Does anyone else find the behavior of the British captives unprofessional? Obviously I'm not there, and I don't know if they have had any resistance training, however, anyone who is in a military and operating in the gulf has to at least be aware of the tensions with Iran. It does not appear there is any physical abuse, and I don't think I would go on TV confessing my country is wrong. Even if they decided to do that for "proof of life" they are all on TV tonight high fiving in suits, shaking Abishamsa's hand (however you spell that dude's name) and acting like idiots.:icon_rage Have some military bearing and don't give the Iranians the image of being the "good guys!" Seriously, I hope none of us would act like that in that situation. Maybe we need to send the code of conduct to London!
A couple things that you have to be aware of.......First, they were not POW's but peacetime detainees and the rules are a lot different. Very few people on this board have had thorough training on peacetime detention, I could probably count them on one hand, (the short lesson at SERE only skims the issues) but there are many differences in comparison to wartime. There are no international laws or set procedures like there is with POW's when it comes to their treatment or what they can and cannot do. While most of our enemies have ignored these rules in the past 100 years or so they still have the weight of international community and with all of their mechanisms and procedures, they occasionally help. Along with the Code of Conduct those rules are well known and are not in dispute. Even then they have been broken, mainly under duress. You have to realize that Iran was not really breaking any 'rules' by making these people appear on TV or holding them per se since there is no state of war that exists between Britian and Iran. If the Brits actually did violate Iranian territory (which I seriously doubt, but it is a possibility) then they actually have legal standing to go after them.
Secondly, while some of the statements of the female sailor tread a gray area you have to look very closely at the statements of the two officers. Correct me if I am wrong, but they neither of them ever said that they intruded into Iranian waters but only pointed out where the Iranians said they were. Other things were caveated like saying they understand why the Iranians were mad about the 'apparent' intrusion, not that they were at fault.
Earlier, another crewman, Lt Felix Carman, told Iranian television: "To the Iranian people, I can understand why you were insulted by our apparent intrusion into your waters."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6528235.stm
You have to listen very closely to what was said, not just listen to the short blurbs they show on the tabloid news networks. From what I have seen they said what was necessary when they were put in front of the cameras. Even if they were not trained they said some things out of the playbook.
Thirdly, we have no idea what sort of conditions they were held in or what they knew about how much attention their capture garnered, in official circles or in the media. When the EP-3 crew landed in China they had no idea how much attention the incident had garnered back home. Without any of this knowledge they would want to be seen and heard as much as possible for the 'proof of life'. A couple questions that you may not have thought of: How much footage was shot? It could have been hours of filmed interrogation that they cut to a few moments. What sort of conditions were they held in and what were they told they had to do? Did they tell them they had to appear in fron of the camera in order to get food, contact with other Brits, released, etc? There may have been a concious decision on the part of the officers to appear in front of the cameras to spare most of their men. Also, they apparently seperated the woman from the group for some time, did they tell her to make statements before she could rejoin her fellow sailors and marines? Things that none of us know.
Finally, you do realize they are still in Iran, right? Until they get out of the country they are not scott free and have to still play nice. I would guess that they have even been instructed to say nice things by their superiors in order not to make things complicated. Even after they get home the British government might want them to lie low for a little bit so as not to complicate the bigger diplomatic issues and not to provoke Iran into doing another dumb thing. While Iran is making our life a bit more difficult in Iraq, it is not to the extent that many think. They could make life a lot more difficult than it already is.......
a lot more difficult .
So, I would give the Brits a lot of credit for getting through this ordeal. It does not sound like, other than some dubious statements out of the female sailor, that they made no admission of fault on their part. And it does not seem like they made no other serious errors. Let the Brits deal with their guys, they are good guys and I am glad to have them on our side. If they did something wrong I have faith that they will work it out, officially or unofficially.
Unless you walk a mile in their shoes...........
