how should great britain respond to having 15 of her naval

i have to agree with our respondent here, diplomacy only works when you are dealing with a rational ragieme. I salute the usa and for this Brit I would say we stand shoulder to shoulder with you in the middle east. Lets take decisive action now and wipe this trouble out once and for all. blessed be

There are few comparisons that can be made with the current hostage taking and the events of 1979 not least because the hostages in '79 were diplomats and these are soldiers who have somehow been captured by the Iranians (and it's still not clear exactly how that's happened). I agree the situation in 1979 was badly mishandled but there was also an entirely different set of circumstances surrounding that particular hostage taking. I'm not suggesting that diplomacy is the only option available to us for all time, nor am I suggesting that some form of military action should be ruled out at any point in the future but I'm fairly sure if we go in there now it's unlikely the 15 individuals in question will be coming home at all let alone soon. I also think it's easy for people to call for military action in the first instance when they won't be the ones putting their lives on the line. I don't doubt the US would support Britain and to be honest I'm surprised that Blair and Bush aren't in there already. The fact that Blair has been relatively restrained in his response strikes me as odd but I've no doubt all will become clear in due course.

yes, it struck me as odd that we let it be for as long as we have, clearly they are giving diplomacy a chance blessed be

Stooping to their level thought just concedes that their actions were warranted and acted upon. Giving them an ultimatum and then military action wakes them up to WHO they are messing with. Face it, Britain's military alone is nothing the government of Iran can hold up against. Add on the US troops that would HOPEFULLY be there in a flash at the UKs side and I think we'd see a repeat of the last war with the US in Iran - their troops were surrendering left and right because they knew they had no way of winning and were put there by force.

good one urban. Or maybe pick up 150 iranians in britain and hold em in prison too that would do it blessed be

good point

I could not agree more. The Iranian rageme has no interest in peace, it has been looking for a fight for over 20 years, maybe we should now give them one. If we let them get away with this one, what next?

logically i agree with you, economic sanctions by the EEC should work. However, i do feel that the reaction of Great Britain is being watched carefully by Iran and the rest of the rogue states of the world. I think this is why radical and immediate military action is required now blessed be

positive rated

The world needs to stand with Britian and isolate Iran. By taking this action each country has to do something, freeze asets, restrict trading, restricting tourist, reducing the size of thier dipolamitic missions, and not allowing flights in or out from each country. See that local groups, that are opposed to the present government, are given military weapons to disrupt the government. When Iraq had their first election the Iranians' were asking for the purple finger. Help the government fall from within.

Agreed. I have a feeling the S.A.S are already on their way in. It would certainly fit in with the modus oporendi of the special service blessed be

agreed

thats a plus, thank you for your response. I too feel deeply for the naval personel being held in this way. However, i think if we do not take strong military action we are in danger of sending out the wrong messages blessed be

I think we need to act and quickly, every day that goes by is a day that the hostage takers get the upper hand. I have no doubt the U.S.A will stand shoulder to shoulder with us blessed be

I think we are all agreed that action needs to be taken quickly, what we are debating is how such action should manifest itself blessed be