Iran to West: We've got your number

The British sailor hostage debacle was an instructive failure on several levels, a microcosm of the bigger world that should make people think about the weaknesses of the West.

The only good news from the incident, of course, is that the 15 British sailors and marines who were captured and held hostage by Iran were eventually released.

At the same time, however, Iran got away with an extremely hostile act with impunity, and once-great Britain was humiliated. Adding insult to injury was the British government's deplorable decision to allow the former hostages to sell their stories to the media, some reportedly being offered six-figure payments.

Fortunately, within a day of reversing its long-standing rules against paid interviews, the British Ministry of Defense was forced to retreat again. Understandably, there was a barrage of criticism from people who considered it outrageous that soldiers were being paid for surrendering, while others had fought bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan and died without reward.

All along, the Iranian government has milked the incident for maximum propaganda value.

The British government initially took an aggressive approach, imploring its European Union partners to threaten a freeze on $18 billion per year in commerce with Iran. An economic embargo would have severely rattled Tehran, maybe even to the point of gaining leverage over Iran's nuclear pursuits, too.

But the EU, being made up of countries with differing interests, collectively refused to pursue an embargo against a top trading partner.

That left the Brits to seek recourse through the United Nations, which yielded a limp-wristed resolution expressing "grave concern" over the matter, rather than an original proposal to "deplore" it.

Once released, the former captives told stories of being subjected to constant psychological pressure during a 13-day period in which several were filmed confessing that they had wrongly entered Iranian waters, a position their government firmly denies.

They now claim that they made those statements under duress, but Iran responded blithely this week by releasing video footage of the captives watching television, giggling, and playing ping-pong and chess during their captivity. Another slap at Brittania, raising questions about whether the hostages buckled as easily as their mother country.

An Iranian press agency this week quoted a prominent Iranian figure as saying, "The way Iran concluded the incident involving arrested British marines has indicated that the country's current nuclear dispute could reach remarkable results if the West adopts a polite and diplomatic approach towards Iran."

Brilliant!

Top story out of Iran on Tuesday? The country announced a "dramatic expansion" of uranium enrichment in defiance of United Nations demands that it halt its nuclear program or face increased sanctions.

One can almost hear the mullahs laughing.