Captive Sailor Arthur Batchelor Apologizes for Selling HonorStory
This is London reports that “captive sailor Arthur Batchelor, who was dubbed Mr Bean by the Iranians, has apologised for selling his hostage ordeal story and ‘letting the Navy down’.”
More:
Seaman Batchelor’s claim that he cried himself to sleep after his Iranian captors likened him to the comedy character Mr Bean made him a laughing stock.
One serving soldier posted: “Batchelor didn’t do the reputation of servicemen much good either! Being broken by being called Mr Bean FFS! – that must be on a par with Monty Python’s Spanish Inquisition and the comfy cushions.”
Comments left on unofficial forces’ websites, the Rum Ration and the British Army Rumour Service laid into Ms Turney and Mr Batchelor.
Another servicemen says of Mr Batchelor’s complaint that his iPod was stolen by the Iranians: “What I wish to know is why a young lad on a boarding party detail needed to take his iPod? If he listened to The Ride of the Valkyries as he sped towards the target ship, what did he listen to on his trip to Iran?”
In response others on Rum Ration suggest: “Crying by Don McLean, perhaps?, The Beat Surrender, Always Look On The Bright Side Of life? and Onward Christian Soldiers.”
Another contributor said of Ms Turney, who sold her story to the Sun: “Made me squirm when she said ‘President of Iran gave me a toy doll for my daughter and am keeping it after the bomb disposal experts cleared it’.
“Believe me dear, the Iranians don’t need to get any more publicity from blowing up you or anyone else … you’re providing all the publicity for them for free.”
You know, I have to admit that I am starting to feel sorry for the ‘chap’.
He said that the money he received for his story “will simply pay for a few driving lessons.” He’s “not sure it will cover the cost of an actual test, let alone a car.” This while the female hostage reportedly received £100,000.
The sad reality is… that I actually believe Mr. Batchelor when he says he did not receive a lot of money.
Okay Arthur, here is what you do: you do not use the money for “a few driving lessons.” Instead, you give it to some charity, best for a charity for veterans or something like it.
And so, the nightmare continues.
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Let him keep the money. I’m sure the British government wasn’t paying him enough anyways.
Let’s judge the “honor” of the soldiers from the dangerous enviroment of a keyboard. Maybe the “chap” will contribute to a Cheetos fund for the brave 101st keyboardists fighting the Islamo-Stooges scourge….
Rudi: that kind of rhetoric does not work with me. It did not work months ago, it does not work now. It is not an argument. Nice try though.
Can citizens criticize soldiers? Sure we can.
The military serves the people, the people don’t serve the military.
The military stands for honor, respect. The military should defend one’s country.
If the military or individual soldiers fail to live up to that one can critize them.
Similar to Imus, the best thing these sailors can do is hope to lay low and get out of the news.
In these cases, the passage of time serves better than any attempted defense.
casualobserver: agreed. they have to lay low (and give the money to charity).
What did you want them to do MvdG, become martyrs against the “global Jihad”? Their only mistakes are talking too much, how do you link that to attacking their honor.
MvdG had this to say about Terry Jones of Monty Python:
Now you smear and attack the British troops, Despicable again?
The situation and argument are quite different, isn’t it Rudy? Please do not compare apples with oranges, i’m not a big fan of that.
This is the second time you tried a rhetorical trick, in one single thread.
Michael,
Rudy calls you on your ‘all over the board’ arguments’ and instead of replying to the point he makes you’re trying to sell us on your newly found aversion to apples and oranges.
Maybe a few years of military (or other) service to the country of your choice would be helpful.
When given
12 month15 monthunlimited mandatory service young people like yourself usually develop a more accurate view of the big picture… it might add a little realism to your view of the world… a little honor.I have been thinking about this story a lot.
I thought Entropy made some particularly good points in posts here at TMV, drawing upon his training – in re: the difference between being manipulated for propaganda, and tortured for information.
But then I came upon the website of the sailors in the USS Pueblo incident. That was the US ship seized by the North Koreans in the 60s.
Go to….http://www.usspueblo.org/
The incidents were very similar, only the crew of the Pueblo were subject to far more violence (one crewman was killed in the initial boarding …physical torture was commonplace).
However, in the case of the Pueblo the crew were very aware that they were being filmed by the North Koreans for propaganda. Thus, they decided to ruin EVERY propaganda photo/film taken of them…in every picture, every crewman would be somehow holding their middle finger erect (upon everntually being questioned by the Koreans…they said this was a Hawaiian Good Luck Sign!!!)
Pictures of this are at the site, and elsewhere on the NET.
Eventually the Koreans realized–reading descriptions in the western press–what the significance of an erect middle finger meant. The Pueblo crew was beaten, non-stop, for weeks after the discovery.
Yet the men of the Pueblo expected this response, and decided to do so nonetheless: “…most of us realized that our zeal to ruin their propaganda would come back to haunt us.”
But the contrast between the sailors of the Pueblo – operating without training in resistance, as with the Cornwall sailors and marines – and the sailors/marines here is striking. All the moreso that the Pueblo faced BOTH manipulation and physical tortures…and had good reason to expect death at any moment.
Steve, well, again a nice try but you do exactly the same thing Rudi does.
Marlowe: how to do something about this?
also: it says a lot that servicemen criticize their colleagues quite ruthlessly (which should give our local liberal friends Steve and Rudi food for thought).
