What will happen to the British sailors that "cooperated"?

Factual Questions
1

We saw reports and videos of British sailors captured by Iran that admitted culpability or otherwise cooperated after they were captured by the Iranians.

OK, so now they have been released, crisis avoided. They were are all sent back home. So what will happen to the ones that the Iranians used to make their case? Will they be court marshaled, dismissed from the military (honorable or dishonorable). or allowed to resume their careers?

Personally, I feel that I would be unwilling to cooperate with captors in the event of a situation like this where everyone was released without incident and life has to move on.

I ask this question not only from the British perspective but what if the same situation happened in the US military.

2

I can’t imagine any disciplinary proceedings. While most people (including me) believe they did this because they were terrified, most people would have done the same thing and to punish them would be a PR disaster. While Alabama isn’t UK, Jeremiah Denton [famous for blinking T-O-R-T-U-R-E in Morse code during his onscreen indictment of US action while a p.o.w.] was never reprimanded and in fact was hailed as a hero and was elected to the U.S. Senate.

3

Generally, statements made under duress are not held against you. I don’t know how it works in Britain but when I was training in the USA and covering the military code of conduct, which advocates non-cooperation, we were advised: “the Code of Conduct is NOT a Suicide Pact”.

4

Here’s the U.S. Code of Conduct for U.S. military personnel:

The new Code of Conduct is not a part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Instead, the Code of Conduct is a personal conduct mandate for members of the American armed forces throughout the world.

Article I: I am an American, fighting in the armed forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

Article II: I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.

Article III: If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

Article IV: If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

Article V: When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service, number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.

Article VI: I will never forget that I am an American, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

It was initiated by Eisenhower in 1955. During VN there was a realization that the Code may not be realistic and there was much debate within the military community It is not, per se, legally binding, but depending on circumstances, violating it will, at the least. probably be a career ending act.
I did not detect any obvious duress while watching news broadcasts of the British troops being held in Iran, but we don’t yet know what they may have been subjected to. They are being debriefed and I suspect we will learn more in the next few days or weeks. I doubt there will be any charges, but I think they’re going to have a difficult time living down the stigma of their actions, or possibly being promoted in the future.

5

I heard on television that would be sent back to Iraq, but I can’t find confirmation of that in a quick perusal of articles at Google News.

One article did say that they would be debriefed, but that would take “hours, not days.” Questions are being raised about their apparent cooperation, but I didn’t see anything about any actions that might be taken against them.

Of course, it’s extremely early. They were up for most of the past 48 hours, according to one report, and they will be allowed to get some proper rest before the debriefing.

6

I will try harder to find the case tomorrow, but a military officer who was taken as a POW in Korea and “forced” to read radio messages urging his compatriots to surrender was convicted under the UCMJ, in part because none of the things with which he was actually threatened were demonstrably dangerous/death sentences.

There might be precedent for trying and convicting a soldier who was not even made uncomfortable.

7

I strongly suspect a certain amount of coercion was behind that “cooperation.” Didn’t one of the televised statements say something like, “We are being treated well, not like the prisoners in Abu Gharib”? Straight out of the Iranian Propaganda Office.

Are the Iranians getting anything for releasing the British soldiers? I’ve been wondering if we were going to swap them for the Iranian soldiers who were caught in Iraq.

8

Not in Britain, where they haven’t attracted such stigma. (Newsflash for everyone: the UCMJ is irrelevant.) The questions being raised in public here are about why they were in a position to risk capture in the first place, both in location and their being in a small lightly-armoured craft, and whether it’s worth running such risks to patrol these waters.

The official line is ‘no’.

Surely one thing the debriefing will concentrate on is any possible intelligence they can provide?

9

Their main duty is to escape.

By saying the things they did, none but the most fanatical of “homelanders” would have thought them anything other than co-operating to keep their compatriots and themselves safe.

By saying the things they did, they hastened the diplomatic functions of their release / escape
I see nothing wrong in what they did, said or exhibited during their captivity
fml

10

Not to the OP.

11

Perhaps.

12

My mistake.

13

Is that true of all POWs–er–detainees, or is it only true of officers? (That’s what I was taught from the cradle and, if I sometimes sound dismissive of the roles of enlisted men when captured, blame my father. It’s also why I have to catch myself when I sometimes think of enlisted men as what other parts of my personality would call “cannon fodder.” Honest, it isn’t my fault and it’s something I’m working on, okay? :frowning: )

ETA: FTR, one of his crew, upon the escape of the two of them and the apparent death of one, assumed the identity of the other. I dunno why, other than the other didn’t have the unsavory background of the first. If I could write, this is of what novels are made.

14

I doubt that they’ll be in any trouble, nobody believed a word they said.

I noticed that some of them did quite a good job of skulking, probably they were Marines.

There is definitely some sort of payback, but I don’t think it is to our disadvantage, my suspicion is that a couple of channels of communication were opened up, which might be what the Iranians would like.

That letter to Bush in 2006 was definitely some sort of overture

A good face saver would be to publicly agree territorial boundaries with Iran, they could set up a little joint comittee.

15

I wouldn’t be surprised if at least the woman was approached by Max Clifford and ended up becoming a minor celebrity.

16

Don’t be ridiculous. It’s curious how so many people seem to want to think themselves into wartime.

Superficially, it was a simple border incident resolved by normal diplomatic proceedures.

What will happen to those arrested ? Debriefed and returned to duty, of course.

17

Nah, she blew her chances by…

smoking on camera.

18

First, I don’t think this is a GQ subject, so I’m going to speculate a bit.
I had a gut reaction to the news clips, but I was hesitant to critisize the Brits, for fear of offending HM subjects who are Dopers. Having said that, I don’t think they aquitted themselves very well. The young woman was the only one who appeared to be under some obvious stress. Some of the men actually appeared to be eager in cooperating. I believe we’re going to hear the criticism of their actions starting in the next few days and I do believe that they will suffer from a stigma, based on their actions. The only way they may avoid this is if it comes out that they were under some strong coercive tactics when they were being video recorded. This is especially true for the officers and senior NCO’s.

19

All of us who have ever seen a John Wayne movie feel the same way. That’s why after Vietnam most military survival courses emphasize that nothing you say will be held against you (or even believed by most people).

20

That was my understanding, although it is hearsay.
My first thought was that they threatened the woman unless everyone cooperated.