The Sun Says
But for all the cheers and champagne, this was not Britains finest military hour.
Being captured by Irans murderous Republican Guard is no fun.
The 14 men and one woman Leading Seaman Faye Turney were kept apart and unable to communicate with each other.
They had no idea what fate held in store for them.
But as far as we can tell, they were not tortured or subjected to unbearable coercion. They were given plenty of food and comfortable quarters.
All they needed to do in return was provide name, rank and serial number.
The smiles captured by Iran’s propaganda cameras were undoubtedly aimed at keeping spirits up.
But it is worrying that they were so fast to criticise their government and confess incorrectly, we are told to trespassing in Iranian waters.
And many will have been surprised to see some of our best trained soldiers thanking Irans President Ahmadinejad so profusely for their freedom.
We dont know what threats were used to encourage such gratitude.
But this smirking creep is no reality game show host. He is a murderous tyrant who tortures and kills his own people.
While he basked in a major public relations coup, terrorists acting with his blessing were blowing up four Brits in Basra two of them women.
Iran stands to benefit enormously from kidnapping our sailors.
The mullahs will pocket millions of petrodollars from higher oil prices even after paying for the suits.
They now know the world or at least the UN will do nothing to stop Iran becoming the first nuclear Gulf state, with disastrous implications for the whole region.
Our servicemen should never have been seized in the first place.
But nobody should be fooled into thinking Ahmadinejad set them free out of the goodness of his heart.
