Reading the paper today is like treading through a battlefield; the language is so loaded with landmines. And as if the petrifying anticipation of being blown up any step now wasn't enough, every so often some idiot sneaks up behind you and goes 'Boom!' to add shock value.

Do you know what I have to say to those living off shock value and fire stoking? This: Firstly--When did the public get so stupid that you think you can pass off a headline like 'A mother on parade in Iran's propaganda war' and assume we'd fail to see that you're playing the same propoganda game? And Secondly-- What gives Britain the right to play the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations card, when Israel and our mightier-than-thou allies, the U.S, are wiping their asses with the Geneva convention daily, while the world sits on its hands? We all know that the Geneva convention doesn't apply to the captives, with no state of war between Iran and Britain. And that even if it did, putting British marines on Iranian TV doesn't come close to breaking the convention in comparrison to the monstrousities committed against the Iraqis in their own lands.

Apparently some defence analyst, Paul Beaver is convinced the Iranians are 'playing to the West' because 'They know our weakness for things like fair trials, democracy, and respect for women.' Let's ignore the respect for women part for a brief moment, but fair trials? With British soldiers being cleared over detainee abuse and murder in Iraq recently? Fair trials?! I laugh in your general direction, you insolent little turd.