1. The latest reports this morning are that the 15 UK military personnel might very well stand trial in Iran with claims that legal proceedings are already underway. They confessed, and now they will be tried. This sounds like a right royal cock up. In the last incident those so captured confessed and were released in a few days. This time, however, evidently thinking that this was the right way to behave to appease a tyrant, confessions and apologies were duly offered immediately and then broadcast publicly by the Iranians along with three letters coming from Faye Turney.
People are the same everywhere in the world. The human animal is no different in the UK from Iran or any other place. What occurred in Nazi Germany can very easily happen here and does. What happened in Iran goes on in this country unabated against me 24/7 with all the same nonsense.
Let's not even begin to think that we are holier or better than anyone else. The so-called democracy in this country and its institutions are not available except for those who have the power and/or money (the same?) to avail themselves of the "benefits of democracy."
The behaviour in Iran which I see through news reports is exactly what I am experiencing in this country near the BBC and have been experiencing for the past eight years and seven months 24/7 from the abuse of surveillance technology used as a torture weapon in the hands of the mob.
The BBC (and other media) do not report this despite the fact that all of it goes on in the BBC's backyard under their very collective noses. Why not? The UK military blew this one. Why?
Iran has really exploited this one in true tyrannical fashion by getting a little bit at a time and not stopping with continuing oppressive behaviour which just added humiliation to insult. It was terrible to promise Faye Turney's release one day only to renege the next because the UK did not display the correct "attitude." Nothing can be done to appease a tyrant. Whatever is done will always be wrong and attacked by the tyrant. After the first incident when UK patrol boats and personnel were captured, this should have never been allowed to happen again. The Royal Navy was obviously not on a war footing.
This situation is far more serious as can be seen now with regard to an offer and refusal with respect for an exchange as described in the BBC News article below. Whoever advised these people to confess and apologise immediately after capture which appears to have been a policy in the UK military made a disastrous mistake. This was never the case when I was in the military with explicit instructions to resist everything and make every effort to escape. There were set policies as to what to do: confession and apology was not among them.
The commanders responsible for the safety of these patrols should have taken every precaution and been prepared for any event in order to stop a repeat of the boat capture which had already occurred. There is no excuse. The Royal Navy was operating in a war zone and was not combat ready. It also appears that the Royal Navy did not think that this was a war zone. I wonder what they think the "War on Terror" actually means and what they were doing to stop it.
It is the job of the military to always be prepared for hostile action. That's the reason why the military is there in the first place. Nothing is learned from failures currently or in history. Pearl Harbour will always be the prime example of such a failure, but the Royal Navy was attacked like this before. A belligerent will attack on the high seas and then claim to be right in doing so. I always remember what the North Koreans did with the USS Pueblo. Captain Bucher and his crew weren't ready either. What about the Gulf of Tonkin incident that led to a resolution by the US and the full scale Vietnam war? That still remains foggy.
In the military one must always be prepared, but the Royal Navy was not. Now, it is a disaster and a terrible tragedy for the 15 captured UK military personnel, their friends and relatives. They could languish in Iran for a long time to come to be used as pawns and scapegoats perhaps even human shields in this complex situation since there are so many problems surrounding Iran at present.
BBC News Saturday, 31 March 2007, 09:07 GMT 10:07 UK
US rejects Iran captives exchange
 Faye Turney said her captors had been 'friendly' |
US officials have ruled out a deal to exchange 15 Royal Navy personnel captured in the Gulf for five Iranians seized by American forces in Iraq.
State department spokesman Sean McCormack rejected suggestions that a swap could be made.
The five, believed to be members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, were seized in January in the Iraqi city of Irbil.
Britain denies Iran's claims that the UK crew were in its waters when seized on 23 March.
The five Iranians were captured in a raid along with equipment which the Americans say shows clear Iranian links to networks supplying Iraqi insurgents with technology and weapons.
US officials have condemned Iran's actions and publicly supported the UK.
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Mr McCormack said: "The international community is not going to stand for the Iranian government trying to use this issue to distract the rest of the world from the situation in which Iran finds itself vis-a-vis its nuclear programme."
Earlier, Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned Iran for "parading" the UK crew on television in a way which would only "enhance people's sense of disgust".
In a broadcast on Iranian television, sailor Nathan Thomas Summers said: "I would like to apologise for entering your waters without permission."
He was shown alongside two colleagues, including Leading Seaman Faye Turney, 26, from Shropshire, who was broadcast apologising to Iran earlier in the week.
A third letter, allegedly from LS Turney, was released on Friday in which she said she had been "sacrificed" to UK and US government policy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6512927.stm
BBC News Saturday, 31 March 2007, 11:17 GMT 12:17 UK
Navy captives 'could face trial'
 The crew has been held captive for more than a week |
The 15 Royal Navy personnel held captive by Iran could stand trial for "entering Iranian waters", a senior Iranian diplomat has said.
Gholamreza Ansari, Iran's ambassador to Moscow, is quoted as telling Russian TV they may face "illegal action" charges.
But the UK government says the captives were seized in Iraqi waters and has demanded their "immediate" return.
The US has ruled out a deal to exchange the Navy personnel for five Iranians it captured in Iraq in January.
According to Iran's IRNA news agency, Mr Ansari told Russian television legal moves against the 15 had already started "and if charges against them are proven, they will be punished".