Quote from: O'BorgThey had a helicopter, you know.

A single Lynx against six ships with AA weaponry? Only in videogames, maybe...

IIRC, the British were ambushed, plain and simple. Fifteen marines armed with pistols and rifles in two inflatable boats, against six Iranian patrol boats with RPG launchers and machine guns. No wonder they didn't try to fight back.

Quote from: beejazzAnd again with the fallacy. I know you were probably just in the mood for hyperbole, but there aren't too many thousands of Iranians about and the vast majority of them are not fanatics.

Or run away screaming because of pork....but Gung-Ho was not just a silly movie, it's the raison d'etre of this thread.

Regards,
David R

They were not kidnapped. They were not taken hostage. They were arrested for being armed in territory they had no right to be in (regardless of the reality of where they actually were). Fleeing would have escalated the situation. Resisting arrest would have escalated the situation. Responding with force would have been incredibly stupid.

In short, Spike, they acted exactly as they should have done. Any other intepretation seems, frankly, hysterical.

We've no idea what kind of pressure was put on them, but I'd much rather they had chosen to stay silent rather than allow themselves to be manipulated for the Iranian propaganda machine.

However, the sum result is that Iran has scored some very odd and nebulous propagada points (rather like a tiny yapping dog that thinks it scared off a Rottweiler), and the personnel are safe. It really does seem like a positive resolution to me.

- Q

I think maybe One Horse has you and I mixed up, WK.  I'm the one who usually expresses surprise that people in Europe or South America are more well versed in American daily life than Americans.

Resisting Arrest? They weren't kidnapped but were taken hostage? They had no right to be there?  According to whom?

Now I am unsure as to what their mandate was, but I gather from these posts that they were under UN mandate - and that's the first mistake. But I think it's a bit...umm...exhuberant to claim they had no right to be there.  From the litle I've seen/heard, the GPS seems to indicate otherwise.

My only concern, quite honestly, was that the US did not stick it's nose in without express request - publicly - from the UK. This was all just a small skirmish in the large Iran versus the West showdown going on right now.

There's an interesting post on Tigerhawk blog speculating about the options of how it went down and why Iran might have done it. Tigerhawk is generally a right-of-center blog, though this particular post is fairly apolitical - and an interesting (IMHO) lead.

The soldiers did exactly what they should have done, as per their instructions from higher. The real cock-up here is that British brass would send them out there and allow them to be taken hostage when they had the means to resist and, in all likelihood, end up victorious.

Well, if england's got any balls left (Doubt it.) thye'll set up an incident and let a bunch of iranians try to seize another group of sailors, and this time blow them to hell in little pieces.

Quote from: Dominus NoxWell, if england's got any balls left (Doubt it.) thye'll set up an incident and let a bunch of iranians try to seize another group of sailors, and this time blow them to hell in little pieces.

They won't do that because the vast majority of the English public doesn't want their soldiers in the region anyway.

Quote from: James J SkachThey had no right to be there?  According to whom?

The Iranians. It's not my claim, and according to UK military they were in Iraqi waters, but that's the Iranians' story. Them, famous for their exuberance and everything.

- Q

What I really want to know is why Prince William was amongst the captives, and why wasn't the British public told?!?! Guy on far right:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42766000/jpg/_42766389_group_getty203i.jpg

- Q

Quote from: WerekoalaDo what now?

Ah, apologies. It's all James's fault. His name and avatar are far too similar to yours.

Quote from: One Horse TownAh, apologies. It's all James's fault. His name and avatar are far too similar to yours.

:raise: :idunno:

Gee... wonder why the AP cropped the photo so that it only shows smiling hostages and not the three I originally comment on?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264181,00.html  (click on the photo to see the official AP wire version)

Can't have anyone thinking they're anything less that happy-go-lucky vacationers, eh?

I'm SO glad the media isn't biased at all. And I would expect Fox to use the full picture, if anyone would.

I read that the picture was part of a photo op from Iran's government and that the three refused to shake hands or wave - hence the hands in the pockets and non-cheery expressions. So I guess the AP decided to make sure President Bob got the picture he wanted flashed around the world.

At least the UK paper showed the whole thing.

(edit: Crap, now its gone from the link I posted yesterday. Well, at least SOMEONE saw it before the memory-hole swallowed it up. George Orwell, you had NO idea!)

Quote from: Dominus NoxWell, if england's got any balls left (Doubt it.) thye'll set up an incident and let a bunch of iranians try to seize another group of sailors, and this time blow them to hell in little pieces.

You fucking disgust me ye wee glaikit piece of fat shite. You know there's peeps I disagree with and peeps I dislike but I run across very few peeps like you that actually want to see people hurt. Are you njot aware that wanting shit like that is a fucking bad thing you drolling sack of obnoxious idiocy? You talk about being some sort of hero for opressed females but what exactly have you done but bitch on a fucking roleplaying board? Have you ever even marched for something you believe in? Have you ever decided to check that the nation you're attacking is the right one?

How do you manage to feed yourself?

I'm sorry for all this I really wanted t drop by and mention how my players deliberately ignoring the obvious has enruched my WFRP campaign. It's really cool likesay.

Quote from: Garry GYou fucking disgust me ye wee glaikit piece of fat shite. You know there's peeps I disagree with and peeps I dislike but I run across very few peeps like you that actually want to see people hurt. Are you njot aware that wanting shit like that is a fucking bad thing you drolling sack of obnoxious idiocy? You talk about being some sort of hero for opressed females but what exactly have you done but bitch on a fucking roleplaying board? Have you ever even marched for something you believe in? Have you ever decided to check that the nation you're attacking is the right one?

How do you manage to feed yourself?

I'm sorry for all this I really wanted t drop by and mention how my players deliberately ignoring the obvious has enruched my WFRP campaign. It's really cool likesay.

Ah, another member of the Dominus Nox fan club.

If you want to side with iran, a country who's leader has vowed to destroy israel, the only real democracy in the mid east, a country that practices torture to enforce it's religious dark age laws and declares religious death sentences against people who write books they don't like, you just go right ahead.

BTW, if my posts are sooooo offensive to you, why not just use your IL instead of cluttering up the board with your juvenile rant, you bandwidth wasting walking argument for sterilization? Don't know how? Why not get your dad, or at least the 6 or so most likely candidates, to help you figure  out how to work the IL?

Well, I'm really glad this went down peacefully.

I wonder what Iran got?  Something good that they're not telling us.  I think that's a pretty safe assumption.

Anyhow, Nox, you enjoy it and you do it on purpose.  There's a word for that kind of behaviour and it rimmes with poll.