No wonder they're pissed

Three months ago, US troops raided the iranian consulate in Irbil and arrested a group of iranian diplomats in a gross violation of international law and diplomatic protocol. But that wasn't the only thing they were after. According to the Independent, the raid was actually a botched attempt to kidnap two senior Iranian security officials who were visiting Iraq on an official visit and had met with both the Iraqi and Kurdish presidents. To put this in perspective, it is as if the Iranians had tried to kidnap Condalezza Rice and the head of the CIA while they were visiting Iraq or Afghanistan - or snatch Helen Clark from Washington while she was visiting the White House. Such a move would be universally condemened as an outrage and a violation of diplomatic immunity - but the United States plainly thinks itself above such petty rules. And now the British are paying the price for their ally's hubris...