Iran captures British sailors

[tequila]

Blatant double posting here.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would free the 15 detained British sailors and marines Wednesday as an Easter holiday "gift" to the British people.

He said the captives, who were seized while on patrol in the northern Persian Gulf on March 23, would be taken to the airport at the end of the news conference that he was addressing. An Iranian official in London said they would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran.

...

"On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet (Muhammad) ... and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people — with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial — forgave those 15," he said, referring to the Muslim prophet's birthday on March 30 and the Easter holiday.

"This pardon is a gift to the British people," he said.

The surprise announcement came shortly after Ahmadinejad pinned a medal on the chest of the Iranian coast guard commander who intercepted the sailors and marines.

In London, the office of Prime Minister Tony Blair said it welcomed the news.

"We are now establishing exactly what this means in terms of the method and timing of their release," a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

An Iranian official in London said the crew members would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran and that it would then be up to the Foreign Office to decide how they would return home.

The announcement came after Iran's state media reported that an Iranian envoy would be allowed to meet five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in northern Iraq. Another Iranian diplomat, separately seized two months ago by uniformed gunmen in Iraq, was released and returned Tuesday to Tehran.

[goesh]

I just knew the old bandit would bring in the compassionate islam ploy...

[Stan]

Received this nice summation from a British analyst over here.

This follows e-mail exchanges and conversations with people in the UK, the Gulf and elsewhere and newspaper contributions. I hope it is helpful.

Best wishes, Bruce.

Navy Hostages

As precisely the same happened to a similar RN party in 2004, it perfectly obvious by definition that the group taken recently were in official parlance “prone to capture”.

They received however no “Conduct after Capture” or more especially “Hostage Survival” training. The Armed Forces has a duty of care towards the crew and all those in a similar position.

Had they received even a briefing on the subject they would have been made aware of potential isolation, disorientation, threats and mock executions, the crucial fact that one is worth far more alive to captors than dead, and the emotions that play in these sorts of circumstances.

Had this been done the awkward scenes shown on television would not have happened in the same way and psychological damage would have been limited, but it wasn’t!

A percentage of people will become permanently mentally harmed by these sorts of experiences. But with proper training a lot is avoidable. In harsh training those who cannot cope can be identified and posted elsewhere.

A further factor is morale and sense of purpose. In Vietnam, Korea, WWII and N. Ireland all troops could give a fairly clear idea why they were supposed to be there, whether or not they liked it; now?

Tactically and diplomatically, the Iranians I think, who after all invented chess, in their own way had all the moves well planned; the capture, the processing and release of the hostages in time for the story to spin over Easter. Once more we see tactical events with strategic consequences.

Their objectives –

i. Humiliate, weaken and decouple UK within the allied cause.

ii. Deflect attention from their own nuclear programme (of which the Hezbollah war contained an element)

iii. Put a “shot in the bank” to set a marker and gauge reaction.

Operationally, where was the real-time situational awareness and common operating picture? How did the command vessel not see these three Iranian vessels converging on the boarding craft? What is the point of having these systems unless? -

i. You have the assets with which to respond

ii. The political will and support expressed in ROE to allow you to do so

iii. You can communicate with those who need to know

Ironically, I spoke at length several times in the past to the Commodore Nick Lambert of HMS Cornwall, about just these issues. I imagine he got what he was issued with.

Media-wise, those I know in the region say that the story there until approaching the release was “no big deal” as that sort of thing that goes on.

What in fact took place was true public diplomacy, over the heads of the British government, between factions within Iran and the dangerously speculating and sensationalising British press and media.

[Jedburgh]

UK House of Commons Defence Committee, 14 Dec 07:

The Iran Hostages Incident: The Lessons Learned

In June 2007, the Secretary of State for Defence announced the broad conclusions of the Fulton report into the apprehension of Royal Navy personnel from HMS Cornwall by Iranians on 23 March 2007. He stated that it would not be possible to publish the report but that it would be given to our Committee to ensure parliamentary scrutiny.

We found the initial response of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to our inquiry inadequate, but the MoD has now provided us with full responses to our questions and briefing at the highest level.

The security classification of the Fulton report, and the evidence provided to us in support of it, makes it difficult for us to demonstrate openly the grounds on which we have reached our conclusions. But we assure the House of Commons, and the public, that we are satisfied that action is being taken to address the weaknesses exposed by the hostagetaking. We are assured that this should significantly reduce the likelihood of a recurrence. We have written to the Secretary of State for Defence with a number of classified conclusions and recommendations.

The decision not to publish the Fulton report has led some people to conclude that the whole thing was a whitewash. We can assure the House that this is not the case. The Fulton report was robust in identifying serious weaknesses: in intelligence, in communications, in doctrine and in training. And, while the MoD concluded there were insufficient grounds for courts martial, formal administrative action has been taken against a number of Service personnel.

The Fulton report recommended a range of remedial actions; and the Government has made good progress towards implementing its recommendations. We have been assured that the resources are in place to enable implementation of the action plan. We accept that a lack of resources was not the direct cause of the events of 23 March.

We also considered the findings of the Hall report into media access to Service personnel. It is clear that the decision to allow the Service personnel to sell their stories was a serious mistake and deeply damaging to the reputation of the Royal Navy. The Secretary of State for Defence has accepted responsibility and apologised. This should not absolve others from blame.

We publish a progress report from the MoD on the action taken to implement the Hall recommendations, and note the progress made.

Complete 23 page report at the link.

[Chris Albon]

Just stumbled upon this video, it appears to be from the 23rd of March 2007 incident between British troops and Iran. I thought I had followed this story pretty closely but I have not seen this video before:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e21_1213275308

Any insight?