An Iranian Coup?

Kim Ponders — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:12:10 -0500

By now, the 15 British troops held captive by Iranian forces should be on their way home. I'm glad to see them safe and well, but what should have been a political scandal for the Iranians may well have turned into a victory.

First of all, the British Navy has some work to do. They let their guard down by letting their helo coverage return to the ship before the merchant ship inpections were finished. Coalition Forces were conducting extensive military exercises off the Iranian coast that week--the British navy should have expected the Iranians to be on edge.

And though I hate to reference the Washington Times, reporter Bill Gertz quoted a British military official on why the crew lacked sufficient prisoner-of-war training to understand how to avoid being used as propaganda. The official said, "We're not talking about people in a war environment...[so] the level of training is different." How strange. The Persian Gulf isn't a wartime environment?

We may soon learn what kinds of duress the Iranians used on the crew, but darn, they made it look easy. The crew's videotaped statements were obviously canned, but the sailors seemed almost too much at ease. Was an Iranian interrogator standing just off camera with a gun to their heads? I'm not suggesting American servicemen would be braver in the same situation, but it's hard to imagine a Marine confessing so casually, chatting and smoking with his Iranian captors, if only because of the real beating he could expect from his Marine buddies on his return home.

Flying for the US Air Force, I had to go through "POW resistance training" to prepare for these sorts of things. I don't know if I would have performed any better in that frightening situation. But the British crew didn't seem to understand that you don't have to be at war to be exploited for propaganda. Maybe they did resist, and it simply didn't make the video cut. But looking at the final staged photo op with the Iranian President and the British sailors being freed, smiling and waving in their new suits, it made them look like they were leaving on holiday. Either the Iranian interrogators are very good or the British were, pardon the pun, over their heads.

There is a policy lesson here for the US as well. We're allowing ourselves to lose the media war. The current administration evidently believes that detentions at Guantanamo Bay and holding Iranians in secret prisons inside Iraq are national security entitlements. In fact, they put us at greater risk. The Iranians made the point of keeping the British prisoners healthy, clean, and fed. Was it for show? You bet! But it was an effective show, built for Al Jazeera prime-time.

What's more, just three weeks ago, we were finger-wagging at the Italians for helping trade five Taliban prisoners for La Repubblic journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo. Yet, now, an Iranian diplomat missing in Iraq several months ago has suddenly reappeared, and the government has agreeed to let Iranian officials meet with the five Iranians we're holding in Iraq.

Despite the despicable parading of the British troops, this incident was a publicity win for Iran and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran looked strong, savvy and in control. Britain looked weak and slow to react. And the US looked like a lawless world dominating bully.

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An Iranian Coup?