It’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be.
That’s what SHE said!
Thank you! Try the veal!
If one of our drones crashed in Canada or Australia or Japan, or some other place we’re friendly with, and we asked for it back, they would give it to us. So clearly, asking politely is the appropriate thing to do, with a friendly nation. Now, Iran is not a friend to us, but for purposes of diplomacy, we have to maintain the polite fiction that they are, which means that when something like this happens, we have to do the same thing we would do if they were a friendly nation.
And who knows? They might even give it back. And if they do, wouldn’t it have looked silly if we hadn’t asked?
The drone flies in the upper atmosphere! It’s cold! There’s been shrinkage!
You don’t have a diplomatic relationship with a robber. The US does have one with Iran. It may be bad, but we can’t just go over there and lock them up. Asking for it back is the proper way to do things, even if you’re sure they’re not going to acquiesce.
I actually heard on some dumbass conservative radio host say that we should have just destroyed the drone with bombs or sent troops in to get it as soon as we know they had it. As if one drone is worth invading another country for :rolleyes:
We lost the drone, its theirs now. We just have to accept it
We may get it back after they’ve mined it for every bit of knowledge that they can. But probably not.
I have to admit, however much asking for our spy drone back is simply standard diplomatic boilerplate, I’m highly amused by it.
Other ways to have gone about it:
“All right, Mr. Ahmadinejad. You can keep the drone, if that’s what you want… Or, you can trade it in for what’s behind DOOR NUMBER THREE!”
“That so-called drone is a citizen of the United States. It was given an advanced AI program and it just ran off. If it’s dead we may hold you responsible, pending the autopsy, which we will perform after you hand it back.”
“We understand that you have one of our military drones that accidentally crossed into Iranian airspace. We request that you return it at once, for our continued goodwill… Heh heh heh. Hey Panetta, they took the virus drop! What, the mic is still on?? D’OH!!”
First Secretary of the USSR: “I am speaking to the individual who has stolen the property of the USSR. Can you hear me, Mr. Gant?”
Mitchell Gant (Clint Eastwood): Yeah, I can hear you.
FS: Are you enjoying our new toy?
Gant: It’s Okay. Could be improved. Aren’t you going to threaten me, or something?
FS: I will do so if that is what you wish. First I will simply ask you to return what does not belong to you. It is calculated that if you turn around now, we will see you in thirty minutes over Biliarsk.
Gant: And if I don’t?
FS: You will not be allowed to steal the property of the USSRl. I will not allow that to happen.
Gant: And if I do, you’ll just forget the whole thing?
FS: No, but i will say that you will be allowed to live.
– Firefox (the film, 1982)
You can ask for your militarty equipment back and not sound like a dork or a wimp. Of course, the circumstances are different here, and you’d have to word everything differently.
We also have to maintain the fiction that Iran will be able to weaken America’s national security by discovering intelligence from the fallen drone that it captured. Other unfriendly nations would say: “They (the U.S.) don’t want it back? They have nothing.” Instead, they will say: “They wanted it back. There must be something about the drone they don’t want them (Iran) to know about.”
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Apologize. This little incident only cements all the negative propaganda the Iranian leaders spread against us.
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Take counter measures with in our own military to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Like maybe a self destruct mechanism. I’m not a military person, so I’m not sure if that’s practical or not.
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Down play the incident. Don’t feed in to their schadenfreude. That’s the last thing we need to do.
There’s a GQ thread on that.
Wouldn’t the lower air pressure cause it to puff up like a balloon?
I’m surprised they asked for it back.
US: So, I, uh, guess you caught us spying on you and you have our super toy, hey?
Iran: That’s right.
US: Right. So… uh… that thing is real expensive and contains exclusive high-end technology… Can we, like, have it back, and stuff?
Iran: No.
Asking only gives Iran the chance to explicitly say no, thus emphasizing their upper hand and giving them a chance to make the US look extra silly. Besides, Iran is going to go over this thing like the US would go over a time machine and then sell the knowledge or the actual material to its buddies. Of course they’re not going to give it back. I’m amazed the US even asked.
Wrong analogy. Remember, it’s the guy with the gun who initially asks you for your money, even though he could just as well blow your brains out and take it from you.
There’s precedent:
Also:
They got it back in a bunch of crates, but it *was *returned.
Personally, I think we should have dipped the wings in poo before sending if off to do its spying… then if it crashed and the Iranians picked it up… Poo on your hands Iran!
(That’ll teach you to touch stuff that doesn’t belong to you!)