Tell it to the marines...

The group of British marines taken hostage by Iran were freed and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief as one more 'pressure point' in the Middle East seemed to have been momentarily relieved.

There is so so much I could talk about on the way the media has handled this hot potato. I was horrified to see all the broadcast news reports showing booze-ups in local pubs as families revelled at the news of their loved ones' release: a very nice (and crude) representation of our Western culture and customs to the Muslim regime that had made an Easter 'gift' of the marines return to us.

When the release happened our media were up in arms and revolted by the pictures of the marines, particularly Faye Turney (the only female) being paraded in front of Iranian TV and shaking hands with the Iranian premier. All were speculating on the horrors 'our boys' (and girl) must have had to endure.

So when they get back and the MOD gives them permission to 'sell' their stories to national newspapers the whole nation is up in arms. Quotes like "We pay their wages to defend our country" and "What about the dead soldiers? They or their families haven't had a chance to sell their stories or made a penny". "How dare they?"

All of this is in response to a couple of the marines in question giving very candid accounts of their very frightening experiences.

Now the MOD has done a complete about face and responding, very hastily, red-faced and stupidly by putting a curb on any other stories being sold. Lost in the high dudgeon were the facts that the marines in question made very little money and had donated some of what they had earned. But also lost in the clamour was a healthy dose of realism. These men and women fight for our freedom (the validity of this war I can't go into but our troops are there to fight for us).

Freedom gives us not only freedom of speech but freedom to make choices as basic as to whether to buy or to sell. Out of any individual I know I can't think of anyone more entitled to make a few bob out of selling their story. While I feel intense and great pity for everyone who has lost a loved one in this conflict I am sure that they know, in their heart of hearts, that you must do what you can to survive and provide for your family while you are there. These poor people came back from a horrific experience, got offered the chance to make a little money to see them through and now they are pillioried for it.

Shame on all of those lofty moralists who say members of the armed forces can't sell their stories and then turn a blind eye to the baser and lower members of society who get hundreds of thousands of pounds for kiss and tells and salacious exposes.

Comments

[Carl]

These men and women do indeed "fight for our freedom", however when they join the military they sacrifice a degree of individual freedom, which enables the unit (and its command structure) to function as effectively as possible. I don't think these sailors and marines should have sold their stories, but that is a difficult position to maintain when someone is offering you six figures. More to the point these people shouldn't have been ALLOWED to sell their stories. They are enlisted members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces and as such subject to the rules, regulations and orders handed down from above. By giving them the freedom to sell their stories the MoD has capitulated to the aggressive pursuit of the story by the media. It's subsequent U-turn has also hung the soldiers and sailors out to dry in a way that is reminiscent of the David Kelly affair.

What should have happened is for the soldiers and sailors to return to the UK; The photo opp as they got off the plane at Heathrow; A debrief and then some private R&R before rejoining their tour on HMS Cornwall. Possibly a senior British commander could have given a summary of their experience in Iran but only a summary as anything more would have undermined all the arguments about the Iranians parading them on TV and creating a media circus. If they then wanted to publish their experiences after their time in the military was complete then that would be a private decision made by them (so long as they didn't breach the Official Secrets Act or compromise current operations). Andy McNabb wrote 'Bravo Two Zero' and John Peters and John Nichol wrote 'Tornado Down' after the first Gulf War - the same course of events should have happened in this situation.