“Honor” is not really a point of criticism, I don’t think. If one reads accounts of soldiers’ experiences throughout history, they rarely care about “honor” or even one’s country. Oddly enough, it is the bond with their fellow troops that keeps them going through the horrors of war.
I suspect that bond was lacking in this case.
I do feel sad for Batchelor…he clearly realizes he should not have spoken to the press. He will be hounded about this by other servicemen, I am sure.
Faye Turney still does not seem to understand the significance of what happened…and is keeping the doll the Iranian president gave her as a present for her daughter.
She has observed that she was just doing her job as a boat driver. Maybe that is it…this was just a job for her, like flipping burgers.
The Royal Navy is ultimately to blame here. It is obvious there is no training whatsover here… They have become McDonald’s at Sea for the new generation.
MVDG said: “how to do something about this?”
God, this just is depressing. The description of the responses of the British public as a whole in the media have suggested this is having a serious effect. There was just silence for the longest while.
I think people are stupified by it. There are some who blame the sailors…but most seem to see it having larger significance.
It is sort of like the Suez crisis in the 1950s…the incident is not important in itself, except that it reveals something fundamentally lacking in Great Britain…a difference between the image and the reality of Britain.
It is amazing that there have been no resignations yet at the MoD!
The Admiralty clearly has no shame…
> Faye Turney still does not seem to
> understand the significance of what
> happened…and is keeping the doll
> the Iranian president gave her as
> a present for her daughter.
She’ll probably be defended by the Left, who defends the sailors now but would be critical of them if they were engaging the Iranians instead (that is, with weapons) or pounding the hell out of terrorists in Basra.
Maybe she (or the lefties) will have Nanci Pelosi deliver a goodwill message to Ahmadinnerjacket if Pelosi and Lantos follow through with their idea of going to Iran now that they have enjoyed the exercise of “Democratic foreign policy” in Syria. I can’t wait to see the photos of Pelosi and Lantos with the Iranian president. Maybe on the way back they can visit Chavez and Castro, too.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=pelosi+lantos+iran
Michael van der Galiën- You proliferate a society of unrepentant capitalists and then you slander the poor for trying to make a buck? I suppose that YOU believe that the poor are only worth cannon fod for sustaining the idle rich. Honor? Like the Dutch have the moral high ground to criticize others about honor. What a load of crap. You desperately need them to defend you but you deny them anything but servitude and indentured service…..i.e. “slaves�.
brave 101st keyboardists fighting the Islamo-Stooges scourge….
Gee I sure am tired of listening to the leader of the 1st verbose garbage detail rummaging thru the garbage to find stuff to throw at the real elitists troops of the 101st keyboardists who are on the front lines fighting the war.
If you apologize mabey we will let you join the “Real front line troops.” Instead of hanging out with the Sarge and Sad Sack.
brave 101st keyboardists fighting the Islamo-Stooges scourge….
hahaha….Reminds me of those fat arsed “militia” wackos during the 90s; “we gonna purtect fredum”….uh huh. Fruckwads Unite.
Komrad Marlow – The yound Dutch lad attacks, through links to a hack job of a magazine, another young UK soldier for speaking too much. The young UK sailor is defending his coutry in an actual war. The young Dutch lad defends his counties honor from a keyboard and blog posts, who is the more honorable and brave?
Where is the outrage at UK military command for allow a second kidnapping of their soldiers. A 20 year old sailor is less guilty of anything compared to a command that didn’t plan for this situation after it happened before. Like our miltary, why haven’t any senior UK officers stepped down or admitted to gross negligence. Instead we have a 20 year old smeared with the “Mr Bean” insult.
Rudi- Just Remember: “that kind of rhetoric don’t work”, with him. You have to use his rhetoric, not yours.
MvdG’s attack on a naive UK soldier is just like the recent attack on Jill Carroll for being an Arab collaborator. People forget about courage and honor when a gun is pointed at their heads. One must remember “honor” when the abuse begins. Pundits and writers will attack your courage from the safety of their office. I wonder if MvdG has ever had a knife or gun pointed at him, I have and the basic instint is to save yourself and others, not worry about honor or principle. Only the truely brave and heroic ignore the threat and think of something more basic than survival. Shame on those UK sailors for not being worthy of a medal like the Medal of Honor or the Victoria Cross.
Sure Rudi: I am happy for you that you think there is no problem at all. Life must be nice like that.
And, again, those who do not serve in the military can criticize those who do serve. Don’t give me that crap. You can repeat and repeat, and repeat it, but that doesn’t make it more true. The military serves the people, the people don’t serve the military.
Marlowe: there certainly is a bigger problem in British society, but I am happy that some of our commenters show that if the far left takes over America, America will have the same problem very soon.
Certainly and you can yell at your TV… scream at the screen… tell your team what they should do and how they should play. Unfortunately, your opinion in both cases will (as they should) receive the same reverent respect and consideration… Absolutely NONE!
In your initial “Monty Python Should Stay Out of Politicsâ€? rate implied and infered ‘facts’ to the Terry Jones OpEd that just weren’t there… When called on this you just walked (sic) away from the thread that you started instead of responding / replying / debating a discussion that you started.
You continue to rewrite and post anew the same Brit Bashing crap used in your previous posts but refuse to respectfully debate the issues.
Now… you’re playing an ‘apples to oranges’ and ‘oh, you silly liberals’ crap to distract and confuse your flawed argument.
Michael, You seem to be quite emotionally invested in this issue and like many of us emotional involved in a debate would probably benefit by backing-off; but, again like most of us, you will probably just get madder and less civil instead.
Regards,
Steve