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What tactic could get those soldiers back, considering how the Iranians know to hide hostages and spread them out from the Operation Eagle Claw fiasco?
What could have been realistically done?
To kiss mr. Ahmadinejad ass. :) They've done this.
Good tactics, successful. :)
Iranian naval forces in the Gulf tried to capture an Australian Navy boarding team but were vigorously repelled, the BBC has learned.
The incident took place before Iran successfully seized 15 British sailors and Marines in March.
The lessons from the earlier attempt do not appear to have been applied in time by British maritime patrols.
The 15 Britons were searching a cargo boat in the Gulf when they were captured over a boundary dispute.
When Iranian Revolutionary Guards captured the British sailors and Royal Marines in March, it was not exactly their first attempt.
It turns out that Iranian forces made an earlier concerted attempt to seize a boarding party from the Royal Australian Navy.
The Australians, though, to quote one military source, "were having none of it".
The BBC has been told the Australians re-boarded the vessel they had just searched, aimed their machine guns at the approaching Iranians and warned them to back off, using what was said to be "highly colourful language".
The Iranians withdrew, and the Australians were reportedly lifted off the ship by one of their own helicopters.
The circumstances for the Britons in March were slightly different in that they were caught so much by surprise that, had they attempted to repel the Iranians with their limited firepower, they would doubtless have taken very heavy casualties.
But military sources say that what is of concern is that the Royal Navy did not appear to have taken sufficient account of the lessons of the Australian encounter.
In an oblique reference to the threat from Iran, Britain's First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, has recently admitted there was a need for greater strategic awareness in the northern Gulf.
In an oblique reference to the threat from Iran, Britain's First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, has recently admitted there was a need for greater strategic awareness in the northern Gulf.
snicker@greater awareness
I was SIO on a Tico, it was my responsiblities to know those things and pass them on. I would have briefed the the Aussie incident to all incoming watch turn overs when it first happened. It would also have been briefed in the daily wardroom briefings at a minimum.
So where was the break down?
snicker@greater awareness
I was SIO on a Tico, it was my responsiblities to know those things and pass them on. I would have briefed the the Aussie incident to all incoming watch turn overs when it first happened. It would also have been briefed in the daily wardroom briefings at a minimum.
So where was the break down?
In my experience, nearly all of the foul-ups have been caused because the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing. In other words, a breakdown in communications somewhere along the line.
People here are making the assumption that the Iranians did not learn from the 1st encounter and cut off the RM before they could find haven.
However, this would also missed the point. The capture of the RMs is a deliberate Act of War. This was the 2nd attempt and no one can tell me that the Iranian Command did not know full well of the 1st attempt and corrected their tactics.
".... or is that a really stupid thing to say ...."
Well since jeffpayne56 seems to be British, uh...yeah, maybe.:))
"This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs
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