Why Isn’t the RAF Bombing Iran?

The Times of London is reporting that the kidnapped British soldiers are going to be tried for espionage by Iran.  Witnesses claim the British vessel was in Iraqi waters when it was attacked by the Iranians.

This is an act of war under any interpretation of international law.  What I want to know is, why haven’t the British responded along the lines of

“You have 1 hour to return our soldiers.  If they are not returned by then the Royal Navy will be executing a blockade of your ports.   If they are not returned in 24 hours, the Royal Air Force will begin bombing military targets inside Iran itself.”

I don’t get why we’ve been pussy footing around with these people.  I can understand invasion would be difficult, but we could destroy most of Iran’s combat power within a matter of days.

9 thoughts on “Why Isn’t the RAF Bombing Iran?”

  1. Yeah, I don’t get it either. All I can figure is everyone is afraid the UN might not like it. Might have a tizzy. It’s a bunch of PC bullshit.

  2. You know, the Iranians might be just crazy enough to execute these marines…which would be a huge mistake.

    From a purely academic standpoint, it would be nice to see if England still possesses the spirit that beat the Blitz.

  3. I expect that the Iranians will release the soldiers after they’ve made their point so to speak. We’ve been playing a game with Iran for the past year, and this is all part of it. I grow tired of the game though.

  4. Westminster has lost the spirit that Maggie brought. Galtieri should have been so lucky…. /sigh/

  5. It took us more than 400 days. Let’s not be too hasty to point a white feather at England. The bulldog may yet bite these bastards on the balls.

  6. The U.N. What a joke. A real bad joke. It would indeed be interesting to witness England bite the bastards on the balls. And as an American citizen I’d like to see us right there helping out with lots of bombs. I wonder if we’ll ever have a President with some REAL balls?

  7. Or maybe, just maybe, Iran is actually doing what any country would do… defend its territory.
    Things are never as simple as we’d like to believe… Makes for rough going for the rabid “black or white”, “with us or again’ us” crowd. So much easier to yell “Kidnapping” and run around like a headless chicken. Makes it easier to justify a bit of bombing, too.
    From the Guardian :

    Because the two countries have not agreed on updated charts, that means there is no universal agreement on exactly where the border line runs.

    If the seizure occurred near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab – which is likely – the issue becomes even more complicated because Iraq and Iran have never agreed on each others’ claim to Gulf waters near the mouth of the waterway.

    Without such an agreement, international law requires countries not to extend their territorial waters “beyond the median line with neighboring states,” said Martin Pratt of the University of Durham in Britain.

    But defining that line is difficult because of conflicting claims to rock formations, sandbars and barrier islands in the shallow waters of the northern Gulf, Pratt said.

    As a result, there may be “legitimate grounds for arguing for a different definition” of those median lines, Pratt said.

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