As a man of the sea, I was particularly sad to see the Iranian abduction of British naval personnel. Along with most decent people I hope very much that these poor souls will soon be reunited with their families and ship-mates. This is a terrible situation, particularly so, when you observe the manner in which the female sailor is being treated - by both the British and Iranian media. What sort of people would use a woman in such a way? Of course, the British are bleating about how unjust the whole thing is - forgetting the manner in which Iraqi captives were filmed by the occupation forces and their image broadcast for the world. Not to mention the American treatment of untried detainees, and rendition flights. There are no good guys here, and this sort of crisis would not arise if Britain and America stopped behaving like colonial powers and throwing their weight around. Just because they have more weapons and a militaristic culture doesn't make them right or moral.
Perhaps the most embarrassing element of the disaster in the middle east is the fact that (a-la Vietnam) the US/British invaders have signally failed to effectively take control of Iraq, and it is routine for amateur arab resistance fighters to defeat both the alleged professionalism and planning of the most advanced armies in the world.
And all the while, while Iraq descends into crisis, Bush and Blair try to tell us how well it is all going. These people are idiots - and we are all hostages to their idiocy and ineptitude.
