I do not care whether or not the sailors from Cornwall profit by selling their stories. Michael Portillo thinks that it is the worst misfortune to befall the Navy since the Falklands. I disagree strongly. Which ships have sunk? Who is dead? Let’s not be snarky and mention Portillo’s term as Defence Secretary, one that is improved from a low base by the example of Geoff Hoon.
I do care, though, that Able-Seaman Batchelor now apparently thinks he disappointed the whole Navy, having received enough money for “a few driving lessons” in his own words – so, £200 perhaps. I do care, though, that no-one seems to have thought through the risks involved. I also care that a lot of people seem to think that the problem was a lack of desire for an unplanned war of choice with Iran.
Sadly, applying Will to hydrography is even less likely to succeed than applying it to the weather. The usual wankers are out – as well as the keyboard kamikazes, Lewis Page has of course discovered that the incident proves the Navy needs only carriers and no other ships…strange, this bullseye I just drew happens to surround the holes in the wall very neatly!
Anyway, a dangerous frontier incident has been resolved without anyone getting hurt or any obvious loss to our side. Cheers.
Update: A robot has been captured by Iraqi insurgents. If it sells its story, can it keep the cash?
Hey Alex:
A somewhat random question:
Do you think the Brit sailors were in Iranian waters, as the Iranians claimed, or on the Iraqi side?
I saw the GPS-in-the-helicopter deal, but I think we’re talking about a matter of a few feet here.
Plus, they are free agents with the rights to their own life stories. Plenty of soldiers have written memoirs for the cash, some them with literary merit. Ulysses S. Grant, T.E. Lawrence, Julius Caesar, Smedley Butler, A.T. Mahan, and Xenophon all had “book deals” so to speak, yet I don’t see any calls to condemn them.
I agree with you that the whole thing is rubbish.