The story about 15 UK sailors being taken captive by Iran, then later released with much propaganda by nut-job in chief Ahmadinejad is old news by now. I was going to post at the time, but I couldn’t quite figure out what to make of it all. Anyone who reads this blog will know that I have supported the mission in Iraq from the start, and the troops who serve anywhere without question.
Since their return to the UK, there has been much criticism of the 15′s actions and apparent cooperation with the Iranian captors. Some of the evidence is damning, but there is a lot more to this than meets the eye, I think.
The mistake was first made in allowing the capture to happen – for which I believe we need to blame some Ministry of Defence wonk who denied permission to engage the Iranians because the British had not been fired upon first. Sometimes, you need to shoot first and ask questions later, this was one of those times. That the Royal Navy allowed their patrol boats to get out of immediate support range of the HMS Cornwall was a mistake, that the supporting helicopter was not in the vicinity was worse, especially since the 15 were intending to board a vessel for inspection.
The second mistake was that none of the 15 seem to have received training on how to behave if captured. Some critics are dismissing this as if these sailors should have inherently known what to do. We don’t send military personnel into war zones without training on weapons and tactics, and preparation for the eventuality of capture should be included. If not for all, at least the officers need to have some idea of how to lead in the circumstance.
Iran’s actions of course were despicable, I do not believe that the 15 stood much chance of overcoming an expert state propaganda machine without training. These 15 are not SAS special forces types, and what they were subjected to was subtle enough that it probably never seemed to them like they were cooperating as fully as it seemed to those watching the Iranian propaganda output.
After a week of thinking about this event, I figure that there is one factor in all of of this that to date I have not seen mentioned in the media -public support for the troops and the war. The world media, the BBC very much included, has decided that the war is wrong and unwinnable – a fact that the 15 would have been all too aware of. It is one thing to be captured with the certain knowledge that your countrymen will demand action of its government to release or rescue captives, quite another to wonder if any such public support would be there at all. Watching the news in the months leading up to their capture, how much could these 15 rely on public opinion or the increasingly shaky UK government?
This is a tough situation, and one which is impossible to judge from the comfort of home. I’m happy the sailors are safe and home. I am unhappy that the UK was made to look so inept and weak, and sincerely hope that the fallout will result in better preparation and rules of engagement for our servicemen and women.
