Iran Violating Geneva Convention Rules With 15 British Hostages

Iran is repeatedly violating Geneva Convention rules meant to protect the well-being of prisoners or war by pressuring or forcing the British hostages to produce propaganda videos. Parading prisoners of war in front of cameras in this way is an outrageous abuse. This is simply a contrived arrest of British soldiers in Iraqi waters to produce outrageous propaganda in order to rally support for lagging extremist government policies at home in Iraq, and meant to incite further antiWestern anger in the Muslim world. But it also serves the longer-term goal of Iran promoting sectarian violence in Iraq to make it a major Shiite state.

Also disturbing is a new condemnation by the Saudi Arabian King of the U.S. occupation in Iraq. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia seem content in using Iraq as a proxy battleground for their long- term Shitte and Sunni sectarian interests. There isn't any good reason to believe that if British and U.S., or other international troops were out of Iraq, that Iran and Saudi Arabia would not back even worse sectarian warfare in this country than is now witnessed.

Iraq's heterogeneous population split along Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish sectarian or ethnic lines and immense oil wealth made the nation a long-term pawn for various interests. During WWI, the area now known as Iraq was part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire and aligned with Germany. After this war, a treaty between Britain and France known as the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement divided up the MidEast with Britain given control of the area that became "Iraq" and Palestine, while France gained control over Syria and Lebanon. Britain found that control over Iraq was so difficult that in a losing occupation effort that took place place between 1922-1958, Britain had to destroy, bomb and mustard gas entire Iraqi villages. Britain even sided with Sunni interests in Iraq in hopes of that leading to peace that never happened. In 1958, the bloody Arab rebellion sweeping the region forced Britain to withdrawal occupation forces. After the 1956 Suez Crisis with Egyptian strongman, Gamal Nasser inspired the Arab Socialist movement that eventually gained power in Egypt, Syria and Iraq with homegrown Baathist parties.

But the sectarian violence in Iraq was only suppressed by strong arm governments in the "Iraq" area that masked centuries of sectarian conflict between the Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam that date back to the period following the death of Mohammed in 632. His father-in-law helped to form the Sunni followers of Mohammed, while direct descendents formed the Shiite sect of Islam. This created a serious rift between those who only felt that true Islam could could be between the descendents of the Prophet and not just the followers. It also started centuries of conflict between the Sunni and Shiite sects that both Iran and Saudi Arabia seem to be worsening today in Iraq, making it a battleground for their competing sectarian interests.

Iran's use of the British hostages to help force a removal from Iraq is only another effort to force other powers out of Iraq so that Iran can consolidate Shiite control of the battleground state. It is yet another sad chapter of the long-term religious violence in this land.