God save the hostages (and the Queen)

rangerjoes.com

I've placed a Union Jack on the sidebar in solidarity with the Brits until the hostages are returned safe. This concept was basically stolen from Marie over at MTC, but it's a good idea.

There seems to be a lack of outrage about this for some reason. It might be burnout, but I suspect some just don't want to deal with the consequences.

Speaking of Britain, check out the disruption at Westminster Abbey from yesterday (from Alphabet City) during a Slave Trade Abolition service. The Queen was in attendance and only a few feet away. Blair wasn't much further. Nothing related to terrorism but it says something about access.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister announced they will soon release information proving that his Royal Navy Sailors and Marines were in Iraqi waters---unless---Iran gives Britain access to the prisoners. Reportedly the Mullahs and their minions responded by leading another chorus of "death to America". Not sure if those chanting were the "great people" Sean Penn was referring to, or stand-ins.

Both the hostage event and the Westminster disruption point out the dramatic difference in how our two countries handle crises. Is there any doubt the heckler would have been wrestled to the ground in seconds in America with the President that close by? Similarly, had Iran captured US Marines or Sailors without cause it's likely Bush would have already said a few choice cowboy words and perhaps even dispatched some bombers. Iran certainly knows this.

We'll all soon witness which approach works best and perhaps learn some things in the process.

MORE 3/28/07

Looks like Her Majesty's government went ahead and released the co-ordinates proving they were in Iraqi waters. Britain is playing this to perfection, so far.

Meanwhile, the Drudge-linked story about the Russians claiming that US forces are building along the Iranian border included the mention of Patriot missile defense installations. For weeks they've been blabbing about our imminent attack on April 6, even releasing the go time--0040 hours.

Disinformation, or misinformation? You be the judge, but recall that the Russians supposedly had a mole at CENTCOM before the Iraq invasion who passed details along to Uncle Saddam. Speaking of Patriots, during Bush's speech about the Iraq Study Group he said:

"We will expand intelligence sharing, and deploy Patriot air defense systems to reassure our friends and allies. We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border. And we will work with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating the region."

Maybe this was the source.