Ray

Thanks.

It is not my view alone.

I am sure most people in uniform would feel it that way!



As the Memorial in Kohima reads:


When you go home, tell them of us and say:

"For your Tomorrow, we gave our Today!"

__________________


"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

HAKUNA MATATA

MrFirst

Pretty nice gift .
That's a case when good boys must say thanks!

T_igger_cs_30

__________________
FEAR NAUGHT

I don't work here ...I am an analyst!

LauraLou

This whole thing has annoyed me so much how childish is it? Parading them on on tv to appologise for something they didn't do. What really annoys me is how the Iranian President is trying to make himself look like a merciful kind man for releasing them and forgiving them. Also him giving a bravery medal to the person who took them. THEN what really takes the biscuit is when one of the mothers of a sailor says how she would like to thank the Iranians for their gift of releasing the sailors! If they hadn't of took them in the first place there would have been no stress.

YellowFever

My Prediction:

This news will slowly fade until the average world citizen will move on to other things and you guys will get your lads back in a month or three with hardly a blip on the news radar.
In no way will Iran suffer the utter humiliation it so richly deserves.[/quote]


Ummm....
once again, I see my prediction was spot on!


He..he.....umm.m..

__________________
...If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space!

Danielk

They are going to be released.

NPR : Iranian Leader Surprises British with Release

T_igger_cs_30

Ummm....
once again, I see my prediction was spot on!


He..he.....umm.m.. [/quote]

The only ones who have not seen how fragmented and utterly stupidly naive the Iranians are,............. are the Iranian people themselves.

Lets hold off awhile and see how politicly this plays out now, over the next couple of months.

As for your prediction, good effort, not even close still all over the newspapers and tv,............... oh and only 2 weeks

Ironduke

15 UK sailors to be released to the British Embassy in Teheran by morning:
Iranians release British sailors

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says 15 British naval personnel captured in the Gulf are free to leave.
He repeated Iran's view that the British sailors and marines "invaded" Iranian waters, but said they were being released as a "gift" to Britain.

They are expected to be handed to the British embassy in Tehran on Thursday morning before flying home.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the news would come as "a profound relief" to the crew and their families.

Iranian media said the British crew members "shouted for joy" on hearing the news.

The British embassy in Tehran said it had now seen the sailors for the first time, and it was arranging the details of their travel home. But it was not clear where they were spending the night.

Earlier, television pictures showed the Iranian president smiling, chatting and shaking hands with the crew at the presidential palace in Tehran.

He joked to one: "How are you? So you came on a mandatory vacation?"

The Britons were wearing suits, rather than the military uniform and tracksuits they wore in previous pictures. The one female crew member, Faye Turney, wore a blue headscarf and jacket.

An unidentified crew member said: "I'd like to say that myself and my whole team are very grateful for your forgiveness. I'd like to thank yourself and the Iranian people... Thank you very much, sir."

Mr Ahmadinejad responded in Farsi: "You are welcome."

'Theatrical gesture'

Mr Ahmadinejad announced the decision to release the Britons at a news conference In Tehran.

He spoke at length, attacking the West over its policy in the Middle East, and it was more than an hour before he even mentioned the captives issue.

He repeated allegations that the Britons were captured in Iranian waters, and awarded medals to the Iranian commanders responsible for detaining them.

It was all part of the build up to his extraordinary theatrical gesture, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins.

"We have every right to put these people on trial," Mr Ahmadinejad asserted.

"But I want to give them as a present to the British people to say they are all free."

He said they were being pardoned to mark both the Prophet Muhammad's birthday on 30 March, and the upcoming Easter holiday.

"I'm asking Mr Blair to not put these 15 personnel on trial because they admitted they came to Iranian territorial water," he added, referring to taped "confessions" made by the British sailors and marines.

Britain says the 15 were in Iraqi waters under a UN mandate when they were captured nearly two weeks ago. It says the confessions were extracted under duress.

"Unfortunately the British government was not even brave enough to tell their people the truth, that it made a mistake," Mr Ahmadinejad said.

The Iranian leader said no concessions had been made by the British government to secure the releases, but that Britain had pledged "that the incident would not be repeated".

'We respect Iran'

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain's approach to the crisis had been "firm but calm - not negotiating but not confronting either".

He did not thank or address the Iranian president, but said to the Iranian people: "We bear you no ill will. On the contrary, we respect Iran as an ancient civilisation, as a nation with a proud and dignified history.

"The disagreements we have with your government we wish to resolve peacefully through dialogue. I hope - as I've always hoped - that in the future we are able to do so."

The solution to the crisis - freeing the Britons while rewarding the Iranian commanders of the operation - appears to be a face-saving compromise, says the BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran.

She says speculation is likely to continue over whether it had anything to do with developments in Iraq, where an Iranian envoy has reportedly been given access to five Iranians captured by US forces, and where a kidnapped diplomat was released on Tuesday.

Earlier on Wednesday Syria revealed that it had been mediating between Iran and the UK over the sailors and marines.

The family of one of the captives, Royal Marine Adam Sperry, hailed the announcement as "the best present imaginable".

"Whoever has been in the right or wrong, the whole thing has been a political mess, so let's just get them home," said his uncle, Ray Cooper. [/quote]
Source: BBC News
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iranians release British sailors

__________________
The Buck Stops Here

Officer of Engineers

Sgt-Maj,

I do not believe the Brigadier is belittling your gesture but rather it would be lost on your government. Such a gesture was lost on mine. Do recall LCol McRae's medals who were put up for auction and it took one single Canadian to do with courage what Ottawa (read the ***** Shelia Copps) would not do - to preserve the man's honour and Canadian heritage.

I would ask if you find it so necessary, please do us Canadian and/or Indian honour that you sell us (me or the Brigadier) so that we may do the honour of restoring to your regiment, family, and country's honour by donating them to your regimental museum.

I think that would be insult enough ... that you would trust a foreigner to uphold British honour instead of London.

__________________
Chimo

T_igger_cs_30

lemontree

Now that the 15 captured are back, I would hate to be in the shoes on the Captain of HMS Cornwell. His career seems sealed!

__________________

Cheers!...on the rocks!!

Kipruss

Good result with the innocent on a flight home and no-one dying. Two weeks of strife based on a stupid decision to take them captive. The UN need to re-evaluate their rules of engagement so that the chances of this happen again are reduced.

dave lukins

Wayne,hint mate, they're NOT in the booze cabinet Good Girl Mrs T. Was going to send my medals but they may have melted by the time they got to No 10

Garry

Hi T_igger_cs_30,

I asked this questions just to explain one thing... if you get answers to this question you would understand WHY A-jad wins domestic support everytime he opposes USA and Brittain. Neither USA nor UK NEVER said they are sorry for what they did to iranians....

If you know this you would never go and ask xerxs questions like - go and launch pro-western movement in Iran.... the hate to these two countries is based on PEOPLE feelings and hence any government even a most democratic one would be exploiting this to gain support when they need it. This is unbeatable tool!!!

By saying that world is not black and white I proposed that you guys try to understand more than a general words about DEMOCRATIC VALUES HOLD EVERYWHERE!!!..... Anybody who would try to be pro-USA/UK in Iran is DOOMED as politician

T_igger_cs_30

[quote=Garry;362283]Hi T_igger_cs_30,


I did ........