HUMILIATED: White House Says Iran Treated Our Sailors Properly, But Look What We Found…
January 13, 2016
As we reported earlier this morning, the 10 sailors Iran detained yesterday have now been released, thank God. But not before being humiliated by the Iranians, in violation of Article 13 of the Geneva Convention (III) — which governs the treatment of prisoners of war and requires captors to protect prisoners against “insults and public curiosity.”
See for yourself if you think these photos we’ve rounded up, released by Iran qualify.
From National Review, who calls this “Iran’s Propaganda Victory in One Illegal Image”:
Note the headscarf the female sailor is apparently being forced to wear above.
And here are a couple from Twitter:
“Insults and public curiosity”? Looks like it to me.
This after we were
assured by the White House that our sailors were being
“afforded the proper courtesy that you would expect.” Though in fairness to Josh Not-So-Earnest, I suppose the photos are exactly what many of us would expect from Iran — those of us living in reality, that is. And now, of course, John Kerry is expressing “gratitude” to Iran after the incident.
“Gratitude” isn’t exactly what I’m feeling — you?
While we don’t wish to perpetrate the above — we hate that these photos even exist — we must combat the bill of goods the Obama administration is trying to sell the American people in its spinning of what happened yesterday. And the nature of the United States’ relationship with Iran overall.
National Review writes of the top photo — and I’m pretty sure it applies to the others as well:
This photograph violates international law. Article 13 of the Geneva Convention (III), governing the treatment of prisoners of war, requires Iran to protect prisoners against “insults and public curiosity.” This photograph — including a female sailor apparently forced to wear a headscarf – is a quintessential example of “public curiosity” and would be interpreted as insulting throughout the Muslim world. (And if you don’t think Iran is in a state of armed conflict against the United States, tell that to the families of hundreds of American soldiers who’ve lost their lives to Iranians and Iranian-backed terrorists.)
The sight of members of the American military, disarmed and under Iranian control, is of enormous propaganda value in Iran’s ongoing war against the United States. To its allies in the Middle East, the photo demonstrates Iran’s strength – how many jihadist countries have had this many American servicemembers under their power? – and it demonstrates American weakness.
The administration is touting the skill of our crack diplomat John Kerry as having made a big difference in the speed of these sailors’ release.
Also playing a role was the strong relationship that has developed between Mr. Kerry and the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, during negotiations on the nuclear deal, Mr. Taraghi said.
“John Kerry and Zarif were on the phone during the past hours, and this helped the problem to be resolved quickly due to their direct contact,” he said.
Such a strong relationship these two have developed that we end up with U.S. servicemen being detained and humiliated by Iran. And released only after an apology.
“This time, the Americans were cooperative in proving their innocence, and they quickly accepted their faults without resistance,” the analyst, Hamidreza Taraghi, said in a phone interview. “The Marines apologized for having strayed into Iranian waters.”
This, even as President Obama last night touted our position of leadership and strength in the world. Does that sound like a position of strength to you?
National Review continues:
Nations that take illegal propaganda photos, crow about their seizure of American boats, confiscate part of their equipment, and then point to our allegedly admitted faults aren’t “easing tensions,” they’re flexing their muscles. I’m glad our sailors and boats are back in American hands — minus, apparently, their GPS equipment — but once again Iran has thumbed its nose at the U.S., demonstrating that it does what it wants — whether it’s testing missiles, launching rockets near U.S. warships, or taking, questioning, and photographing American sailors who (allegedly) stray into Iranian waters.
Well, at least our secretary of defense understood the gravity of Iran’s actions:
Around the world, the U.S. Navy routinely provides assistance to foreign sailors in distress, and we appreciate the timely way in which this situation was resolved.
Iran violates international law, and the United States thanks the jihadists for not doing worse. Our country is in the very best of hands.
Our own Col. West sums it up thusly:
I just saw the video, released by Iran, of our US Sailors kneeling with their hands behind their heads on their assault boats. This was a seizure, an act of war, and what were the rules of engagement (ROE) that precluded our Sailors from defending themselves? The engines reported malfunctioned, am I to assume the weapons aboard the riverine assault craft malfunctioned as well? Ladies and Gents, the Iranians just completely embarrassed America, and Obama is about to give them $150B. FUBAR!
FUBAR indeed.
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