Hopefully, there will be some serious scrutiny up and down the chain-of-command about the Rules of Engagement when operating as these sailors were. There should also be some serious review of the training and disciplinary standards that are applied.

Still, the early indications, and I emphasize we only have preliminary information, seems to suggest that there was little or no justification for the actions of some of these personnel once they were captured. As I mentioned earlier, there are now group pictures of the release celebration posted on other sites (but apparently not in the MSM) that show the Marines’ posture and attitude was distinctly different from the others. So the standards of behavior may have varied considerably withing the group.

Well said. The more I thought about this today, the more I realized that I was sad. And ashamed for the British. Always in my heart, I have held them in very high regard, thankful for their culture and ideas (which were so fundamental to the sound development of the U.S.) and admired that in spite of their suffering in WWII, they persistently and bravely pushed forward to the end.

They aren’t perfect – no nation or group of people is. But I always have been encouraged and cheered by them. Now I just feel sad.

Did anyone else out there think it odd that the British allowed their soldiers’ homecoming to be publicized so much? I mean, I saw a picture today of one of the soldiers appearing to open one of the presents he received from Ahmedinejad – almost like it was Christmas! I really think they should have had them get off the plane in private and meet their families in private.

Deana

“The British, before they became European….”

One of the saddest things to watch is the British people being led by midgets to abandon their proud and noble heritage, and join the ranks of those who tried for centuries but could never conquer them.

At that point, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson turned over in his grave.

Finis Royal Navy…

One thing on the scarf. Many years ago my wife came to Turkey when my USN ship was on a visit there. The Navy counseled us that women should wear head covering when touring Mosques out of respect for Islamic
custom–and the U.S. Navy wives did.

Likewise they wore a head covering when touring Cathedrals out of respect for Catholic custom.

I suspect that this Brit Seaperson(?) was not voluntarily demonstrating respect for Islamic custom. In this particular instance I think it was wrong for the woman to wear the scarf in acquiesance to pressure.

It will be interesting to see just how much, and what kind of pressure, if any, was applied to these personnel.

They are also in absolutely no doubt about what did end the situation: the arrival of two CVNs and their battle groups off the coast of Iran, and the expected arrival of a third – Nimitz – some time today.

Our military kids are mostly fine with George W. Bush’s world-wide image as something of a “cowboy” in the White House. It doesn’t bother them at all that people like Ahmadinejad’s bosses worry about what he might do – in fact they see that as a good thing.

The British, before they became European, used to be pretty hard guys. They remain the best of a bad crop, but have moved a lot closer to the “frog-eating surrender monkey” side of the ledger than they have to ours.

Which is something else we have to wake up to, and realize: other than possibly Australia, we don’t have any allies. And the sad fact is we never did. The reason to make an alliance with someone is in order to make yourself stronger, and increase your capabilities: the two of you together can accomplish more than either one could alone. But – is that our situation with any – every – country in Europe? Clearly, it is not. Militarily, (hell, even economically) there isn’t any good reason for us to be “allied” with any of them, they bring nothing to the table. We in fact do not have, and never have had, military allies in Europe. What we have had since 1945 is a bunch of foreign dependencies, who can do nothing without our participation, and without our participation amounting to 95% of whatever effort is being mounted.

Their chief contribution to the idea of being our “allies” has been real estate: we have bases in England, Germany, Spain and Italy. When it gets down to it, however, they aren’t much help. The British always show up, true, but they show up with two guys for every thousand we bring. That’s not an “ally,” that’s an extra pain in our butts, because now we have to watch out for them. Most of the kids I talk to in the market, or gas station, or wherever, never see any of our “allies” in the field, and would just as soon leave them home, and struggle along without them.

This situation isn’t going to be likely to have done anything to repair that.