British troops take aim at sailors' payouts

Washington Times ^ | 4-13-07 | Al Webb

[JZelle]

LONDON -- Fellow servicemen and women have turned their fury on the British sailors and marines who sold the stories of their 13 days in captivity in Iran, saying the crew had "embarrassed the nation" and in lining their own pockets had "trampled on the graves of the fallen."

The 14 men and one woman of the frigate HMS Cornwall were criticized heavily on military Internet chat rooms and in a series of postings on two unofficial military Web sites, Rum Ration (www.rumration.co.uk) and British Army Rumour Service (www.arrse.co.uk).

All 15 have come under fire over their filmed activities during captivity, including seemingly carefree scenes of them clad in tracksuits and playing chess and table tennis or watching a soccer match on television -- in sharp contrast to the stories of anguish, threats and maltreatment that they told after they were freed.

[JZelle]

Iran must be eating this up

[AU72]

One sailor bitched about having his I-Pod stolen.

[lilylangtree]

Hey they needed the money. If people want your story, make’em pay. That’s just plain capitalism.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

Another got flicked on the neck with a thumb and fore finger repeatedly while being apprehended.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Compare and contrast this to the Bataan Death March if you want to see how far we’ve fallen and how honor is now just a word.

[mikeus_maximus]

They deserve the opprobrium they’re getting. The result of their actions is to encourage other despots to attack Britains, and they want to profit from that?

[WesternPacific]

Hey they needed the money. If people want your story, make’em pay. That’s just plain capitalism.

You haven't a clue, do you?

[Bon mots]

One of them cried all night when the Iranians told him he looked like Mr. Bean.

Some soldier.

[Sax]

It did seem that some of them were rather willing to accept the role of a pawn just on for the ride rather than a representative of British Military.

Regardless of the inability to prevent the situation, I would like to think that I’d feel a tinge of shame, embarassment (and a good deal of anger) at being used that way against my country.

[Dog]

That was Mr. Bean...he also complained the pink goodie bag was full of junk.

I swear to god.

[lilylangtree]

Yes I do. My first thought upon their release was that some if not all would be writing a book. When the news broke that they actually did, what are you going to do? Vilify them? Stress yourself out? Then include everyone who has ever written a bio or an autobio. Or if you find it that reprensible, don’t buy the story when it’s published sending a clear message to the publisher. At this point, the issue is like “water under the bridge” meaning not a thing you can about it.

[canuck_conservative]

“It is simply shocking,” fumed one critic on the Rum Ration site. “Get captured (i.e., don’t do your job right) and you make 5 times the average sailor’s salary in one story.”

“Another said that “in the same week as we lost 6 of our soldiers in Iraq, for these people to be given permission to line their pockets is disgusting.” ....

“Yesterday, the bodies of four British soldiers, who were killed in Iraq the same day the 15 sailors and marines of HMS Cornwall were released, were flown home to Britain in coffins.

“Their return was headlined on the London Evening Standard newspaper’s Web site: “The dead soldiers who WON’T be selling their stories.”

[dfwgator]

Sergeant: Squad... Camp it ... up!

Oooh get her! Whoops!
I've got your number ducky.
You couldn't afford me, dear. Two three.
I'd scratch your eyes out.

Don't come the brigadier bit with us, dear,
We all know where you've been, you military fairy!

Whoops, don't look now girls,
The major's just minced in
With that dolly colour sergeant,
Two, three, ooh-ho!

[processing please hold]

Are you sure you're talking about the correct site?????? www.rumration.co.uk

All I saw on the first 3-4 pages was American bashing and blaming us for everything. They're all a bunch of dussies on that site, at least the pages I read. No wonder the hostages did what they did, those on that site are sympathetic to them. Weak-weak-weak.

[processing please hold]

Also, that site...is a big fan of DAILY KOS!!!!!!!

[rbmillerjr]

Well, well. It seams our fine conservative Brit friends on FR can now direct their defense of the 15s behavior, not at Freepers but at the majority of their own military who find the 15s behavior repugnant.

[GenuineChocolateFace]

The young seaman complained that during his capture, the Iranians stole his IPod and he conceded that he had cried himself to sleep after his captors nicknamed him "Mr. Bean," a comically nerdish figure in British entertainment.

And where are the human rights groups? Huh? Huh? That kind of torture is uncivilized. Have those Persians no humanity?

[colorado tanker]

A British Broadcasting Corp. report quoted Seaman Turney as saying, "I was offered a hell of a lot of money for my story" -- nearly $200,000, by one account -- but "I have not taken the biggest offer. I've gone down ... because I wanted to speak to [the British public] and the Sun because I knew my point would be put across."

The Sun? Pleas tell me they didn't make her a Page 3 Girl.

[processing please hold]

Wading through that site was like wading through DU.

One person tried to fight back and he was called a troll and banned. Here's his post.

Kos rational? ahahaha.

Very sad, Great Britain, very sad. When the only Americans you agree with are the worst left wing nut jobs in America and who would, without a single doubt, abandon Great Britain to her own devices in the future if they could.

Say what you want about the right wing, they are the ones who still retain any sort of kinship with England and affection for her.

Just as you don't expect the left wing in Britain to go to America's aid in any conceivable future, you don't expect the left wing in America to help Britain as well.

Can't you even understand this?

All the social problems that make people so sick of England, the same people in Kos are trying to push them in America.

Very sad, very sad, when HM's website is chock a block with leftist ballbags.

[WesternPacific]

Military personnel are not like other people. If they wanted to write a book or seek economic gain from their behaviors as captives, they should wait until they are discharged.

Warrior Ethos

I will always place the mission first

I will never accept defeat

I will never quit

I will never leave a fallen comrade