Comments on: A Question For Our British Readers

By: peggy323

peggy323 — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 17:27:36 +0000

You know I find it interesting that after these British troops were back in England & definitely they were told what to say. I don’t believe them at all. Gees, I thought they were going to be separated once back in England where they could find out what really happened
I think we just saw some theatre with scripts in hand both from the same British troops in Iran & then in England.

All to cover Blair’s ass re: the latest scandel.

PS: Who fell into the Neo-Con’s trap by calling British troops “hostages”?

By: whtt

whtt — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:25:12 +0000

So, ummm, how did Mr Jacobs happen to find work with the investment banking firm that was involved with a planned coup against FDR and which is now happily bringing about the deindustrialization of the U.S.A.?

Couldn’t be that anyone in those circles has influnced his thinking or comments? Naah…

By: John Sadler

John Sadler — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:06:03 +0000

( British , living in Canada ).
Britain is the very last country that should be sending military personnel anywhere near Iran .
The Iranians know perfectly well that our MI6 connived with the CIA , successfully , to kill off democracy and install the Shah. Whose police had habits such as strapping you to a bed frame over electric toasters etc .
The Iranians would be justified in feeling murderous towards Britain .
I don’t know if our sailors were politically aware of such history , and to the extent that they were , whether it might have influenced their willingness to risk a bullet through their guts .
Probably they reflect the awareness of the UK population in general ( NOT all that knowledgeable about our colonial history , but shrewd enough to strongly suspect we should not be involved in Iraq , let alone Iran . The british people , in contrast to their government are overwhelmingly against being America ’s poodle in these wars . )
Photographs of these sailors show the typical delicate features of young british - and they look SO young ( in contrast with the wordly cynical exploitative horse-faced anerican politician ).
From the post release interviews and with a litle imagination , you could envisage this :

Teenage sailor , after a week of solitary confinement broken only by repeated warnings that he is in big trouble , now confronted in a cage by several menacing guys ( rifle barrel pointing generally in his direction , and civilian type (in shades with aggressive manner ) saying..
“We need you now to make a decision on our generous offer . You can say to the camera that you know you were in our waters , and then we will put you on a plane back home . Or if you don’t , then our courts will find you guilty and we will put you in jail .They will put you there for seven years , and believe me you will not enjoy them .”

I would not want my sons to play the hero in those circumstances.

This posting is a rare opportunity for a Briton to sound off. Living in N America the interesting politics are all american , and reasonably enough the discourse pays scant attention to my homeland . But since ‘british commentary ‘ was invited this seems the time to offer a wider opinion on the US/UK relationship .
As in .How about putting it to US politicians that the british people would REALLY like it if the US government packed up their nuclear bombs and missiles from Britain , then cleaned up all the toxic stuff on their (numerous) bases there , and went home .
Anticipating that such sentiments are likely to be the more hurtful to americans who feel their country ’saved’ us from Hitler , I apologise .
But only sort of , because most of you believe the Hollywood version of WWII . Which doesn’t ever acknowledge that it was Russia , not the US that made the ( overwhelmingly ) big sacrifices in fighting Hitler .Nor that the war was economicallly the best thing that ever happened to the US - booming economy , and you got the british empire for free ( well , a few second hand battleships were given to the Royal Navy ).
The US troops’ deaths were/are sad . But , again relative to populations , trivial compared to most of the other nations involved .But thanks anyway .
I now have american grandchildren ( in Atlanta ) , and wish for amicable feelings ( and certainly receive them when in the USA from people I meet ) between our peoples .To that end I’d hope for better historical and political awareness on your side ( you really are frighteningly ignorant as a whole - even allowing for Rupert Murdoch ) , and from us , to bear in mind that our and your governments need to be differentiated from our and your people .

By: whtt

whtt — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:01:58 +0000

earlofhuntingdon @ 162

Only in a John Le Carre novel would they have been dangled as bait, in hopes that a lethal firefight would justify drastic retaliation.

Was restraining myself for lack of a good way of phrasing that. Well said.

Brits doing similar ops in those disputed waters much before the incident?

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 11:35:25 +0000

14 Britsh service men and 1 woman are now back alive, and able to go back and restart duties again. If they had resisted the capture, we now would be in a serious situation, posibly another war.

This “gun hoe” attitude, we will shoot now and ask questions later, is good for Hollywood but not for real situations in real wars.

As a UK resident I feel more bitter about the UK soldiers killed by US friendly fire, who shot first and asked qustions later.

UK commanders often tell UK troops to keep well away from US fire, if they want to stay alive.

Jacobs UP yours!!! You kill people, you have no respect. If I were priminister, there would be certain phone calls to Bush and Jacobs, telling him to shut up, or be shuned by the UK.

You do not treat your freinds like this.

By: weltec2

weltec2 — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 10:27:14 +0000

What in Heaven’s Name has happened to you Lt. Jack, now Colonel? You were once honorable. You hold the highest honors in the land. You are not a coward. You raised the coward under your command above himself and showed him that he could be brave in Vietnam in 69, do you even remember? Where is your honor now?

By: SP (at work)

SP (at work) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 09:56:57 +0000

So presumably Col. Jacobs put his money where his big, fat mouth is and called the British marines cowards to their faces instead of hiding behind a
TV camera, right? Right?

By: Ed Deevy

Ed Deevy — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 09:44:26 +0000

Why the f**k do we have to listen to hate-mongers like Jacobs? He’s full of crap.

By: MacDaffy

MacDaffy — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 08:12:08 +0000

I’m not British but my take on it is this: The British soldiers and sailors were in Iranian waters doing intelligence operations. Period. Governments being what they are these days, I would hate to be a military person or covert agent depending on my “peeps” taking care of me. If you’re out of contact with media of any kind in a hostile country, all you know is that “your government” is disavowing any knowledge of your mission and that you and your fellow soldiers and sailors are just idiots who got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Which is what your government told you when they sent you out. Spying on Iran when no state of war exists and doing so in uniform is a serious offense.

One of the virtues of the younger generation is that most of them question authority. I believe they knew that they were on their own and that their government would leave them there as long as it suited the government’s purpose. Those soldiers and sailors did what they did because they knew/felt they were on their own.

The American and British governments have treated the military as pawns–even less–in pursuit of their policies in the Middle East and other theaters. Self-preservation is every human being’s right; if no one will stand up for you, you have to stand up for yourself.

That’s what the Brits did.

By: Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 05:57:08 +0000

It’s a question I hope an MP asks Tony Turd Blair in his weekly confrontation with Parliament.