Perhaps the captives could have acted in a more "heroic" way during their ordeal, they could also be returning to the UK in body bags sparking a real international crisis and dragging this country into any forthcoming war that either the US or Isreal deems fit to start.

Sometimes doing nothing really is the best option, looking a bit foolish now is infinitely preferable to being involved in WW3, the US is perfectly capable of destrying the world without our help, I am sure that if the time comes when we actually need to take a stand there will be more then enough heroes in this country.

And any comments about heroism or lack of it should be directed from people who have actually been in this situation - not from people sitting in front of the TV.

Mark, Swansea, Wales

As a lone voice in this wilderness of political correctness and military and political posturing, I for one, would thank the President of Iran for the humility and munificence he has shown by giving the british people the safe return of their 15 courageous sailors and marines.
When I first heard of this crisis I had a premonition that Tony Blair would make a secret trip to Teheran to speak to the President in person. But he did not make the effort. This lack of action on the british side magnifies what turned into a one-sided act of supreme generosity (15 lives) by the President of Iran himself, alone. I, as a member of the british public, would thank him personally for his act. So should Tony Blair have thanked him..... not rattled even more sabres at him

Dr Patrick J. Salt, Walsall, UK

Hoorah Royal Marines

American Marine, Fallujah, Iraq

I think they behaved disgracefully. The Iranians must be thinking what a weak and undisciplined lot who won't cause us any problems next time so there will be a next time.

Since there already has been a last time ie 2004, it is also quite clear to them that we don't learn from lessons. Even more encouragement.

If this behaviour and incident is representative of the state of our armed forces then it's time to disband them as they're incapable of doing their job.

Uri, Reading,

Well not the marines looked that happy about being paraded in front of the cameras. Its just the appeasers that ran the agendas. Did they have to smile? Did they have to thank the Iranian president for forgiving them?

This kind of situation shows the Islamic world how weak the west is.

Remember Fabrizio Quattrochi, the Italian security guard who ripped off his hood shouting "Now I will show you how an Italian dies" before Al Qaeda put a bullet in his head.

Remember Yevgeny Rodionov who was taken prisoner by the Chechens and was murdered because he refused to convert to Islam.

Christopher Hyde, Paris, France

May I remind you that we are not at war with Iran yet, its hardly asif they revealed sensitive information to an enemy, they simply said what they needed to say to prevent their further detention and the escalation of the conflict.

Steven Berry, York, UK

Here is how the Royal Navy used to behave when facing overwhelming odds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Rawalpindi
Here is how British Servicemen used to behave when captured:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/08/npow08.xml
The difference: 20 years of leadership by careerist, ministerially sycophantic, politically correct, spinning, complacent, self-excusing admirals and other senior officers.

Keith, Reading,

Mr. Blair is responsible for England's honor, not just for the lives of its marines! I have yet to hear what Mr. Blair said in public to Mr. Ahmadinejad regarding this infamous act! If I were Mr. Blair, I would dare Mr. Ahmadinejad (1) never leave Iran, or be arrested for kidnapping, (2) try the stunt he did again! And to the marines I would say, next time figth to death! And I would fire the Commander of the warship that put those marines at risk, and put him in solitary confinement! This I think is the language Iran will understand!

Bohdan Szejner, Kraków, Poland

Bound and isolated? When? I just saw them free and smiling on TV!!!!!! Can they fight back now? Or is England castrated?

Bohdan Szejner, Kraków, Poland

Name, rank and serial number. That is the soldier's code of conduct - that is all you say, and to hell with the consequences. Ask any of the Royal Marine Commandos who served valiantly with the U.S. Marines at the Chosin reservoir during the Korean War. Those marines who are still with us must be spitting on the ground with disgust over the shame and dishonour brought upon such a fine and proud regiment as the Royal Marines. I feel for the released detainees. They are going to suffer the scorn and contempt of other veterans for the rest of their lives.
I served in Korea as a British front line soldier.The fear of dishonouring my regiment, letting my side down and losing the respect of my comrades would have been more than I could bear.

Alan McFarland, Rensselaer, Indiana, U.S.A.

All the criticism of the way the British troops were treated by Iran in the British press and by the British people is completely hypocritical. I would like to challenge any newspaper to print the British or American policy to treating prisoners, especially if they had allegedly illegally entered their waters, and see how it compares. Tactics such as isolation, or covering their heads are mild and indeed common practise the world over.
The troops don't deserve criticism they acted sanely in the situation. However our reaction does deserve criticism and if these actions are so despicable maybe we should look at our own system, or better still realise the world we live in with its certain unpleasant necessities.

Rob, London, UK

Please, anyone want to change places with these people, go ahead. Then when you have endured what they did, you are free to criticise them.

