British Soldiers were not in Iraqi Waters

The map the UK government has been showing the world is a map that Saddam Hussein drew up that has never been accepted by the Iranians. International standards have water borders between countries as equidistant from the shore lines. The British soldiers were closer to Iran than Iraq. This is actually shown on the British maps. That supposed Iraq-Iran water boundary is not recognized.

I have been pointing this out to people for days and now I find a British ambassador supports me - the UK Defense Department made the maps, they are not internationally recognized. It is the common case for borders to be drawn from the shore lines. There is a long interesting dispute in the comments about this. This unclear sea border was officially one of the causes of the Iraqi-Iranian war. More maps showing the incident location and distance from land here. A British academic is insisting on low tide marking maps which don't appear to exist for that area.

I have a growing suspicion this will be part of the justification for the American attack on Iran - a new Gulf of Tonkin incident.

The ambassador's efforts to publicize the uncertain border seems to have had an effect in London so my suspicion may be unfounded.

Tags: Iran, UK, border, Iraq, war, attack, captured marines, maps