The Case of the British Sailors Vs. the Case of John McCain

I'm not alwasy a big fan of John McCain's politics, but no one can ever question his conduct when the moment of truth arrived:

On October 26, 1967, McCain's A-4 Skyhawk was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile, landing in Truc Bach Lake. He broke both arms and a leg after ejecting from his plane. After he regained consciousness, a mob gathered around him, spat on him, kicked him and stripped him of his clothing. He was then tortured by Vietnamese soldiers, who bayoneted him in his left foot and groin. His shoulder was crushed by a rifle butt. He was then transported to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton. Once McCain arrived at the Hanoi Hilton, he was placed in a cell and interrogated daily. When McCain refused to provide any information to his captors, he was beaten until he lost consciousness.

When the North Vietnamese discovered his father was the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command, (CINCPAC), commander of all U.S. forces in Vietnam, he was offered a chance to return home. McCain turned down the offer of repatriation. McCain signed an anti-American propaganda message which was written in Vietnamese, but only as a result of rigorous and brutal torture methods, which to this day have left him incapable of raising his arms above his head. According to McCain, signing the propaganda message is something he most regrets during his time as a POW. After McCain signed the statement, the Vietnamese decided they could not use it. They tried to force him to sign a second statement, and this time he refused. He received two to three beatings per week because of his continued refusal.

McCain was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five-and-a-half years, mostly in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, and was finally released from captivity in 1973, having been a POW for almost an extra five years due to his earlier refusal to accept an out of turn repatriation offer.

Now let us fast forward to the conduct of the British sailors captured by Iran. They surrendered with no resistance...without a shot being fired. Were not tortured, abused or beaten. The Iranians apparently played a few mind games with them and in just about 24 hours, a few of them had already broken down, calling for the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq, "confessing" to violating Iranian territorial waters. Issuing televised public apologies, and trashing their own country. Ultimately, they were "pardoned" given new suits and goodies bags, and sent on their way after having served out their usefulness as propaganda tools for the rouge Iranian regime.

Of course, not everyone can be John McCain, and I grant that it can be unseemly to criticize others in a difficult situation, or to be kicking others when they are down. But honesty is the best road to recovery: would it be too much to expect some kind of middle ground between abject humiliation and surrender, and McCain-type heroism in these types of situations?

Rue Britania: Britons never, never, never shall be slaves