The marines did not fight back, rightly too. If they had, they would have been dead. Would that have pleased the James Bond fans who are going on about name, rank etc. and fighting to the death. Not to mention the fact that we would now most likely be at war with Iran, causing many more servicemen and women to lose their lives.

Would all the "armchair soldiers" please give these people a break, unless you want to sign up, go to Iraq and show them how it is done "properly"

Lynn, Düsseldorf,

I recommend renting the movie "The Guardian" staring Kevin Costner about the helicopter rescue crews of the United States Coast Guard -- especially to the Iranian Coast Guard. Sailing the seas is one of the most dangerous endevours that humans do. It's a brotherhood. Sailors don't behave like us. You critics don't get it.

Shirley Jackson, Oliver, BC, Canada

As an American lawyer I have a suggestion for our British cousins who were kidnapped by Iran: each captured service person should SUE THOSE IRANIAN THUGS!!!! Find a court with jurisdiction (in Iraq if necessary) and sue the pants off of the Iranian state for wrongful imprisonment, assault, battery, punitive damages and any other recognizable tortious causes of action for which the Iranian state should be held responsible in damages in a civil court of law. If need be, have Parliament pass any necessary legislation for jurisdiction to sue the Iranian thugs in Britain. Then execute with the judgment against any Iranian assets that can be found abroad, especially garnishing bank accounts and money owed them on oil and gas contracts. File the judgment in any nation they have assets. Civil legal action is the surest punishment and well deserved revenge for their intentional outrageous conduct.

Robert P. Wise, Jackson, Mississippi USA

See what happens when you build a chunnel. Now the English are surrendering quicker then the French. I have been reading, in all the cries from the liberals, that torture doesn't work. Looks like they were wrong

James, Seattle, WA

Unfortunately, young British men and women serving in the UK armed forces currently stationed in the Middle East are ones of the many victims of the foreign policy under the PM Tony Blair who have lost contact with reality. It lacks any ethical and moral principles and it has already demaged the image of the UK in the Arab countries.
Captived soldiers have become pawns in a big game which thousands people will pay with their own lives.
PM Blair all the time is talking about winning of heart and minds of the people in the Middle East but with every day hatred towards the UK and USA is growing stronger.
British solder do their job professionaly but they cannot repair the building which is already shaking at its base.

Bess, Uppsala , Sweden

As an ex patriot Brit living in Canada I feel so ashamed at the total incompetance of the Royal Navy and the cowardly acts of most of the fifteen taken prisoner in Iran. The final act where they were thanking the Iranian President and behaving as though they had just been on holiday was disgusting. If this behavour represents the true state of present attitudes in the UK armed forces, then indeed the demise of the once Great Britain is beyond redemption. How attitudes have changed in the 50 years since I served in the British armed forces!

Trevor Greenwood, Vancouver, Canada

Has nobody been listening? They faced 7 years in an Iranian jail. You try it sometime before complaining.

Ben, York,

Please, someone point a gun at you and see how cooperative YOU become-soldier or not-most of us value our lives. "Fight back" for what? To have 15 more dead Brits? Face it, they ALL need to come home. We aren't wanted there-and besides-this isn't the first time the Brits were caught in Iranian waters. In 2004, they admitted it.
Mistakes happen, why were they so close to Iranian waters anyway-were they looking for a provocation?

Uncle Sammy, Columbus, Ohio

They should all be discharged from the services or given the opportunity to resign after the embarrassing way they capitulated to the Iranians. Thank goodness we didn't have this type of mentality in the trenches of flanders - if so, they'd all be cowering at the bottom of a ladder busily writing confessions in german.

Frank, Glasgow,

I agree with those who say it is too easy to criticise from our armchairs, but not for the same reasons. I too cannot understand why military personnel so readily crumbled under psychological pressure, unless they were obeying an undisclosed directive from their superiors. If this is the case, we might as well sit back in our armchairs and watch the show since without knowledge of all the facts our judgments are irrelevant. Having said that, those who join the military are aware they may be called upon to kill and be killed. If one has embarked upon a career where one is authorised to kill men, women and children, one must be prepared to accept death and the threat of death with at the very least outward composure and inner courage. Fortunately for me I have never had to discover the extent of my courage, but I do hope I am more courageous than those military kids.

Nicola, Montreal, Canada

I really admire the Royal Marines and Navy. I am sick about the criticisms they are getting from some Americans who have never been to war. I believe they did the right thing.

Constance Crowley, Waterford, VA USA

What will happen to the boats and gadgetry seized by the Iranians.Will they be returned to the British navy?.I doubt that very much.Blair as usual has caved in to pressure from the Iranian government,who knows what deals were done to effect the release of the 15 servicemen?

charles maidoh, london, England

Have I missed something important by working and living in China? My Royal Air Force training taught me that should I find myself captured by a hostile force I need only give my name, rank, serial number and date of birth. Can anyone tell me when this approach was changed to blab like fishmonger’s wife when apprehended by the enemy?

