What would Neville Chamberlain have done? What would Winston Churchill have done? What would Margaret Thatcher have done? What will Tony Blair do?

Vectrasauris, Seattle, WA - USA

it seems to be increasingly clear that the servicemen were indeed in Iraqi waters. if so then the frigate should not need to defend her sailors and marines against Iranians. Perhaps someone should find out exactly where the Iranians think the boundary is and discuss this with the relevant authorities to make this clear i.e. the Iraqi Government as there appears to be some confusion on this issue.

Jon, Bishop's Stortford, UK

Even if the British sailors had strayed into Iranian waters it's hard to see how this could have amounted to espionage. What could 15 people in small boats miles away from land have hoped to find out? The levels of salinity in Iranian waters? Could the Iranians be intent on building a bomb of salt? Iran is deliberately seeking to cause outrage. This spurious act may give whoever is behind it some instant gratification, but it's hard to see what long-term benefit could be achieved through it.

Andre de Souza, London, UK

It is apparent that Iranian President Ahmadinejad and his cronies only understand force, and the fact that HMS Cornwall and her crew sat idly by while the Iranians commited this blatantly illegal act only serves to make Britain look weak in their eyes. The media and the government (assuming there is a difference?) need to wake up to the fact that Iran is a country run by thugs for whom might is right and there is no other way. I'm not a naval expert, but I am willing to bet that the Cornwall has enough guns on her to have sunk every one of those Iranian gunboats before they got within 500 yards of our sailors and marines. Maybe when Tel Aviv becomes the next Hiroshima we will figure out what giving these medieval goons the benefit of 5,000 doubts gets us; I think the CO of the Cornwall should be court-martialed for letting down his men, his country, and the British way of life. What a disgrace.

Peter Kulpa, London, England

Enough, send in the SAS. These IRANIANS are terrorists kidnapping our Sailors. This would never have ahppened on Maggie Thachter's watch. You cannot help your sailors by negoitiations, that is a fools game with the iranians. They will play you for time, waste your time,, promise you the moon and deliver nothing. Send in the SAS and let's finish the job. Long live Britiana

JERRY MCCULLOUGH, St.Catharines, Ontario, Canada, CANADA

Hmm, let's see. Secret detentions. Unsupervised interrogations. Violations of international rights. Threats of show trials. Where is the outrage, I ask? I see some of you, even from ENGLAND, justifying the Iranians' actions here. It's all Britain's fault and deserves whatever happens. If a majority of you Brits TRULY believe that, well, Winston Churchill won't have to wait a thousand years to find out if surviving the Nazis was truly your finest hour. You'll be gone as an empire long before then.

TheMadKing, Nashua, NH USA

Enough !

Lets sort these pirates out - Now !

Or has the U.K. lost it's bottle ? Bring back Margeret Thatcher.....

What a bunch of woosies....

By the way sack the Commander of their ship - absolute disgrace...

ken holdaway, East London, South Africa

This is an outrage in both directions. What Iran has done is nothing less than piracy in the old Barbary Coast tradition. However, where was the protection for these sailors and marines? Why were they operating so close to Iran with no substantial air or naval support in range? Given the massive US Air and Naval presence in the Gulf why were no aircraft or even helicopters available. I am sure the sight of a F-18, Harrier, or even an attack helo would have deterred this whole incident.

Luke, Carrollton, Georgia, USA

To Chip Tanis,

It is precisely this sort of attitude that has led the US into so many unilateral situations, for better or worse (no prizes for guessing which I, as a European, believe). The UK MoD is not at war with Iran and hence do not approach every situation with such fear and loathing as your commentary advises.

I am relived that you are in FL and not in the Middle East.

This incident is proving to be a critical moment in Middle East development, requiring cool headed multilateral political savvy. Let us hope and pray that a stronger, Democrat-led house allows for such a cool headed multilateral response (leave the "savvy" to the Europeans) and not yet another bull-in-a-china shop approach.

Alastair Balfour, New York, US

UK should demand their men back via diplomatic channels. If that fails a blockade with us backing should being. time is short

John, rye, usa

Mike,
We have some boats made of cheese, two pea shooters (no peas though), an elastic band with a knot in it and three polished rocks that skim across water well. Also we have one armoured vest (complete with bullet holes) a swiss army knife (with the bottle opener broken) and a sharpened stick. All of this is run by a man named Anthony who spends much of his time waving.

So I don't think we can deny anybody anything. Especially as our armed service personell are frequently forced to resign for using harsh language or shooting people without a letter of permission from the victim.

We do however have a big friend named USA and they can do anything to anybody coz they're bigger than the other kids in the playground.

Paul, Milton Keynes,

I suspect an anti-Brown mole in Teheran has organised this fiasco in order to give our Prime Minister a chance to retain office and even have a second bite at a Falklands legacy.

Guy Thornton, Cirencester, England

Mike, Hsv., US

The ultimatum has been delivered. By Iran.

It was overdue. Not anymore!

Ali, TownInIran, Iran

While I don't particularly care for the status of the ongoing war in Iraq, I believe Iran is attempting to capitalize on what it views as weakness in the western world. I believe Great Britain should act decisively, should obviously be backed by the commonwealth and most certainly by NATO - this means you too Bush!

Kieth, Lethbridge, Canada

It shows the cowardice and incompetence of Blair and his cronies and how (sadly) they have emasculated all of the British Armed Forces. Just how far will political correctness be carried.

Barrie Greenslade, San Antonio, Texas.

My View is why were the Iranians "allowed" to take the British personnel captive. Their Frigate should have seen the approaching gunboats for miles on radar and should have taken the appropiate steps to protect their men/woman. Even if they were in Iraqi waters.

No matter what the outcome of this incident, The British MoD should take action to improve their force protection. They know this has happened before... NO EXCUSE!

Chip Tanis, Boca Raton, USA / Florida

The British have more than enough capability to take away Iran's water privileges. I believe the US should also back any action in order to get back those servicemen. If the servicemen were in Iranian waters, it would be a different story, but in this case an ultimatum is long overdue.

Mike, Hsv., US

Why don't the UK openly disclose the location co-ordinates, Iran does the same, and the UN decides if we were in their waters or not.

So far, this story is ludicrous. We keep hearing "free them" demands, yet not a single one of us knows if our marines were in Iranian waters, or not.

If they were, it's quite right they were arrested. If they weren't, it's quite wrong. But the media doesn't seem to care about the basic fact, just the reactions to it.

Laura Roberts, London, UK

I have been reading about this sorry matter since it started, and would like to say that the British goverment shoud keep putting on the presser to get our boys back. Iran needs to know that its dealing with a civilized country and that it can not do as its pleases. I hope to god that our boys will be home safe and sound very soon. I hope that our PM will act on this matter in more then words.

Andre Anthony, Finchley, London,