http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6538921.stm

This is a total disgrace.
Why should these foot soldiers not make a few quid from their ordeal.
It would be good propaganda also.
Lets get on with slagging the Arabs off.
The worse a light they are shown in the better.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6538921.stm

This is a total disgrace.
Why should these foot soldiers not make a few quid from their ordeal.
It would be good propaganda also.
Lets get on with slagging the Arabs off.
The worse a light they are shown in the better.

I heard just the opposite on CNN this morning saying they were going to allow them to do so :huh:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6538921.stm

This is a total disgrace.
Why should these foot soldiers not make a few quid from their ordeal.
It would be good propaganda also.
Lets get on with slagging the Arabs off.
The worse a light they are shown in the better.

So they should be banned from selling their stories. If they allow " our heroes " to sell their stories does this mean that whenever a Squaddy is skint all they have to do is go slightly into enemy territory?

No lets not get on with slagging the Arabs off. Why would it be good to paint Arabs in a bad light? Were we asked to invade Iraq and then duped into leading a country to near collapse?

I think we should start criticising and slagging off the ones who put " our heroes " there in the first place.

So they should be banned from selling their stories. If they allow " our heroes " to sell their stories does this mean that whenever a Squaddy is skint all they have to do is go slightly into enemy territory?

No lets not get on with slagging the Arabs off. Why would it be good to paint Arabs in a bad light? Were we asked to invade Iraq and then duped into leading a country to near collapse?

I think we should start criticising and slagging off the ones who put " our heroes " there in the first place.

No you are wrong there I am afraid.

i think they should be able to sell their stories about the worst thing that might ever happen in their lives, why shouldnt they, if i was in the same prediciment i would :P
apperently theyve been offered 4 times their wage


and no artisan, NOT to "slag" the arabs off that does nothing, that just leads round in a vicious circle, understanding each others the key, but YES that means them too

No you are wrong there I am afraid.

Oh well seeing as you say I am wrong then I must be. I guess I should start reading the Sun newspaper, better yet to get to your level maybe I should read the Sport.

We all need to think of the bigger picture, the situation may happen again the service personell were freed without too much credibility being damaged on either side. If the stories get published Iran might not be so flexible next time if they see themselves as losing face.
I wouldn't want to be one of them because I wouldn't give much for their chances.
Skint or not they are alive!. It could heve turned out so very differently.

the armed forces have a statutory policy of NOT permitting members to 'sell their stories' like this.

why an exception was initially made for this bunch i don't know, but personally i think it highly inappropriate taht they were told they could. they're no different from any other member of the armed forces; the only exceptional thing about them was the media coverage of their predicament.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6538921.stm

This is a total disgrace.
Why should these foot soldiers not make a few quid from their ordeal.
It would be good propaganda also.
Lets get on with slagging the Arabs off.
The worse a light they are shown in the better.

They get paid to serve, they will have been earning money whilst been kept hostage.
If they were so close to a warzone near an undefined border, why didn't they fight back? they don't appear to want to fight for their country.

They get paid to serve, they will have been earning money whilst been kept hostage.
If they were so close to a warzone near an undefined border, why didn't they fight back? they don't appear to want to fight for their country.

i think there may be a difference between fighting for your country and needlessly sacrificing yourself for your country. they're paid to protect their country, not die for it.

taht said, i suppose we don't really know how much of a fight they put up, any more than we know whether they were at an inappropriate location or not.

i wonder if those on here who are anti war - which therefore would make the service"men" criminals in their eyes - support the sale of the story.
after all you're not allowed to profit from committing a crime.

if our soldiers can surrender to iranian solders, imagine our civillians if we were invaded by land

I'm not concerned about them making money but I'm sure that the government has "encouraged" them to add a few nasty/exciting bits into the stories to make better propaganda against Iran.

If you recall the pics of the hostages a few days ago they didnt seem too "terrified" to me and seemd quite happy sat in a group chatting away and laughing...

