"You've got a responsibility to die, sailor!"
Hey Folks -
Below is a story reporting on the Iranian seizure of 15 British soldiers: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070328/ap_on_re_eu/british_seized_iran )
The badly outnumbered and inferiorly armed Brits did not resist and are still alive. According to the story below, "[Tony] Blair said he believed the crew acted sensibly in not putting up a fight after being confronted by six Iranian vessels."
In a separate story it has been reported by Gwynne Dyer that the commander of the US ship paired with the British ship said, "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 toward self-preservation."
Asked whether that meant one of his boarding teams would have opened fire if it had been them in the two inflatable boats that were surrounded by Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats off the coast of Iraq, he said, "Agreed. Yes."
He goes on, ""The U.S. Navy rules of engagement say we have not only a right to self-defense but also an obligation to self-defense . . . [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 15 Brits in two small, inflated boats and carrying small arms were surrounded by six or seven Iranian patrol boats armed with heavy machine guns. Hmmmmm . . .
If the Iranians had gone after an American boarding party, we'd have 15 more dead American kids to mourn.
According to their American commander, the kids had not only a right to attack and die, but a responsibility to attack and die. So much for looking out for the lives of our kids in uniform.
- Uke Man
Iran shows video of captured Britons
Wed Mar 28
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian state TV showed video Wednesday of the 15 British sailors and marines who were seized last week, including a female captive who wore a white tunic and a black head scarf and said the British boats "had trespassed" in Iranian waters.
The British government protested Iran's broadcast of the captured crew as "completely unacceptable." The British military had earlier released what it called proof that its boats were in the territorial waters of
Iraq — not Iran — when they were seized.
"Obviously we trespassed into their waters," British sailor Faye Turney said on the video broadcast by Al-Alam, an Arabic-language, Iranian state-run television station that is carried across the Middle East.
"They were very friendly and very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we've been arrested, there was no harm, no aggression," she said.
Turney, 26, was shown eating with sailors and marines. At another point, she was seen sitting in a room with a floral curtains, smoking a cigarette.
"My name is leading sailman Faye Turney. I come from England. I have served in Foxtrot 99. I've been in the navy for nine years," she said.
Turney was the only person to be shown speaking in the video.
It also showed what appeared to be a handwritten letter from Turney to her family. The letter said, in part, "I have written a letter to the Iranian people to apologize for us entering their waters."
The video also showed a brief scene of what appeared to be the British crew sitting in an Iranian boat in open waters immediately after their capture.
Before the video was broadcast, a spokesman for British Prime Minister
Tony Blair said any showing of British personnel on TV would be a breach of the Geneva Conventions.
"It's completely unacceptable for these pictures to be shown on television," the British Foreign Office said in a statement after the broadcast. "There is no doubt our personnel were seized in Iraqi territorial waters."
The statement also demanded that British diplomats be given immediate access to them as a "prelude" to their release.
Britain earlier said it was freezing most contacts with Iran until it freed all the crew members.
Britain's military said its vessels were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters when Iran seized the sailors and marines on Friday after they completed a search of a civilian vessel in the Iraqi part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway. The border between Iran and Iraq has been disputed for centuries.
Vice Adm. Charles Style told reporters that the Iranians had provided a position on Sunday — a location that he said was in Iraqi waters. By Tuesday, Iranian officials had given a revised position two miles east, placing the British inside Iranian waters — a claim he said was not verified by global positioning system coordinates.
"It is hard to understand a legitimate reason for this change of coordinates," Style said.
Style gave the satellite coordinates of the British crew as 29 degrees 50.36 minutes north latitude and 048 degrees 43.08 minutes east longitude, and said it had been confirmed by an Indian-flagged merchant ship boarded by the sailors and marines.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki denied this, saying, "That's not true. It happened in Iranian territorial waters."
Mottaki also told The Associated Press in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that Turney would be released Wednesday or Thursday, and he suggested that the British vessels' alleged entry into Iranian waters may have been a mistake.
"This is a violation that just happened. It could be natural. They did not resist," he told the AP.
"Today or tomorrow, the lady will be released," Mottaki said Wednesday on the sidelines of an Arab summit in the Saudi capital, referring to Turney, the only woman among the 15.
The Iranian Embassy in London also said: "We are confident that Iranian and British governments are capable of resolving this security case through their close contacts and cooperation."
Britain's military said its vessels were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters when Iran seized the sailors and marines on Friday.
Vice Adm. Charles Style told reporters that the Iranians had provided a position on Sunday — a location that he said was in Iraqi waters. By Tuesday, Iranian officials had given a revised position two miles east, placing the British inside Iranian waters — a claim he said was not verified by global positioning system coordinates.
"It is hard to understand a legitimate reason for this change of coordinates," Style said.
