Iran today freed the 15 detained British sailors and marines in what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called an Easter gift to the British people. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he bore “no ill will” toward the Iranian people.
Iranian state television said the 14 men and one woman, who were seized while on patrol in the northern Persian gulf on March 23, would leave Iran on Thursday. An Iranian official said they would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran.
Ahmadinejad’s surprise announcement came at a news conference shortly after he pinned a medal on the chest of the Iranian coast guard commander who intercepted the sailors and marines.
If you are a news junkie like me, you have been keeping up with this incident. What are your feelings surrounding the events? Personally, I think the 15 were in Iranian waters when they were picked-up and that their confusion is genuine. Unfortunately, this event is just another in a string of blunders Blair's government has made in the Middle East.
Ahmadinejad has clearly come out on top. The fact that the lone woman in the group is a mom (infidels send mothers into war) and a smoker has been played-up to the Arab World and their fears of Western ideas. Sadly too, perhaps for the first time in their lives, the 14 male hostages get to wear suits, gifts from the "enemy". Ironically too, they have been treated perhaps better than they will when they return to England. Talk about a great PR move by Ahmadinejad, one that leaves poor Blair "dumbfounded".
While you ponder how politically correct I am, here's a poem to read:
"Add Wind Chimes" Sonnet
Begin with a rustic cottage in a Maine resort
town. Then add red shutters. Slate shingles.
Rocking chairs on a screened-in porch. An old
badminton net in the backyard. High hedges to
separate the properties. Narrow lanes that
twist & then intersect. Pine trees coming
right up to the shore. A dog barking loud on
the beach. Chinese pagoda-styled lanterns on
the patio. A narrow flowerbed of mostly rose
bushes. Two wine glasses in the kitchen sink.
Oriental rugs. A cat at the top of the stairs.
A man in bed naked but for his cigarette. A
woman in the shower humming "Endless Love."
Wind chimes somewhere. Beige curtains moving
in the breeze. The angle of a white ceiling.
Three branches that scrap the tool shed. A fly
banging against a mirror. A closet door left
open. Then a camera that pans the house &
open fields to a sky reddening for sunset.
First published online at: www.freewebs.com/theorangereview
Copyright 2007 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.
Visit my e-zine: www.concelebratory.blogspot.com
My music blog: www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com
Iranian state television said the 14 men and one woman, who were seized while on patrol in the northern Persian gulf on March 23, would leave Iran on Thursday. An Iranian official said they would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran.
Ahmadinejad’s surprise announcement came at a news conference shortly after he pinned a medal on the chest of the Iranian coast guard commander who intercepted the sailors and marines.
If you are a news junkie like me, you have been keeping up with this incident. What are your feelings surrounding the events? Personally, I think the 15 were in Iranian waters when they were picked-up and that their confusion is genuine. Unfortunately, this event is just another in a string of blunders Blair's government has made in the Middle East.
Ahmadinejad has clearly come out on top. The fact that the lone woman in the group is a mom (infidels send mothers into war) and a smoker has been played-up to the Arab World and their fears of Western ideas. Sadly too, perhaps for the first time in their lives, the 14 male hostages get to wear suits, gifts from the "enemy". Ironically too, they have been treated perhaps better than they will when they return to England. Talk about a great PR move by Ahmadinejad, one that leaves poor Blair "dumbfounded".
While you ponder how politically correct I am, here's a poem to read:
"Add Wind Chimes" Sonnet
Begin with a rustic cottage in a Maine resort
town. Then add red shutters. Slate shingles.
Rocking chairs on a screened-in porch. An old
badminton net in the backyard. High hedges to
separate the properties. Narrow lanes that
twist & then intersect. Pine trees coming
right up to the shore. A dog barking loud on
the beach. Chinese pagoda-styled lanterns on
the patio. A narrow flowerbed of mostly rose
bushes. Two wine glasses in the kitchen sink.
Oriental rugs. A cat at the top of the stairs.
A man in bed naked but for his cigarette. A
woman in the shower humming "Endless Love."
Wind chimes somewhere. Beige curtains moving
in the breeze. The angle of a white ceiling.
Three branches that scrap the tool shed. A fly
banging against a mirror. A closet door left
open. Then a camera that pans the house &
open fields to a sky reddening for sunset.
First published online at: www.freewebs.com/theorangereview
Copyright 2007 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.
Visit my e-zine: www.concelebratory.blogspot.com
My music blog: www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com
1 comment:
Sure, a great PR move.
First, to raise the tension to the skies, then to release it.
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