I certainly haven't seen anything that says Britain has a U.N. mandate to search merchant vessels for smuggled cars. Perhaps they thought the vessel was smuggling parts for nuclear reactors or weapons but that doesn't make sense either (unless the vessel was going to Iran). I thought it was very clear that the cars were on their way to Iraq. Besides that, we don't even know for sure what flag the merchant vessel was flying, where it came from or where it was bound.

The whole thing was very fishy and if the Brits can't explain it, no wonder Iran had their nose out of joint.

I'm glad the Brits were returned with only a little slap on the hand. I wish Bush would follow suit and return the Iranians or at least confirm their well-being. Who knows where they are and what has happened to that unfortunate lot.