Forget the Easter Bunny, We've Got Ahmadinejad

The inevitable happened today when Ahmadenijad announced he's releasing The 15 tomorrow. He said it's his Easter gift to the British.

It remains to be seen what long term impacts the affair will have. What will the British sailors and marines say on their return? Exposing Iranian duplicity and heavy handedness versus praising them for being good hosts and "pardoning" their offense would result in two very different outcomes. I'm also eager to hear exactly what type of deal was cut in order to spring the hostages.

The sight of one of the marines personally thanking Ahmadinejad and using other kind words with him is upsetting, but I'm going to continue to give the British the benefit of the doubt since they are still in Iranian custody. I'll wait to hear what they have to say when they get home. But I know for sure that if it was me standing at arms length from Ahmadinejad, the Revolutionary Guard better make sure to keep me away from sharp objects.

The impression I'm getting from the whole episode right now is that it's a win for Iran. The West looks weak and Ahmadinejad looks more influential than ever. It's great that the sailors are free and that the standoff was resolved before escalating into something ugly, but it was handled badly.

And Ahmadinejad also looks pretty magnanimous by giving us all such a nice Easter gift after we completely forgot to get him anything for Ramadan last year. Wait, scratch that. We did give him a Democrat House and Senate.