Britain Says No Punishment for Boat Crew

In this picture issued by Britain's Ministry of Defence, Royal Marine Captain Chris Air, left, leads 15 British service personnel release by Iran, across the tarmac at London's Heathrow Airport, Thursday April 5, 2007, from the British Airways aircraft which flew them from Tehran. The 15 British sailors and marines returned home after 13 days in captivity. Man in military uniform seen second from left, was part of the party who meet the 15 service personnel on their arrival. (AP Photo/Angie Pearce) (Angie Pearce - AP)

LONDON -- None of the sailors and marines freed by Iran will be punished for making apologies to the Iranians, the Defense Ministry said Thursday, but authorities will study the procedures being followed by the Royal Navy team when it was captured.

Although no penalty is planned, officials will examine the circumstances in which some of the 15 sailors and marines appeared in videos on Iranian state television offering regrets for entering Iran's territorial waters, while Britain's government has insisted they were in Iraqi waters.

The footage was met with disgust in Britain, where many were angry at Iran but some also harshly criticized the prisoners for caving in.

Defense officials sought to quash the criticism of the personnel.

"They did exactly as they should have done from start to finish and we are proud of them," said Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup, the head of Britain's armed forces and top military adviser.

Most British military personnel are given training on being captured, but only special operations troops and pilots receive specialized training on what to do if taken hostage, the ministry said.

Although experts said the broadcast admissions were almost surely made under duress, many British newspapers lashed out at the crew and the country's military.

"First, there is the apparent incompetence of the Royal Navy in providing insufficient protection to lightly armed inflatables, at a time when relations between Iran and the West were particularly volatile following the imposition of U.N. sanctions," the Daily Telegraph said in an editorial.

"Second, the seized personnel lost no time in admitting to having trespassed and in apologizing for their mistake. The old military practice of giving name, rank and number, and no more, has obviously been abandoned."

Some critics said American troops would have behaved differently.

The Code of the U.S. Fighting Force, which guides troops if they are taken captive, says soldiers must resist participating in propaganda broadcasts or furnishing self-criticism of any kind.

But despite that prohibition, Americans who acted similarly to the Britons would "most certainly not" be punished, said Thomas Donnelly, a security analyst at the American Enterprise Institute who served on the staff of the House Armed Services Committee for four years.