Tie fighters

I watched the footage of the captured British sailors being released over at Hot Air and let me say: that is truly, madly, deeply weird. Sur-real. The cameras and smiles, the shiny suits, the matching gift bags (?!)...it looks less like a Repatriation of Prisoners than it does a game show or an Oscar party. (Did those bags contain some carbon offsets?)

They should have been allowed to keep their military uniforms. Discharging them as civilians was humiliating.

Which reminds me, notice anything missing from their Mahmoud's Menswear ensembles?

Lovely Parting Gifts

If you don't, check out my Dictator Photo Quiz. There's a reason for that omission.

Which is strange. If these sailors were the tools of western imperialists, and neckties are the attire of western imperialists, why not cast them in that light? Don't tell me there's some kind of tie shortage there, either. I'm always hearing about how Iran is importing Chinese Silkworms.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure we'll never know the whole story on this, which is probably just as well. Even if there is something a little "Bridge on the River Kwai" about all this, I am thrilled that these guys are now free to take this sort of symbolic revenge upon their captors:

Revenge best served cold, unless you're in England where they like it more tepid.

Photos adapted from AFP. Cross-posted at Patterico's Pontifications.