Jay Currie

The current, rather pathetic, British response to the kidnapping of 15 of their navy personal – the ship’s “people” in a happier time – is so lackadaisical that I honestly cannot say when the people were kidnapped.

I’m all for diplomacy. It is a good thing and allows nations to deal with the idiocy of small factions in a civilized manner. However, it becomes increasingly clear that this was not the action of a small band of Quds or Revolutionary Guards or Islamic nutbars acting without Iran government sanction. The New York Sun reports,

Yesterday an American intelligence official who has watched Iran said that there was consensus that the decision to take the sailors was approved by the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran, a body composed of the supreme leader, president, and representatives of the guardian council, the military, the revolutionary guard and the ministry of intelligence and security. The Iranian commander who likely ordered the kidnapping, according to this source, was Brigadier General Qassem Sulamani, who heads the Quds Force. (new york post but subsequently edited out of the article…via allahpundit

At this point the British, and Tony Blair have not a thing to lose. They have to deal with this as a hostage crisis and recognize that there can be no negotiation with terrorists. Which means that the 15 sailors and marines must be taken as dead. Tough, you bet. Politically suicidal? Yes, but Blair claims to be stepping down at any moment. So now what?

Level, or, for the less militant, threaten to level the sole Iranian gasoline refinery. Then blockade all fuel imports to Iran. Not as a negotiating chip. Once the hostages are presumed dead negotiations are over. Rather as a means of punishing the Iranian “government” for this outrage.

Now, for fun, the Brits might want to start flying the mission to hit the refinery just to see what the Iranian air response will be.

Here’s the thing. This is war. It is past time for the British to recognize it as such.

Tony Blair has, perhaps, the potential, to go down as one of Britain’s great Prime Ministers. Or he can cower and hope Gordon Brown will do better.

I don’t think our Tony wants to leave. A serious approach to Iran may make it possible for him to remain. Despite the naysayers and the peace at any price members of his own party and the increasingly disappointing Conservative Party.

If Blair has the wit to treat this outrage in the same way that Margaret Thatcher treated the Falklands he could be Prime Minister for another decade or two. The question is does he have the courage.

Update: Delightfully, this post has earned me the accolade of “right wing lunatic” over at Robert McLelland’s swamp. It’s wonderful to see the left cheering on state kidnappers. It so enhances its credibility.

Appeasement in this situation may work. Why not, at some point the Iranians will have extracted the maximum PR value from the kidnapping and conclude they can release the hostages with no lose of face. In which case, rather like their client, Hezbollah, they win. Which, apparently, does not matter to McClelland. And if they can do this why should they worry about UN sanctions or any other form of international pressure regarding their nuclear program or anything else.

The choice here is whether or not the English and their allies are willing to fight or if they will cower. Right now my bet is on cower . If cower is the option I will now agree with McClelland and his ilk and suggest that the English and their allies immediately withdraw from the Middle East entirely. If they have not the courage to fight for their own people they have no business purporting to fight for others.