Sunday, April 8, 2007

What happened to Britain?

I did not comment on the British sailors and marines taken hostage (or should we call them POWs?) while they were still held, because there was a lot of questions about the whole thing.  Now things are clearing up.  During their press conference it became pretty clear why they did not fight back.  Basically by the time they knew beyond any doubt that the Iranians had hostile intents, they were already surrounded, outgunned and outnumbered.  Normally in war people surrender in such circumstances, so the Brits can't be blamed for surrendering.  What they did afterwards is another story.  But first about how they were taken.  The rules of engagement are faulty.  If the Brits opened up on the Iranians while they were approaching, none of this would have happened.  According to some people I asked, our guys would have done exactly that.  HMS Cornwall could have sunk them all, but they were ordered not to shoot.  And by the time the British boarding party was surrounded, they could not without killing their own guys.  But then the Brits just went along with the Iranians.  It seems to me that the reason for that is the attitude displayed by one of the released sailors during their press conference.  He said: "Iranians are not our enemies.  We are not at war with Iran".  That attitude made an act of war into a misunderstanding, so they did whatever they could to get out of this situation.  And if this required humiliating their country, so be it.  Could you imagine Royal Marines defending Port Stanley saying: "Argentineans are not our enemies.  We are not at war with Argentina" after Argentinean troops landed on Falkland Islands?  But evidently people still don't understand that we are at war and don't understand the nature of the enemy.  So they participate in the disgraceful TV appearances (via LGF).  Then they sell their story for big bucks.  I am not even adding my own comments to this: there is nothing to add to LGF's post.  Someone might say that I should not be judging them: I am not in this situation and don't know what I would do.  True, but at least I know who the enemy is.  Therefore, I at least can hope that should I be in this situation, I might be strong enough to just give my name, rank and serial number.  At least I know what I should strive for.


The problem does not affect just those sailors.  It affects the whole country of (formerly) Great Britain.  This is also via LGF:



Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.


It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.


There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques.


The findings have prompted claims that some schools are using history 'as a vehicle for promoting political correctness'.


The study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, looked into 'emotive and controversial' history teaching in primary and secondary schools.


It found some teachers are dropping courses covering the Holocaust at the earliest opportunity over fears Muslim pupils might express anti-Semitic and anti-Israel reactions in class.


The researchers gave the example of a secondary school in an unnamed northern city, which dropped the Holocaust as a subject for GCSE coursework.


The report said teachers feared confronting 'anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils'.



So, the teachers are afraid and quite ready to sacrifice the historical truth on the altar of political correctness.  Meanwhile, the BBC (no, I am not linking to it) does this (also via LGF):



Amid the deaths and the grim daily struggle bravely borne by Britain's forces in southern Iraq, one tale of heroism stands out.


Private Johnson Beharry's courage in rescuing an ambushed foot patrol then, in a second act, saving his vehicle's crew despite his own terrible injuries earned him a Victoria Cross.


For the BBC, however, his story is "too positive" about the conflict.


The corporation has cancelled the commission for a 90-minute drama about Britain's youngest surviving Victoria Cross hero because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq.


The BBC's retreat from the project, which had the working title Victoria Cross, has sparked accusations of cowardice and will reignite the debate about the broadcaster's alleged lack of patriotism.


"The BBC has behaved in a cowardly fashion by pulling the plug on the project altogether," said a source close to the project. "It began to have second thoughts last year as the war in Iraq deteriorated. It felt it couldn't show anything with a degree of positivity about the conflict.


"It needed to tell stories about Iraq which reflected the fact that some members of the audience didn't approve of what was going on. Obviously a story about Johnson Beharry could never do that. You couldn't have a scene where he suddenly turned around and denounced the war because he just wouldn't do that.



Below in that Telegraph article is the description of exactly what he did:



He was cited for "valour of the highest order" after he drove a Warrior tracked armoured vehicle through heavy enemy fire in May 2004 to come to the rescue of a foot patrol that had been caught in a series of ambushes. The 30-ton Warrior was hit by multiple rocket-propelled grenades, causing damage and resulting in the loss of radio communications. Pte Beharry drove through the ambush, taking his own injured crew and leading five other Warriors to safety. He then extracted his wounded colleagues from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire.


The following month, Pte Beharry was again driving the lead Warrior vehicle of his platoon through al-Amarah when his vehicle was ambushed. A rocket-propelled grenade hit the vehicle and Pte Beharry received serious head injuries. Other rockets hit the vehicle incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew.Despite his very serious injuries, Pte Beharry then took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness. He required brain surgery for his head injuries and he was still recovering when he received the VC from the Queen in June last year.



So, the British teachers are scared to teach historical truth, while BBC, which used to be the voice of Freedom 65 years ago, effectively spitting on The Few.  I am afraid "we shall never surrender..." will never again be heard in Britain.  Churchill must be turning in his grave.


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