When the UK troops were first seized almost 10 days ago, my heart sank as I thought back to the occasion a few months ago, when Iranian diplomats were detained in Tikrit by Coalition Forces. It seems Ahmadinejad is merely fighting fire with fire, holding out until the Bush administration admitted its detention of the Iranian diplomats, at which point, the 15 UK soldiers will be returned. Officially, Tehran is looking for an admission that Royal Navy boats entered Iranian waters, but really, they want Bush to admit what that he abducted diplomats, a far more serious sin than detaining military personnel who may well, intentionally or not, have strayed into the Iranian-controlled portion of the Shatt Al Arab waterway.
Still, it has been Ahmadinejad in the driving seat from the get-go, engineering a situation that forces Bush to at least confess to the detention of the Iranians in Iraq. So in a way, this political bad-mouthing has gone full circle, as Ahmadinejad now has Bush looking like the idiot he is, in front of the world press. Many think of him as a villain, a thorn in the side of the Middle East peace process, but really, he has subtly caressed the media, compelling Ehud Olmert to open more talks and showing up Bush. He even struck a chord with me when I saw images of the mob outside the British Embassy in Tehran, where riot police valiantly drove back the angry students. As is common in many Arab countries, it is the righteous, somewhat hot-headed students and younger adults that cast dark shadows over the government.
Unlike people such as Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah II, Ahmadinejad sticks up for his people. And that is far more important than maintaining a soft exterior just so Western leaders feel safe in their silk sheets. This not an evil man, this is a man who wants the best for his people.
