Brits in the Gulf and a doctored British Map
?
Former British Ambassador Craig Murray is now challenging the
legitimacy of the map just published by the British government in
the current dispute with Iran over those 15 captured British
sailors and marines.
Fake Maritime Boundaries
I have been unpopular before, but the level of threats since I
started blogging on the captured marines has got a bit scary. It is
therefore with some trepidation that I feel obliged to point this
out.
The British Government has published a map showing the coordinates
of the incident, well within an Iran/Iraq maritime border. The
mainstream media and even the blogosphere has bought this hook,
line and sinker.
But there are two colossal problems.
A) The Iran/Iraq maritime boundary shown on the British government
map does not exist. It has been drawn up by the British Government.
Only Iraq and Iran can agree their bilateral boundary, and they
never have done this in the Gulf, only inside the Shatt because
there it is the land border too. This published boundary is a fake
with no legal force.
B) Accepting the British coordinates for the position of both HMS
Cornwall and the incident, both were closer to Iranian land than
Iraqi land. Go on, print out the map and measure it. Which
underlines the point that the British produced border is not a
reliable one.
None of which changes the fact that the Iranians, having made
their point, should have handed back the captives immediately. I
pray they do so before this thing spirals out of control. But by
producing a fake map of the Iran/Iraq boundary, notably
unfavourable to Iran, we can only harden the Iranian
position.
When I spoke with the former Ambassador he told me how dumbfounded
he is by the way in which the mainstream media continues to treat
this dispute.
The BBC for instance has already interviewed a supposed expert
regarding the map, who vouched for its authenticity. But the point
is, as Craig Murray, points out, how can such a map exist if the
subject of boundaries has never been settled between Iraq and Iran?
Turns out the expert had been referred to the BBC by the British
Ministry of Defensewho also turned out the plan.
Sounds like the rerun of a bad movie weve already seen.
http://barrylando.com/?p=136
Just like the McMahon Line serving India's claims on China's
border... it was never signed.
