An Act of War?

You bet.

Melanie Phillips:

"...There is every prospect that these hostages will be used as bargaining counters to force the release of five Iranian Revolutionary Guards who were captured in Iraq by American troops earlier this year.
"Yet in its response to these events, Britain seems to be in some kind of dreamworld. There is no sense of urgency or crisis, no outpouring of anger. There seems to be virtually no grasp of what is at stake.
"Some commentators have languidly observed that in another age this would have been regarded as an act of war. What on earth are they talking about? It is an act of war. There can hardly be a more blatant act of aggression than the kidnapping of another country’s military personnel."

And...

"My goodness, the Iranian regime must be shivering in its shoes. With what contempt they must regard us — a country that stands impotently by while its people are kidnapped and then does no more than bleat that it is ‘disturbed’.
"What on earth has happened to this country of ours, for so many centuries a byword for defending itself against attack, not least against piracy or acts of war on the high seas?"

Does anyone else in Britain think like her? I don't know if anyone in Britain or the U.S. for that matter can rival her in common sense.

I recommend reading the whole piece...and, everything else she writes.

Hot Air demonstrates Blair's weakness:

"'I hope we manage to get them (the Iranian government) to realize they have to release them,' Blair said in an interview with GMTV. "'If not, then this will move into a different phase.'"

He hopes? Why don't you MAKE THEM REALIZE IT?

CNN helps by playing dumb (emphasis mine):

"The female British sailor detained by Iran along with 14 male sailors and marines in the Persian Gulf last week said her crew 'trespassed' in Iranian waters, in comments broadcast Wednesday on Iranian television.
''Obviously we trespassed into their waters,' detainee Faye Turney said in video broadcast by Alalam, an Iranian Arabic language network.
"'They were very friendly, very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we'd been arrested. There was no aggression, no hurt, no harm. They were very, very compassionate,' Turney said.
"It was not known when the videotape was shot, or whether Turney, 26, was able to speak freely, since she is being held against her will."

I'm going to guess her statement was...not of free will. How quickly CNN forgets.

Here's what Tony Blair meant by "different phase", apparently:

"In a first act of retribution against Tehran, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett suspended bilateral talks with Tehran on all other issues. Visits by officials were stopped, issuing visas to Iranian officials suspended and British support for events such as trade missions put on hold, her office said."

I wonder what Britain will do after this doesn't work...