U.S. sailors captured by Iran are shown on Tehran’s state-run television. (Screen shot, via the New York Daily News)
The State Department’s leading spokesman, John Kirby, who is the mouthpiece for Secretary John Kerry, says the release of the 10 U.S. sailors from Iranian custody represents a “success” for America – but his remarks come as Iran is taking the video of the sailors’ surrender on a global propaganda run and using the Americans’ apology to issue thinly veiled threats to Congress.
Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the head of Iran’s armed forces, said in a statement: “This incident in the Persian Gulf, which probably will not be the American forces’ last mistake in the region, should be a lesson to troublemakers in the U.S. Congress.”
But Kirby, on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, offered a different slant on the situation, which saw Iran earlier this week grab nine male and one female U.S. sailors at gunpoint, force them to bent knees and ultimately, cut a video that showed one apologizing for the “mistake” they made.
“What we’re happy about here at the State Department is we were able to get these guys back within 24 hours,” he said, during the broadcast segment.
Kirby also credited his boss, Kerry, with laying the groundwork that led to the sailors’ speedy release.
“If it wasn’t for the dialogue and relationship that [Kerry] has now with foreign ministers that he’s built up over many, many months there’s no way that we would have gotten those sailors out,” Kirby said.
Fox host Brian Kilmeade pressed Kirby about the image of U.S. sailors in surrender mode that Iran was now using as a propaganda tool, and why the State Department would still paint the situation in such a rosy light.
“I am not turning a blind eye, nobody is, to Iran’s provocative behavior in the region,” Kirby said. “We have tools at our disposal, through sanctions, and we have a robust military presence to deal with Iran’s provocative behavior. Nobody is turning a blind eye.”
And Kilmeade’s response?
“The State Department is making America look meek and weak and that is the message to the Middle East,” he said.
Kirby: “Nobody’s turning a blind eye” but “it’s complicated, no doubt about that,” he said.
The video of the U.S. sailors’ surrender to Iran included one saying: “It was a mistake that was our fault and we apologize for our mistake. The Iranian behavior was fantastic while we were here and we thank you very much for your hospitality and your assistance.”
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Gen. Jack Keane, a retired four-star general and former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, said the video was tough to stomach, but that it represented solely the sailors, and not the U.S. government. He also suggested the apology, as well as the sailor who offered the statement on video, were subject to further investigation.
“We certainly do not like to see that kind of apology … but at the same time we have no idea what took place before that apology and the Navy will get to the bottom of this,” Keane said, during a “Fox & Friends” interview. “That’s not an apology from the United States government, that’s an apology from the youngster who’s trying to protect his crew, and his behavior will be held accountable for in any investigation to determine whether that was justified or not.”
Conservatives, especially, have criticized President Obama’s response to the situation, wondering why he didn’t mention the event in his State of the Union speech, at the height of the tensions.
What’s next? Find out in “Showdown with Nuclear Iran.”
“It’s odd that he … didn’t even mention it,” said Sen. Mike Lee, at a recent Heritage Foundation event, on Obama’s obvious omission, the Daily Signal reported. “It was really, really strange.”
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/state-dept-touts-success-after-iran-capture-of-u-s-sailors/
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