Iran Pardons British Sailors As 'A Gift To The British People'

The spin doctors who are trying to start America's Next War are going to find this news a bit disappointing, I would think, although normal people won't find it too awful:

Ahmadinejad says Iran will free British sailors

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Wednesday that his government would release the detained 15 British sailors and marines promptly.

He said the sailors would be taken to Tehran airport at the end of the press conference that he was addressing.

He said he had pardoned the sailors as a gift to the British people and to mark the birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammed and Easter.

He pardoned the sailors and announced their release minutes after he gave medals of honor [see photo] to the Iranian coast guards who intercepted the sailors and marines, saying Iran will never accept tresspassing of its territorial waters.

"On behalf of the great Iranian people, I want to thank the Iranian Coast Guard who courageously defended and captured those who violated their territorial waters, the president told a press conference.

He then interrupted his speech and pinned a medal on the commander of the Coast Guards involved in capturing the British sailors and marines in the northern Gulf on March 23. Two other Coast Guards came on to the podium and saluted during the ceremony.

"We are sorry that British troops remain in Iraq and their sailors are being arrested in Iran," Ahmadinejad said.

He criticized Britain for deploying Leading Seaman Faye Turney, one of the 15 detainees, in the Gulf, pointing out that she is a woman with a child.

"How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children? Why don't they respect family values in the West?" he asked of the British government.

This report from USA TODAY contains an enhanced version of the bogus map produced by the British MoD last week and comprehensively debugged by former Ambassador Craig Murray, whose work seems to have hurt the situation none at all. But rather than admitting the boundary inserted by the British was uncertain at best and mendacious at worst, the USA today art department created a new, slicker, map, with the same bogus boundary line drawn in.

So, the British sailors will soon be free but our big media will still be lying most of the time. Oh well -- half a loaf is always better than none. And we're still working on the other half.