The Aftermath
The BBC is reporting US forces storm Iranian consulate in Irbil in Kurdish territory and detained six Iranian diplomats. They also took documents and computers from the offices.
The NPR report on the hourly update this morning said the Kurds are angry and there is tension between US and Kurdish forces.
Great, they decide to really antagonize the one group in Iraq that doesn’t totally hate the US.
I would note that the seizure of the US embassy in Teheran was by student radicals, not the armed forces of Iran, and it occurred in Iran, not a separate country. “Jerry” Boykin may be on his way out [praise be to Robert Gates], but this smells like one of his stupid ideas.
The BBC talked to various people about their reaction to the speech on the world service this morning and their interview with an Iraqi exile, a woman forced to leave Iraq after death threats was illuminating for her clear understanding of the Shrubbery. She said he only listens to himself and people who agree with him, he never consults with the Iraqis before making these decisions.
They also conducted some interviews with people in a sports bar in Seaside, California, outside of Camp Pendleton. After several quotes from Marines in the bar, who were all saying “it’s our job” and “Semper Fi,” the reporter asked a waitress what the Marines said when the media wasn’t there. She said that they wondered why they couldn’t come home after Saddam was hanged and let the Iraqis take care of their own business.
Today the Shrubbery is off for a photo op at an Army post to hide from his critics by surrounding himself with the people who are paying the real price for his arrogance. It may be time for the Democrats to take away the keys to Air Force One, and make the guy spend some time in the office doing some work.
8 comments
…was home late this morning and saw Gee Dub surrounded by all that comforting digital camo at Fort Benning. Despite last night’s bizarre performance, he was once again in old form, slinging around 9/11-Iraqi connections and images of swarthy Arab terrorists stalking us on our own streets….vintage “parallel universe” Bushisms.
…and I guess I’m confused. I thought consulates held the same ‘soverign soil’ immunity as did embassies. Apparently I was wrong…
Storming a consulate and taking documents and computers sounds very much like an act of deliberately courting war. If the Iranians are smart, they will thumb their noses at Dubya and let it pass.
I hope.
Jack K., you’re right. The Vienna Convention of Consular Relations (PDF) is specific. See Article 31 & 33 (pp 13 and 14).
This was a violation of international law.
There’s no doubt that it’s a violation of international law and norms, but what else is new? The Iranians should refer it to the Security Council, just to make the US veto it. The Kurds are not going to forget it, because they asked for the consular office to reduce the problems with crossing the border for Kurds.
The Iranians will use this to blunt any claims against them.
Regarding the Speech:
Back in the day when floppy disks were 5.25″ in diameter, this speechifying would have been labeled “SSDD.”
Same Shit, Different Day.
These people are insane, plain and simple. They keep playing with tactics without understanding what they are doing or why they are doing it. The Shi’ia want the control that their numbers should provide them, the Sunnis are afraid of retaliation and marginalization, and the Kurds want their own country. Nothing in this escalation deals with any of these issues.
As I understand the plan, the US is going after the Sunnis while the Iraqi government pretends to go after the Shi’ia militias. The Sunnis understand this, and the Saudis understand this, so there is going to hell to pay.
I think they really do know what they are doing. They are going to war with Somalia, Iran, Syria, and whoever else sticks their neck out and dares to say no to the oil companies. They are going to destroy the infrastructure of each of these countries and bomb them back to the stone age.
And when (not if) the ‘terrorists’ come over here to extract revenge, the more the better. Keeps us afraid and unable to protest. Maybe our children will even sign up to serve.
And the neocons can conduct all their business from Paraguay….
You can’t make money with oil unless you can sell it. You can’t sell it if people are blowing up the pipe lines, as is happening in Iraq and Nigeria. You need stability to conduct business.
If they get a regime change in Syria, they will have another Iraq, because Syria is another repressive government controlled by a minority group that keeps the majority under control. Get rid of the Ba’athists in Syria and the Sunni majority will want to attack Israel after they invite al Qaeda in to take over the government.
Attack Iran and the faction that Ahmadinejad leads might actually be given some real power which would not be good for anyone, because they are as crazy as the neocons.
The governments of Iran and Syria are not nice people, but they are definitely not the worst people in their countries.