Am I the only one who has wondered why there have been a couple of incidents of British military personnel being captured by Iranians without any resistance from the British?
It seemed odd to me each time. After all, the British are known to be disciplined and fierce warriors. The British are certainly known to have one of the best Naval services in the world. That’s their reputation. It has been for centuries. The British Navy defeated the Spanish Armada for crying out loud.
A senior American commander in the Gulf has said his men would have fired on the Iranian Republican Guard rather than let themselves be taken hostage.
In a dramatic illustration of the different postures adopted by British and US forces working together in Iraq, Lt-Cdr Erik Horner - who has been working alongside the task force to which the 15 captured Britons belonged - said he was “surprised” the British marines and sailors had not been more aggressive.
Asked by The Independent whether the men under his command would have fired on the Iranians, he said: “Agreed. Yes. I don’t want to second-guess the British after the fact but our rules of engagement allow a little more latitude. Our boarding team’s training is a little bit more towards self-preservation.”
The executive officer - second-in-command on USS Underwood, the frigate working in the British-controlled task force with HMS Cornwall - said: “The unique US Navy rules of engagement say we not only have a right to self-defence but also an obligation to self-defence. They [the British] had every right in my mind and every justification to defend themselves rather than allow themselves to be taken. Our reaction was, ‘Why didn’t your guys defend themselves?’”
The British had been warned by the CIA that the Iranians were looking for retribution for the capture of Iranian operatives in Iraq. Over the past two months over 300 Iranians intelligence officers have been captured in Iraq. The British did not raise their threat level in response to the Iranian threat.
Apparently, the British rules of engagement are even more restrictive than the American rules of engagement.
Yesterday, the former First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West, said British rules of engagement were “very much de-escalatory, because we don’t want wars starting … Rather than roaring into action and sinking everything in sight we try to step back and that, of course, is why our chaps were, in effect, able to be captured and taken away.”
Can you just imagine what that kind of statement does for the morale of the British Troops!
Meanwhile, eight British Sailors and seven Royal Marines are being ‘interrogated’ in Tehran. One of them is a new mother.
No one questions the bravery, valor, gallantry and aggressiveness of the British military men and women. What I question is the rules of engagement under which they are having to operate. I thought our military had their hands tied, it’s nothing compared to this.
Would you want your son or daughter having to go to war without the ability to defend themselves?
I imagine Winston Churchill is undoubtedly rolling over in his grave.
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April 7th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
quote: “The British Navy defeated the Spanish Armada for crying out loud.”
It took the Dutch and the fabulous Brits to take down the Spanish Armada. Without the earlier Dutch victories, the Armada would have taken much longer to remove as the dominant force.
Interesting parallel to our present “allied” situation in the Gulf. Americans going to rhetoric -what is done under American ROE… hopefully this Iranian bullshit will change things for the future, and let them know some good ol’ Western rounds may be coming their way if they pull off any more illegal (have they disputed British GPS records yet?) crap. I wish there had been a fight, perhaps selfishly, because I was not there surrounded by bad guys.
I am American, have been to Gulf many times in US Navy. These buggers need some rounds sent their way when they break the rules. We used to do that to Iran when they screwed up. Why so chicken shit now?
I know all about Iranian “swarm” tactics. They are the best in the world at it, been doing it for over 20 years. Brit/US knows it in-depth. But we are still using cold-war big-asset tactics against cheap little boats full of punks. Unbelievable.
I am so tired of rhetoric.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
The so called elite Royal marines surrendering without a fight I’m ashamed to be British,I can’t believe they gave in without a fight to a bunch of hooligans in couple poorly equipped rubber boats,I certainly can’t imagine the U.S marines doing the same,they would have fought and been victorious even if some of them died they would have honoured their unit and they country unlike our wimpish Royal marines,I’m sure even female U.S marines would have done better than ours,now how can our American cousins take our forces seriously and rely on us in future conflicts,when we look so pathetically week and stupid?