Military expert Col. Ralph Peters (rtd):
The once-proud Brit military has collapsed to a sorry state when its Royal Marines surrender without a fight, then apologize to their captors (praising their gentle natures!) while criticizing their own country. Pretty sad to think that the last real warriors fighting under the Union Jack are soccer hooligans.
A few miles away from from where the British sailors (rightly) surrendered, Michael Yon is embedded in the British Army:
..the Brits were going into extremely hostile terrain, outnumbered, without helicopter support, relying instead upon timing, terrain, maneuverability, firepower, and sheer audacity.Thanks, Dean Barnett:
The British soldiers he’s embedded with notched 26-27 kills and suffered no casualties of their own while engaging the enemy in a major gun battle. Michael said to me in an email about the Brits he’s riding with, “These guys fight like animals!”
Posted by Mark Adams on April 12, 2007 10:08 AM
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Comments (2)
Some valuable perspective.
Frankly it makes little sense to criticize the soldiers who I assume didn't reveal any information of military value and simply said what they were compelled to say to safeguard their own persons and that of their colleagues.
Ultimately, its going to be a measure of how the Labor government handled the situation that will shed the most light on British strength of will.
I suspect there is more criticism in Britain than there is here in the U.S. by a long shot.
Posted by Mick Stockinger | April 12, 2007 10:46 AM
Posted on April 12, 2007 10:46
cf ARRSE (The British Army Rumour Report Service) http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=62927.html
Actually this episode is a blessing. The lessons will be taken to heart and applied when we are at war with Iran.
Posted by mark | April 12, 2007 11:02 AM
Posted on April 12, 2007 11:02