WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans in the latest presidential debate said it’s a disgrace that U.S. sailors were seen on their knees under Iranian detention. But their portrayal of the episode was not exactly on point. A look at the exchange and the facts behind it:
TED CRUZ: Any country that makes U.S. service members get on their knees like the 10 sailors whose boats were boarded and seized by the Iranian military this week “will feel the full force and fury of the United States of America.”
CHRIS CHRISTIE: “Tin pot dictators … are taking our Navy ships.”
THE FACTS: Neither candidate addressed the fact that the short-lived crisis was created by the U.S. sailors who steered their boats into sovereign Iranian waters, where they were boarded and seized by Iranian naval forces. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Thursday that the U.S. sailors had made a navigation error.
Under such circumstances it would not be unusual to disarm members of a foreign military force – even a small one like the two Navy boats – and hold them temporarily for questioning. What was exceptional about this episode – and perhaps a provocation – is that the Iranians videotaped the Americans during the encounter and posted the images on the Internet.
The suggestion by Cruz that he would have launched a military attack on Iran in response to such an incident is hard to square with accepted international tests for the use of force.
Iran returned the sailors unharmed and their boats undamaged.