Operation Praying Mantis

Okay, obviously MI6 decided not to heed my advice and send in 007 to fix this current hostage situation between Iran and the UK, and apparently Ethan Hunt and the IMF team are out to lunch, as well (sigh). I guess Downing Street is still trying to engage in "direct talks" with the Iranians, according to Tariq Panja of the Associated Press, as "both sides share a desire for an early resolution to this issue through direct talks." Really? Both sides? I don't think so. All the Iranians want is to embarrass the Brits in front of the world while winking at the U.S. as if to say, "Go ahead...make my day." They want to be legitimised by the U.S. and make it that much harder for us to flex our muscles in the gulf. Fine. We've still got a few good plays left in the book, and they came straight from the Gipper.
The Iranians probably remember April 18, 1988 pretty well. Hopefully, so do George Bush and Tony Blair, because the events that took place on that day are the only thing that people like Ahmedinajad understand; brute, military force. When the USS Samuel B. Roberts hit an Iranian mine in the gulf that day, injuring ten sailors and blowing a huge hole in the vessel, President Reagan and Adm. William J. Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, new just what to do...Sink the Iranian Navy, and cripple their oil platforms. Imagine the conversation....
Rear Adm. Anthony A. Less: Mr. President, we're in range. What are your orders?
President Reagan: Kill Them. (and, of course, it ended up as a huge embarrassment to them)
I know, I have a tendency to over-simplify things, but let's face it, folks, all of this talk is getting us no where with them. We need strong, decisive action, because all of this talking is making us look weak to the Arab nations. Heck, we don't even have to be as heavy handed as Reagan, we could take Newt Gingrich's approach: bomb the only refinery they have, let them sink into the stone age, and wait for the people of Iran to remember how lousy it was to have to use oxen instead of Peterbuilts. We owe the same resolve to our captured allies as we do to our boys in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Diplomacy" to Khameni sounds like "blah, blah, blah." Iran will only listen when it hears "BOOM!" If we're going to bring Tommy home with any kind of honor, and if we are serious about keeping their dirty little hands off of the atom bomb, we have to act like we still have he power to do more than wag our fingers at the enemy.