The Code Of Conduct Of Captured Sailors In Iran

I hate to harsh on somebody when they are down, but it seems to me that the British military really needs to hand out a refresher course on the Code of Conduct of their personnel, if they should be captured by the enemy. The lead sailor of the sailors captured by Iran recently, Faye Turney, has done an excellent job of making Britain look bad; she has given a public relations bonanza to the Iranian Government to broadcast nightly to its population; and she has made the ability of the United Nations to secure her release all the more difficult.

Now she is writing letters condemning the British occupation of Iraq. That's about as serious a crime as you can get if you are a member of the armed forces.

Today, we have other sailors under Seaman Turney's command stepping in front of the camera to give detailed descriptions of how they were trespassing in Iranian waters, how they were wrong, and how nice and accommodating the Iranians are.

You shall never, if you are a prisoner of war, assist the enemy in exchange for better treatment. You shall never, if you are a prisoner of war, make statements, provide information, or take an action that will harm your country. There is no wiggle room on this. It's laid out clear as a bell in the military code of conduct. It makes no allowances for coercion, torture, intimidation, or suffering. Hell: I'm a person who has never been within a million miles of a battlefield, and I know what the rules are. These 15 people were operating on the front lines of a war zone, surrounded by enemies, and they somehow don't know the rules?

Now, obviously, if Seaman Turney, or any of the other people under her command were standing in front of the camera making these statements with their ears sliced off, or their fingernails pulled out, or their faces bruised beyond recognition... that would explain the serious nature of their actions. However, the one thing that they have said so far that I am willing to believe, is that they have been well-treated by the Iranians; that they have not been abused. Threatened? Of course. Scared for their lives? Certainly. Harmed? No... not yet, likely not ever.

I'm sure that Seaman Turney and the 14 sailors under her command believe that as soon as they are released, they can just go out in front of cameras and say, "Oh, we were just saying all of those things so that they would release us... so that we could get our faces on television so our families could see that we were alright." NO. A thousand times NO. That is precisely what the Code of Conduct for Prisoners of War had in mind when it forbids receiving "parole or special favors from the enemy." They could have requested a meeting with somebody from the Red Crescent. They could have asked for photos of them to be taken and given to the embassy of a neutral government along with statements of personal health and well-being.

As a unit that is assigned with the task of boarding ships and conducting searches in a war zone, I really find it astounding that these sailors were not equipped with even a rudimentary knowledge of POW conduct. I find it even more astounding that they couldn't figure out on their own (even without the guidance of the most fundamental military rules) that they would be better off just keeping their mouths shut, and leaving their government to handle things.

All military commanders know that every prisoner of war has a breaking point, where a soldier or sailor will break down, mentally submit, and become a pliable puppet that the enemy can use for propaganda purposes. The military has rules and regulations for those circumstances as well. But, to believe that these sailors reached the breaking point in just a day — with no visible signs of abuse — would require a huge leap of faith about the weak-mindedness of modern military personnel.

No: Quite simply, these sailors decided right from the beginning to play whatever game the Iranians told them to play, say whatever they were told to say, and write whatever they were told to write — regardless of the political and diplomatic consequences. That was simply the wrong thing for a properly-trained member of the military to do.

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