There is a tendency for human beings to assume other people are like themselves. We see an interesting example of this in two news items regarding Iran.
Recent news reports from Iraq reveal that Iran has kidnapped 15 British sailors who had stopped a ship in international waters to inspect it for smuggled cars. The United Kingdom has demanded the return of the sailors while Iran claims they had strayed into Iranian waters.
Even more recently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cancelled his scheduled speech to the United Nations in New York. One has to wonder if he feared he would be held hostage until Iran released the 15 Brits.
Exchanging Ahmadinejad for 15 Jack Tars has a certain charm, but I cannot imagine the U.S. doing it. I can't imagine it, but it appears that Mahmoud could imagine it very well and decided therefore not to put himself in harm's way.
There have been allegations that Ahmadinejad was involved as a young man in the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Iran during the Carter administration. Most of the embassy staff was held hostage for 444 days. The anniversary of this seizure is celebrated in Iran as a holiday - a country whose current leadership is without shame.
