Water, water everywhere

Environmentalists and peaceful hippies alike would have us believe that no one can own the waters, that the vast and ever-changing tides belong to the earth from whose bosom we all sprang. Therefore, we all have a right to utilize and traverse the waters of the globe without fear or restriction. \n I, too, happen to be of this opinion, but that’s really not important, because I don’t have nuclear weapons. You know who does, though? Iran. And as much as the hippie in me would like to say, “Let’s all play nice,” the reality of the situation is that international nuclear disarmament is not going to happen until the aging superpowers acquiesce to the legitimacy of the new rising powers. However, if President Bush’s statements over the weekend were any indication, hoping for superpowers to act like grown men is like expecting a policy of free love to end in anything other than a boxed set of STDs. Stop deluding yourselves.\nOn March 23, the Iranian military captured 15 British sailors and marines they claimed were trespassing in Iranian waters. The captured Britons have claimed fair treatment by the Iranians and a new letter (the third so far) from one of the prisoner’s was released Friday supporting this. The Iranian government is using the prisoners to bargain for the withdrawal of British troops out of Iraq, as is a fairly normal response to trespass during an unpopular war. After eight days of pregnant silence, Bush came out on Saturday with a pointed statement against the Iranians, calling the British sailors “hostages” and the actions of the Iranians “inexcusable.” \nBy foolishly spouting off with absurdly aggressive disapproval, Bush is poking a sleeping shark with a spoon. Especially with the rumors floating around that the firefight in September between American, Iraqi and Iranian forces may have resulted in an Iranian casualty, American-Iranian tensions are approaching critical mass. This is the time for carefully chosen words and economic diplomacy, not the irresponsible tantrums of a declining prima donna like Bush. Iran isn’t a weak entity. It isn’t disorganized; it is not in the throes of a bloody sectarian civil war. America is far from safe enough in international opinion and mobilization power to be making brash statements decrying what appears to be a fair reaction to a publicly known water-space restriction. \nThe British navy most likely made a tactical error; let them deal with the consequences. Because it makes so little sense strategically to come out with bold, disapproving statements in such a benign situation, I would venture to guess that the Bush administration is angling for a war with Iran. Why the war hawks would think that would be a good idea, considering the cluster-you-know-what of Iraq, the state of our economy vs. theirs, our declining disapproval in the international community and the prospect of nuclear war is beyond men. Americans of all political orientations need to come together against the dangerous word games Bush is playing, because picking a war with Iran would be suicide. Who wants nuclear war? No one.