The Thomas Chronicles

From the way the Ministry of Defence is talking, one might actually think that the seizure of British subjects by Iran earlier this year was nothing more than a bureaucratic oversight. According to today’s online edition of the Independent, one of the Royal Navy’s chief mistake was to allow their freed hostages to sell their stories to the press. In fact, the article discussed how the Royal Navy needed to have better public relations with the press much more than addressing its failings as a maritime power.

The capture of British sailors and marines by Iran in the Gulf was the result of a series of mistakes by the Navy, and the decision to let the freed hostages sell their story to the press was a “collective failure of judgement” by the Ministry of Defence, two official inquiries have concluded.

The selling of stories by armed forces personnel would be banned and reforms implemented to prevent a recurrence of the incident which led to a heated diplomatic confrontation between London and Tehran, the Defence Secretary, Des Browne, said. The damning reports expose Royal Navy failings in many key areas, in appreciating the threat posed by the Iranians, in dealing with intelligence, and in decision-making leading up to the crisis. The handling of the media by the MoD was marked by disorganisation which allowed the auction of the hostages’ story to newspapers and broadcasters, causing “anger and concern” among the public.

One of the reports, by former Royal Marines Lieutenant-General Sir Rob Fulton into the seizure of the naval party remains classified and will not be published for “operational reasons”, said the Government. No individuals have been named as culpable for the mistakes, and no disciplinary action will be taken.

In order to prevent a future crisis, these are the recommendations printed in the Independent.

The action plan by Royal Marines Lieutenant-General Sir Rob Fulton:

* Need for improvement in the handling of intelligence, in communications, in doctrine, and in both individual and collective training.

* Boarding parties should no longer be made up of composite personnel but must be specialist teams.

* More should be learnt “from the experience of other nations operating in the area” (meaning the US) and better sharing of information.

Tony Hall’s recommendations for media relations:

* Ministry of Defence ban on selling of stories by military and civilian personnel employed by the armed forces.

* The Ministry of Defence press office should be strengthened both in terms of numbers and expertise.

* There should be a rebuilding of trust between the MoD and the media.

Of course, what these recommendations fail to address in any way whatsoever is the declining number of military personnel in the Royal Navy. They’ve been steadily losing manpower since 2001, even as militaries around the world is expanding their armies. It was reported back in February that the Ministry of Defence planned to scuttle half of their existing fleet, making Britain’s once proud Royal Navy into a coastal defense force.

British officials should be finishing their review of the Royal Navy some time this July and come to a decision on the future of the Royal Navy. Many are saying that they’re going to abandon Dartmouth’s shipbuilding yard altogether…

The Telegraph also reported in February that faulty weapons systems aboard RN ships were ignored “in order to save money.” I’ve often wondered if the British sailors were abducted because the nearest ship didn’t even have a slingshot to fire from their ships.

Instead of fixing these fundamental problems, it seems that the MoD is more interested to covering its sizable zit with heavy makeup, even if everyone see it.