Navy in the world and from a country who is, or at least used to be in the recent past, a world power.  So what do our very good friends the Iranians do?  They disarm the crew and demand that they get on their knees with their hands behind their heads.  Behold...

Can you imagine this happening in Japanese water, or French water, or Nigerian water, or Chinese water, or....?  Is this what would happen?  But hey, our very good friends the Iranians are important allies.  So then they get hauled ashore, put in a room, have their shoes removed (anyone else notice that in the photos?), the woman in the group is forced to wear head covering, and they are interrogated.  I will not link the video of our sailor (who I assume was the Officer in Charge) apologizing for the incident because it is just too humiliating.  I'm wondering what line of work he will go into?  Whatever it is, he should start his personal planning, because he is done.  But I will provide something that might be relevant...

Code of Conduct for

Members of the United States Armed Forces 
I I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

II I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.

III If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

IV If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

V When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.

VI

I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America. 

This incident brings to mind another one a long time ago a half a world away.  USS Pueblo.  Remember it?  Maybe not the same circumstances (but we don't know) but the same humiliating images emerge.

Now...I know we're not at war with Iran.  Hell, we're about to give them $150 billion to continue to support agents of terrorism and kill Americans.  We've decided to do that to stop them from getting the bomb.  Funny thing is...they are going to get the bomb anyway.  Obama and his crew are so inept that they think delaying the inevitable equals a success.  They think that the only thing possible is all out war or nothing.  This is the most stupid, inept, idiotic bunch of national security know-nothings that I've ever seen.

Here's the other good news.  John Kerry was able to call the Iranian Foreign Minister 5 times over the course of the night to negotiate their release.  The big deal is that we were able to do that because the two very important ministers have developed a relationship during all those long, tough days in Switzerland while they negotiated us giving them a shitload of money and the Iranian thumbing their noses at us.  So the way I see it those 5 phone calls cost $30 million each.  What a deal!  But the really good news is that this provides Kerry with another bullet in his resume so that when Hillary gets indicted and slinks home to Chappaqua, he can swoop in to save the day!