I don’t see this as an act of cowardice at all. In fact, quite the opposite. These people have trained and trained and trained for the rigors of combat. They are doing a job that is very dangerous and requires a great deal from them. Fathers away from their families for a year or more at a time, and in this case a mother as well, living on board a ship that is not much bigger than a city block, etc. Of all the things that are drummed into a recruit’s head from day one in basic training and then pounded home to them on a daily basis throughout their military career the importance of following orders is at the top of the list. They routinely are given orders that make no sense to them but their personal self-control and discipline makes it possible for them to obey those orders.
By all accounts the boarding party contacted their superiors at the first sign of trouble, asking for orders as to how to handle the situation. Until they receive orders different from their current orders they are bound my the code of military conduct to stay with the existing orders. It’s obvious they were under orders to board and search the ship and do whatever they could to avoid a situation that could escalate.
When they asked for orders they were not ordered to fight back. I know it’s going to open me to flaming here, but I’m of the opinion that not fighting back was result not of being cowards but rather of being military people who are steeped in not going it on their own but following orders to the letter.
My guess is that asked one on one most, if not all, of them would have preferred to duke it out with the Iranians, but that option was not given them. This, IMHO, is a failure of the ROE, and the blame for that failure falls way up the chain of command from these guys who were out there, in harm’s way, doing a tough job and not getting any support from their superiors.
I cannot speak to their behavior after they were captured, but as for their actions when they were attacked their honor and discipline enabled them to follow orders, even if they found those orders personally disgusting.
My son is a helicopter pilot for a sheriff’s office here in Florida. We were watching a couple of Coast Guard helicopters, a boat and a C-130 doing some practice work in the bay one day and I made the comment what a great job the pilots of those helicopters and the C-130 have. I was amazed when he expressed disagreement with me! He says their job is neat but they are under so much control that it often really takes the fun out of what would otherwise be a really great job. I had never thought about it from that standpoint!
IMHO, we should reserve our anger and frustration with the capture of these fighting forces for their superiors and even more so for the lack of resolve on the part of the West in dealing with Iran, et al.
Give me a couple of minutes to get my asbestos suit on and then flame away!
“I cannot speak to their behavior after they were captured...”
But isn’t that what we are all discussing here? Lots of honorable men have been taken captive (Adm. Stockdale, Col. Day, Capt Versace to name a few), They don’t all act as these Royal Marines.
You have a point. If the Marines aren’t permitted to fight back then it is hard to expect them to be imbued with the spirit of resistance when they are taken captive.
...These people have trained and trained and trained for the rigors of combat...
so in less than 24 hrs, these tough cookies roll over to the side of the ennemy and go on and on about how they were in Iranian waters and that they were being treated so nicely by their captors....
Give me a break...THEY ARE A DISGRACE TO ALL SOLDIERS.