John, Nanchang, China

All of you Rambo types that think the Marines and Sailors did wrong by their country need to run,not walk, to sign up to be with them on their next mission.Anyone willing to stand in an open inflatable and engage in a firefight against superior forces wil probably have a monument dedicated to them after their deaths,which,by the way will be sudden.The fact that all 15 are home,alive,and unharmed,means that someone did just about everything right.

ron, toronto,

The thing that has suprised me about this incident is the ease with which supposedley well trained miltray people confessed to whatever their captors wanted. As someone who has been brought up on a diet of war films where the only thing you offer your captors is name rank and serial number it has been a big shock .

Even more so as their accounts indicate that all they were subjected to was a bit of solitary confinement, being blindfolded while some weapons were cocked and the iranians telling them some lies. This, apparently, was sufficiently frightening to force them into appearing on TV, in uniform, describing in detail the location of their ships and the way they operated.

If this is all it took them to "confess" after a couple of days, what value is the information we, and the americans, have used from people the U.S have waterboarded, tortured in other ways and held in secret prisons for years on end? I think absolutley none.

steven duffy, london, England

They behaved exactly how I would have behaved: frightened, compliant with only freedom and how to obtain it on my mind - i.e. wimps. I would have expected the Marines to be more resistant - a few of them refusing to wave to the president after their release was secured doesn't really count. And they were still carrying their "goody bags" after they landed on UK soil - I would have at least publicly smashed these bags of propaganda out of principle. They were a far cry from the cinema heros - less Rambo, more My Little Pony...

James, London, UK

Given the situation in which these 15 soldiers and marines were operating in, the possibility that they might be involved in a confrontation and possibly captured is significant. What is also clear is that they were totally unprepared and without any training for that possibility! The decisions they made, first to capitulate to the Iranians, then to co-operate to a degree that is incomprehensible allowing themselves to be paraded and manipulated by their abductors illustrates this lack of awareness and preparedness. Were they scared out of their wits? Yes, anyone would be but that is when training kicks in, as in any military situation where the unexpected happensy and a dangerous, life-threatening scenario is confronted. That is why we have a military; to deal with and to conduct themselves well in situations that ordinary people would find unbearable. Thank God these men and women are safe, home with their families but to be honest, they acted like a boat load of girls-blouses!

Keith Downer, London, UK

The important facts in this Iranian propaganda exercise is that the sailors and marines were operating under a UN mandate; the two Royal Navy inflatable dinghies were inside Iraqi waters; we, that is the UK, are not at war with Iran and therefore the actions of the Iranian gunboats in the capture and the subsequent handling of the British service personnel is totally unacceptable and against international law. If there was a weakness in the operation it appears to be in providing not just radar coverage and advice to the inflatables but also the fact that the 'paraffin pigeon' was not airborne and in direct support whilst this operation was taking place. Nonetheless, the actions of the two officers and their crew was correct in quickly deciding not to attempt to resist the illegal arrest. If there is any blame and shame it is the actions of the Iranians throughout this media scrum. One can only hope that the government now re-visits and upgrades the RoE for this operation.

Kenneth Armitage, Suffolk, England

If fighting back was not an option next time just carry a white flag instead of an sa-80. If you were in Iraqi territory then why did you not defend it? frighten at the sight of a .50 cal and rpg? Can you imagine if once Great Britain is attack and upon the sight of enemies weaponry, soldiers will say fighting was not an option. Its better if you just said that you dont want to die for Blair and Bush, that sounds better.

John Macintosh, Perth,

So ," fighting back was simply not an option" ! Bring back the South Wales Borderers .

Murdo, Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Iran had pre-planned this abduction (kidnapping if you will) to divert attention from their nuclear program and impending sanctions. If Iran could intimidate all 15 sailors and marines into "confessing" to having invaded Iranian waters, they would reap a propaganda victory. If not, as was the case, after a period of imprisonment, Iran would release the crew as a magnificent gesture of their peaceful intentions. The British sailors and marines exhibited courage and faithful devotion to duty under very difficult circumstances. BRAVO

Ed, Atlanta, Georgia USA

Were these people not trained to deal with such treatment? I shake my head at how easily they allowed themelves to become putty in the hands of the Iranians. Brave soliders die in Iraq everyday - they must turn in their graves at such gutless nonsense as this. Did they really think the Iranians would kill them? Dear me, imagine the consequences of such a course of action! These so called soldiers are supposedly trained to deal with such situations, yet at the mere sign of 'aggressive and unstable' behaviour they fling down their weapons and go meakly with their captors! Not exaclty an advert for our military.

Robert Mate, London, UK