The two US Navy riverine command boats intercepted in Iranian territorial waters yesterday were sent on their way along with the crew of 10 US sailors after brief detention on Iranian soil. According to news reports, the well-armed warships either suffered mechanical or navigational difficulties which caused them to enter Iranian territory (although it may well have been a game of cat-and-mouse to test the Iranian response). The US sailors were apparently treated well, enjoyed what appeared a decent meal in relaxed surroundings, and in the end apologized for the mistake and praised their treatment by the Iranians.
Thanks to President Obama’s policy shift on Iran toward engagement and away from isolationism, Secretary of State John Kerry was able to telephone his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Zarif and quickly defuse what just months ago would have been a far more serious situation.
This should be a good-news story about the value of diplomacy and reducing tensions with adversaries, but Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was having none of it. That Kerry expressed his appreciation to the Iranians for swiftly releasing the American sailors only showed the Obama Administration’s “craven desire to preserve the dangerous Iranian nuclear deal at all costs evidently knows no limit,” said McCain in a press release.
McCain was furious that “Obama administration officials seem to be falling over themselves to offer praise for Iran’s graciousness” and was outraged that the Iranians dared interfere with the actions of US military vessels operating in Iranian waters.
In the world of John McCain, only the United States has the right to national sovereignty. The US military has the right to act anywhere and everywhere and the rest of the world dare not raise a question.
According to McCain, “sovereign immune naval vessels are exempt from detention, boarding, or search. Their crews are not subject to detention or arrest.” Imagine the tune McCain would have been singing if a well-armed Iranian naval vessel had been spotted in US territorial waters off the coast of New York. Would he have so rigorously condemned any US interference in the actions of Iran’s sovereign naval vessels?
Leave it to some clever Twitterers to post an example of the difference between US and Iranian detention.
Daniel McAdams is director of the The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity. Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.
How is John McCain even still alive? You'd think a man his age wouldn't be able to sustain life on bile and Riyal's alone.
A walking advertisement for mandatory retirement.
McCain suffers from the delusional thinking and psychosis and a mental disorder of American Exceptionalism like our national security state apparatus thugs. These dangerous men and women are more of a threat to our liberty and national security than from any entity on the planet.
antiwar.com has pictures of Abu Ghraib. Justin R. needs to put them up juxtaposed with the pictures the Iranians took of our sailors.
That´s an excellent suggestion, Mary. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Is this brainwashed imbecile McAnus up for re-election this term? If Arizona sends this walking weapon of mass destruction back to the senate again we should move to give Arizona to Mexico and be done with it. The guy is a disgrace, and a traitor. Would it not be a beautiful thing to wake up the morning after the election and learn that Arizonan's have finally figured out what an abject fraud this guy is and took it upon themselves to retire him?
Mc Caine is a pathetic old tart with memory loss, The “war hero” candidate buried information about POWs left behind in Vietnam. Read about it here and you'll be disgusted by this moron. http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/m…
Why isn't John McCain tried for treason for supporting and meeting up with the enemies of the United States?
Insane McCain at it again. Must be all those Vietnam prison camp talks taking their toll.
Senator McCain was also on the senate committee that wanted to declare war on Syria on 4 Sep. 2013, one day after a B61-11 1 kt nuke was moved from Dryas AFB to Charleston to fulfill Lindsay Graham’s predicted terrorist nuclear attack on Charleston Harbor. These two senators along with senator Boxer and Flake were in on this attemped nuking of Charleston Harbor.
Try to understand—USA set up the two navy boats to enter Iran waters hoping that Iranians would treat the Americans harshly and terrorize them for weeks. Iranians did not fall for it.
How ridiculous all those chest-pumping, knuckle-dragging GOP candidates sound now. They are like lemmings following an insane old man (McCain) over the cliff.
How the hell is John McCain even alive anymore. You wouldn’t think a body would be able to sustain life on bile and Riyals alone.