Style gave the satellite coordinates of the British crew as 29 degrees 50.36 minutes north latitude and 048 degrees 43.08 minutes east longitude, and said it had been confirmed by an Indian-flagged merchant ship boarded by the sailors and marines.
Mottaki denied this, saying, "That's not true. It happened in Iranian territorial waters."
Britain and the United States have said the crew was intercepted after completing a search of a civilian vessel in the Iraqi part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, where the border between Iran and Iraq has been disputed for centuries.
Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons that "there was no justification whatever ... for their detention, it was completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal."
"We had hoped to see their immediate release; this has not happened. It is now time to ratchet up the diplomatic and international pressure in order to make sure the Iranian government understands its total isolation on this issue," Blair said.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said she had suspended bilateral talks on all other issues with Tehran until the 15 were released. Visits by officials will be stopped, issuing visas to Iranian officials suspended and British support for events such as trade missions put on hold, her office said.
"No one should be in any doubt about the seriousness with which we regard these events," Beckett told the House of Commons.
Beckett said Britain had now begun a "new phase of diplomatic activity," following Iran's failure to release the sailors and marines, or allow British officials access.
Secretary of State
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal had offered support, Beckett said.
Blair said he believed the crew acted sensibly in not putting up a fight after being confronted by six Iranian vessels.
"If they had engaged in military combat at that stage, there would have undoubtedly been severe loss of life. I think they took the right decision and did what was entirely sensible," Blair said.
In Iran, the announcement by a newscaster on Al-Alam satellite TV on the planned broadcast of the video of the captives did not specify when it would be shown. Al-Alam is an Arabic-language, Iranian state-run television station that is carried across the Middle East.
Iran had promised British officials in talks that it would not show the sailors on television as it did with a group captured in 2004 — a senior British foreign office diplomat said earlier Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with British government rules.
Iran has said the 15 were being treated well, but refused to say where they were being held, or rule out the possibility that they could be brought to trial for allegedly entering Iranian waters.
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the Britons were being treated well.
"They are in completely good health. Rest assured that they have been treated with humanitarian and moral behavior," Hosseini told the AP.
In talks with Mottaki, Beckett demanded that British diplomats be allowed to meet with the crew to make their own assessment.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Iran's behavior was "fully unacceptable" and assured Britain of its full support in negotiations to win their release.
"The EU finds it fully unacceptable that 15 British troops have been captured and detained by Iran. We extend our absolute support and solidarity with Britain on this issue," Merkel told the European Parliament
___
Associated Press Writer Slobodan Lekic contributed to this report from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Below is a story reporting on the Iranian seizure of 15 British soldiers: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070328/ap_on_re_eu/british_seized_iran )
The badly outnumbered and inferiorly armed Brits did not resist and are still alive. According to the story below, "[Tony] Blair said he believed the crew acted sensibly in not putting up a fight after being confronted by six Iranian vessels."
In a separate story it has been reported by Gwynne Dyer that the commander of the US ship paired with the British ship said, "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 toward self-preservation."
Asked whether that meant one of his boarding teams would have opened fire if it had been them in the two inflatable boats that were surrounded by Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats off the coast of Iraq, he said, "Agreed. Yes."
He goes on, ""The U.S. Navy rules of engagement say we have not only a right to self-defense but also an obligation to self-defense . . . [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 15 Brits in two small, inflated boats and carrying small arms were surrounded by six or seven Iranian patrol boats armed with heavy machine guns. Hmmmmm . . .
If the Iranians had gone after an American boarding party, we'd have 15 more dead American kids to mourn.
According to their American commander, the kids had not only a right to attack and die, but a responsibility to attack and die. So much for looking out for the lives of our kids in uniform.
- Uke Man
Iran shows video of captured Britons
Wed Mar 28
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian state TV showed video Wednesday of the 15 British sailors and marines who were seized last week, including a female captive who wore a white tunic and a black head scarf and said the British boats "had trespassed" in Iranian waters.
The British government protested Iran's broadcast of the captured crew as "completely unacceptable." The British military had earlier released what it called proof that its boats were in the territorial waters of
Iraq — not Iran — when they were seized.
"Obviously we trespassed into their waters," British sailor Faye Turney said on the video broadcast by Al-Alam, an Arabic-language, Iranian state-run television station that is carried across the Middle East.
"They were very friendly and very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we've been arrested, there was no harm, no aggression," she said.
Turney, 26, was shown eating with sailors and marines. At another point, she was seen sitting in a room with a floral curtains, smoking a cigarette.
"My name is leading sailman Faye Turney. I come from England. I have served in Foxtrot 99. I've been in the navy for nine years," she said.
Turney was the only person to be shown speaking in the video.
It also showed what appeared to be a handwritten letter from Turney to her family. The letter said, in part, "I have written a letter to the Iranian people to apologize for us entering their waters."
The video also showed a brief scene of what appeared to be the British crew sitting in an Iranian boat in open waters immediately after their capture.
