In a shock move, Iran earlier announced that it does now recognise the Geneva Convention.
Iran
is to dig 320,000 graves in border districts to allow for the burial of
enemy soldiers in the event of any attack on its territory, a top
commander said on Sunday.
"In implementation of the Geneva Conventions...
the necessary measures are being taken to provide for the burial of
enemy soldiers," the Mehr news agency quoted General Mir-Faisal
Bagherzadeh as saying.
It is startling that Iran has taken only a year to learn about this international convention. Only last March The Times reported:
FIFTEEN British sailors and marines arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards off the coast of Iraq may be charged with spying.
A
website run by associates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian
president, reported last night that the Britons would be put before a
court and indicted.
Referring to them as “insurgents”, the site
concluded: “If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian
territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they
can expect a very serious penalty since according to Iranian law,
espionage is one of the most serious offences.”
The penalty for espionage in Iran is death...
whereas the Geneva Convention states:
2. A member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict who, on
behalf of that Party and in territory controlled by an adverse Party,
gathers or attempts to gather information shall not be considered as
engaging in espionage if, while so acting, he is in the uniform of his
armed forces.
So it is great to see progress on this front. Perhaps Iran has genuinely left its rebellious teenagerhood behind it? Or perhaps not.
Shabtai Shavit told a London
weekly that the "worst-case scenario" was that Tehran would have a
nuclear weapon within "somewhere around a year"
After all, the only plausible way that 320,000 enemy soldiers might be killed is if nuclear weapons are deployed. Even at its peak, the US has deployed less than half that number of soldiers to the Iraq war. In other words, this scenario assumes that the US would stage a ground invasion with more than twice its Iraq force, and first failed to take out Iran's nuclear facilities. That isn't very likely. Or maybe Iran suspects that its neighbours will join in too?
Does Iran know something that we don't?
Let's hope Israel (at least) will be ready
The New York Times quoted officials on Friday as saying that more
than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s staged the maneuver, flying more than
900 miles, roughly the distance from Israel to Iran's Natanz nuclear
enrichment facility, and that the exercise included refueling tankers
and helicopters capable of rescuing downed pilots.
"It was noticed that a significant exercise took place — dozens and
dozens of aircraft participated," one US official said Friday. "We
watch globally everyday, and this was noted."
A second US defense official said the maneuver could be taken as a
demonstration that Israel is serious about the need to challenge Iran's
nuclear program — and could be prepared to do so militarily. "That's
one of the assessments you could make out of the exercise," the
official said.
Finally, I can't put up a post about Iran without mentioning that all is not well in the country, and part of the reason for the country's sabre rattling is simply a populist attempt to stay in power:
On December 4, some 250 students at Tehran
University gathered to chant slogans such as “Freedom and Equality!”
and “No to war!” About 20 were arrested and sent to Tehran's Evin
prison. Several were released but others are still being held, students
say. Similar protests spread the next day to the cities of Hamadan,
Isfahan, Mazandaran, Shiraz, and Kerman, where students reportedly
openly criticized Iran’s disputed nuclear program.
Let's not forget Iran needs a serious dose of democracy, and the sooner the better for all of us.
(hat tips: Captain's Quarters and Power Line)
