Dmirty Chirkin: Political daltonism

Recently, US battleships fired on a Saudi tanker in the Persian Gulf, which was traveling under the Iranian flag, RIA ‘Novosti reports. According to Iranian television, as a result, two sailors of the tanker’s crew were injured. In connexion with this incident, the Swiss ambassador to Iran, representing US interests in this country, was invited to the Foreign Ministry. There, a protest was made to him and explanations were demanded for what had happened.

The Swiss diplomat later explained that the firing had been caused by mistake: US boats mistook the Iranian ship for an Iraqi one, which, according to the US side’s information, was illegally transporting oil.

Nobody would suppose the Americans are also daltonians: the red-white-black Iraqi flag was mistaken for the green-white-red flag of Iran. America's disease is probably very serious if it influences vision.

Dmitry Chirkin PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2001/12/19/34974.html