-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: March 25, 2007 8:39:11 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: UK Intelligence Knew British Sailors Were at Risk but
Didn't Raise Threat Level
US troops 'would have fought Iranian captors'
By Terri Judd in Bahrain
26 March 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2393337.ece
A senior American commander in the Gulf has said his men would have
fired on the Iranian Republican Guard rather than let themselves be
taken hostage.
In a dramatic illustration of the different postures adopted by
British and US forces working together in Iraq, Lt-Cdr Erik Horner
- who has been working alongside the task force to which the 15
captured Britons belonged - said he was "surprised" the British
marines and sailors had not been more aggressive.
Asked by The Independent whether the men under his command would
have fired on the Iranians, he said: "Yes. I don't want to second-
guess the British after the fact but our rules of engagement allow
a little more latitude. Our boarding team's training is a little
bit more towards self-preservation."
The executive officer -- second-in-command on USS Underwood, the
frigate working in the British-controlled task force with HMS
Cornwall -- said: "The unique US Navy rules of engagement say we
not only have a right to self-defence but also an obligation to
self-defence. They [the British] had every right in my mind and
every justification to defend themselves rather than allow
themselves to be taken. Our reaction was, 'Why didn't your guys
defend themselves?'"
His comments came as it was reported British intelligence had been
warned by the CIA that Iran would seek revenge for the detention of
five suspected Iranian intelligence officers in Iraq two months ago
but refused to raise threat levels in line with their US
counterparts. The capture of the eight sailors and seven marines --
including one young mother - will undoubtedly renew accusations
that Britain's determination to maintain a friendly face in the
region has left its troops frequently underprotected.
Vastly outnumbered and out-gunned, the Royal Navy team from HMS
Cornwall were seized on Friday after completing a UN-authorised
inspection of a merchant dhow in what they insist were clearly
Iraqi waters. The Iranian Republican Guard Corps Navy appeared in
half a dozen attack speedboats mounted with machine guns..
Yesterday, the former First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West, said
British rules of engagement were "very much de-escalatory, because
we don't want wars starting ... Rather than roaring into action and
sinking everything in sight we try to step back and that, of
course, is why our chaps were, in effect, able to be captured and
taken away."
Three days after the team were taken hostage, Tony Blair publicly
spoke about the diplomatic crisis for the first time. "I hope the
Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for
us," he said
"We have certainly sent the message back to them very clearly
indeed. They should not be under any doubt at all about how
seriously we regard this act, which is unjustified and wrong," he
added, speaking from Berlin.
In a telephone conversation with the Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki last night the Foreign Secretary Margaret
Beckett "expressed concern regarding the detention of the British
soldiers". An Iranian official later confirmed that Iran may give
consular access to the British sailors once an investigation into
the incident is completed.
Yesterday, the armed forces spokesman General Ali Reza Afshar said
the crew were in "sterling health" and were being interrogated in
Tehran, where the Iranians claim they have "confessed" to straying
into Iranian waters.
The Foreign Office minister, Lord Triesman, held "frank"
discussions with the Iranian ambassador yesterday .
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