I don't think the Iranians will be very happy to be called 'Arabs'. They probably despise Arabs as much as you seem to do :hihi:

i wonder if those on here who are anti war - which therefore would make the service"men" criminals in their eyes - support the sale of the story.
after all you're not allowed to profit from committing a crime.

i'm anti-war, but don't see the armed forces as a bunch of criminals (well, except those that i went to school with that have been discharged for abh, gbh and arson). i don't support the sale of the stories because i think it undermines the effectiveness of the armed forces; it has nothing to do with my feelings about war in general.

I'm not concerned about them making money but I'm sure that the government has "encouraged" them to add a few nasty/exciting bits into the stories to make better propaganda against Iran.

If you recall the pics of the hostages a few days ago they didnt seem too "terrified" to me and seemd quite happy sat in a group chatting away and laughing...

i agree but im concerned by them making money - it sends out a bad message in my opinion. im more suspect of propaganda on our behalf opposed to on the iranians although ive no doubt it occured on both sides

i'm anti-war, but don't see the armed forces as a bunch of criminals (well, except those that i went to school with that have been discharged for abh, gbh and arson). i don't support the sale of the stories because i think it undermines the effectiveness of the armed forces; it has nothing to do with my feelings about war in general.

i'm anti this war and have similar sentiments.
in the past however some people have been vocal about the "legalities" of this war and WMD's.
an illegal war would therefore make them criminals in the eyes of that person.

unfortunately i think this is purely propoganda, and not a very good idea at all.

well im glad they got home safe ,but if they think they have suffered badly how do they think the prisoners in ww2 went on in japanse pow camps

Oh well seeing as you say I am wrong then I must be. I guess I should start reading the Sun newspaper, better yet to get to your level maybe I should read the Sport.

Do you have a problem with people who read those newspapers then?
Also what makes you think that I would read the Sporting Life.
It is years since I had a bet.
If you cannot accept that you are wrong, dont indulge in conversation.

I don't think the Iranians will be very happy to be called 'Arabs'. They probably despise Arabs as much as you seem to do :hihi:

If you mean me, I have no problem with anyone, Arabs included.
But when they start kidnapping my soldiers etc, then they begin to walk on dangerous ground.
Or have we become so cowardly that we creep away on our kitten feet everytime a bully tries to threaten us?

I'm not too sure Artisian.

Two countries were invaded because we "felt" someone was trying to threaten us.

If you mean me, I have no problem with anyone, Arabs included.
But when they start kidnapping my soldiers etc, then they begin to walk on dangerous ground.
Or have we become so cowardly that we creep away on our kitten feet everytime a bully tries to threaten us?

Do you have a problem with people who read those newspapers then?

I have a problem with any organization that gains from war and pretends they are for the common man. I too have a problem with people who fall for such things but then we're all sheep in our own way.

Also what makes you think that I would read the Sporting Life.
It is years since I had a bet.

Nothing makes me think you read the sporting life, I mentioned the Sport. However if you were to have a bet I do wager that you are likely to back the one your mates are or the favourite.

If you cannot accept that you are wrong, dont indulge in conversation.

I can accept when I'm wrong but to dismiss someone's opinion when you ask it kinda defeats what you were talking about in the first place. Free speech anyone?

Getting back to the thread. One non political reason why I don't think it's right for them to profit in such a way is this. If you work for a company and invent something using that company's resources and as an employee, the company owns what you have invented. (At least I believe this to be true and have had a few contracts of my own to state this) To apply this to the M.O.D surely they own the rights to the soldiers story.

Finally for once I do feel real sympathy for the lost soldier's families. You get nowt for dying.

Should the title of this thread be changed? They're banned from selling the story, not telling it! :)

What will this prove? The media are far better at producing sensationalist propaganda than the Iranians so we will still not know the truth.Any money should be given to the armed forces charities.

What ever happened to name rank and serial number? I think they were cowards and should have received a court marshal upon there return, the way they went off on Iranian Tv was disgusting.