An Island Kingdom

At Works And Days:

One can make all sorts of clever arguments—indeed the Brits have, from blaming us to blaming their own—about why this crisis was someone else’s fault, due to a misunderstanding, due to media exaggeration, due to an accident. But what is missing is the simple fact that THIS IS THE BRITISH NAVY. Who would care if the Iranians had embarrassed the Italian Navy, the Russian Navy, or the Chinese Navy? But the Brits? We forget that the entire history of Western navies is predicated on the British experience at sea. The Brits had the greatest admirals, the Brits invented the Man-of-War, dreadnought, battleship, heavy cruiser, and aircraft carrier. The Brits created the very notion of modern seamanship and discipline, and its pantheon of naval heroes like Drake, Cook, Anson, Vernon, Nelson, and Fisher still resonates. So like the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and World Trade Center this was an iconic act that sent a message that the descendents of Xerxes finally upped Lord Nelson.

Please read the whole post.

Exeunt Christ, Enter Mohammed

From CBC: The sailors and marines are to be freed. Good that the wrong has been righted at least. But note the language that accompanies the release of the British sailors:

"On the occasion of the birthday of the great Prophet (Muhammad) … and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people — with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial — forgave those 15," Ahmadinejad said, referring to the Muslim Prophet's birthday on March 30 and the Easter season. [my bold]

Obviously, Christians take the meaning of the holiday to be the resurrection, not just the crucifiction of Christ. Muslim supercessionism is the big drum being banged here.

The only surprise here was that he didn't blame the Jews. That was to keep the message as black and white as possible.

Looks Like War

No posts for quite a while. One tires of yelling into a void, more tired of trying to educate people who would rather pull the covers over their heads. How people like Melanie Phillips can keep her sanity is beyong my understanding. I do it by ignoring politics for a time. But there's a war on and many people don't only not know which side they're on, they don't even know which side is even in their best interest to support.

I've argued to friends all the way through this Iraq quandary, the invasion of Iraq was to get Iran outflanked. Now they have them east and west. You can't move a quarter million troops on aircraft carriers and you can't attack a country as large as Iran from the Persian Gulf. I've never believed Iraq was about Iraq. It is only the second stage in a very long war against Islamic imperialism.

Oh, I know: it's only imperialism when the West pushes back, not when Islam attacks. That's just natural. That's immigration. Well, that's true enough and so long as you can live with amputations for minor theft, you can just say bring it on. If you don't even like ten years for a loaf of bread, amputation should tell you which side you're on. If you don't think it's fair to keep gays from marrying each other you're not likely to agree to their being stoned to death. Same for adulteresses and abortions. Clearly the left and right need to unite against a common enemy and that means not only compromises but a solid agreement on basic principles. There aren't enough on the left though it's improving. Hitchens understands the war, as do a couple of bloggers like neoneocon, a lifelong liberal Democrat who woke up on 9/11. Many prefer to sleep.

It looks like the kidnapping of the British sailors is the first shot. My crystal ball goes blank here. Mr. Blair does not have Ms. Thatcher's backbone or there would be hell to pay already. James Lyons, former commander-in-cheif for the US Pacific fleet suggests the British take Kargh Island, a major shipping port for oil according to James Taranto's March 30 column. His point that Iran has indirectly attacked America by attacking her ally is true but clever on Iran's part. The pressure is put on Blair and not Bush this way. I have no doubt what President Bush's course would be.

I'd sure love to read the diplomatic mail between Washington, London, Canberra and Ottawa these days.

But I predict allied troops in Iran before the 1st day of summer. That will put the Democrats on a veritable spit.

Update August 2, 2008: I was wrong and I'm going to stop predicting now. But I'll post from time to time.