As the Iranian-British hostage crisis simmers dangerously, I thought I'd mention a fine analysis that I read a couple of years ago, about how holding hostages, especially those associated with a diplomatic mission, was a particularly heinous act as viewed by Western mores; but less so, when viewed through the lens of the barter culture of parts of Persia, as the author described it.
I saw some echos of this when I did a little research into Islamic rulings on how to take and how to treat prisoners of war (around the time when people took fright at a Qu'ran being defaced). Some of these rules might shock and surprise anyone with liberal notions, although what it takes to shock the conscience of some conservatives is constantly in question, as AS points out just today.
While there is no official demand yet from the Iranian government that I've seen, it stands to reason that, if they do not release the soldiers, they will try to swap them, possibly for Iranian "diplomats" that have been detained/"neutralized" inside Iraq in recent weeks. We'll see. The last time around in 1979 with Ahmedi-Nejad (identified by some as directly involved), they wanted the Shah.
Update: "Today or tomorrow, the lady will be released," Mottaki said Wednesday [3/28] on the sidelines of an Arab summit in the Saudi capital, referring to sailor Faye Turney, 26, the only woman among the 15.
The Iranian Embassy in London also issued a statement that said: "We are confident that Iranian and British governments are capable of resolving this security case through their close contacts and cooperation."
Iranian state TV also said it would soon broadcast video showing the captured British sailors and marines. [uh-oh ...]