Before the video was broadcast, a spokesman for British Prime Minister
Tony Blair said any showing of British personnel on TV would be a breach of the Geneva Conventions.
"It's completely unacceptable for these pictures to be shown on television," the British Foreign Office said in a statement after the broadcast. "There is no doubt our personnel were seized in Iraqi territorial waters."
The statement also demanded that British diplomats be given immediate access to them as a "prelude" to their release.
Britain earlier said it was freezing most contacts with Iran until it freed all the crew members.
Britain's military said its vessels were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters when Iran seized the sailors and marines on Friday after they completed a search of a civilian vessel in the Iraqi part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway. The border between Iran and Iraq has been disputed for centuries.
Vice Adm. Charles Style told reporters that the Iranians had provided a position on Sunday — a location that he said was in Iraqi waters. By Tuesday, Iranian officials had given a revised position two miles east, placing the British inside Iranian waters — a claim he said was not verified by global positioning system coordinates.
"It is hard to understand a legitimate reason for this change of coordinates," Style said.
Style gave the satellite coordinates of the British crew as 29 degrees 50.36 minutes north latitude and 048 degrees 43.08 minutes east longitude, and said it had been confirmed by an Indian-flagged merchant ship boarded by the sailors and marines.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki denied this, saying, "That's not true. It happened in Iranian territorial waters."
Mottaki also told The Associated Press in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that Turney would be released Wednesday or Thursday, and he suggested that the British vessels' alleged entry into Iranian waters may have been a mistake.
"This is a violation that just happened. It could be natural. They did not resist," he told the AP.
"Today or tomorrow, the lady will be released," Mottaki said Wednesday on the sidelines of an Arab summit in the Saudi capital, referring to Turney, the only woman among the 15.
The Iranian Embassy in London also said: "We are confident that Iranian and British governments are capable of resolving this security case through their close contacts and cooperation."
Britain's military said its vessels were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters when Iran seized the sailors and marines on Friday.
Vice Adm. Charles Style told reporters that the Iranians had provided a position on Sunday — a location that he said was in Iraqi waters. By Tuesday, Iranian officials had given a revised position two miles east, placing the British inside Iranian waters — a claim he said was not verified by global positioning system coordinates.
"It is hard to understand a legitimate reason for this change of coordinates," Style said.
Style gave the satellite coordinates of the British crew as 29 degrees 50.36 minutes north latitude and 048 degrees 43.08 minutes east longitude, and said it had been confirmed by an Indian-flagged merchant ship boarded by the sailors and marines.
Mottaki denied this, saying, "That's not true. It happened in Iranian territorial waters."
Britain and the United States have said the crew was intercepted after completing a search of a civilian vessel in the Iraqi part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, where the border between Iran and Iraq has been disputed for centuries.
Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons that "there was no justification whatever ... for their detention, it was completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal."
"We had hoped to see their immediate release; this has not happened. It is now time to ratchet up the diplomatic and international pressure in order to make sure the Iranian government understands its total isolation on this issue," Blair said.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said she had suspended bilateral talks on all other issues with Tehran until the 15 were released. Visits by officials will be stopped, issuing visas to Iranian officials suspended and British support for events such as trade missions put on hold, her office said.
"No one should be in any doubt about the seriousness with which we regard these events," Beckett told the House of Commons.
Beckett said Britain had now begun a "new phase of diplomatic activity," following Iran's failure to release the sailors and marines, or allow British officials access.
Secretary of State
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal had offered support, Beckett said.
Blair said he believed the crew acted sensibly in not putting up a fight after being confronted by six Iranian vessels.
"If they had engaged in military combat at that stage, there would have undoubtedly been severe loss of life. I think they took the right decision and did what was entirely sensible," Blair said.
In Iran, the announcement by a newscaster on Al-Alam satellite TV on the planned broadcast of the video of the captives did not specify when it would be shown. Al-Alam is an Arabic-language, Iranian state-run television station that is carried across the Middle East.
Iran had promised British officials in talks that it would not show the sailors on television as it did with a group captured in 2004 — a senior British foreign office diplomat said earlier Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with British government rules.
Iran has said the 15 were being treated well, but refused to say where they were being held, or rule out the possibility that they could be brought to trial for allegedly entering Iranian waters.
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the Britons were being treated well.
"They are in completely good health. Rest assured that they have been treated with humanitarian and moral behavior," Hosseini told the AP.
In talks with Mottaki, Beckett demanded that British diplomats be allowed to meet with the crew to make their own assessment.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Iran's behavior was "fully unacceptable" and assured Britain of its full support in negotiations to win their release.
"The EU finds it fully unacceptable that 15 British troops have been captured and detained by Iran. We extend our absolute support and solidarity with Britain on this issue," Merkel told the European Parliament
___
Associated Press Writer Slobodan Lekic contributed to this report from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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