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British Hostages Simply Gave In John L. Perry The feared English bulldog has now shamefully mutated into the feckless French poodle. Sir Winston, where are you when your beloved Royal Navy needs you? What on earth were the Brits thinking when they dressed those precious lads and lass in sailor suits and let them putt-putt around the Shatt al Arab, flying the Union Jack? Those 15 would be hard pressed to guard Her Majesty's brace of Corgis. For the Iranian bullies, "capturing" them must have seemed like taking candy from a baby. Or babies from candy. Surely the Royal Navy, with all its centuries of bravery and stoic stubbornness, didn't train those specimens to turn turtle and grovel like scolded pups. After a couple of weeks in Iranian custody — from which they certainly seemed to emerge none the worse — they couldn't wait to confess on global television, cherubically smiling and uttering gushy thank-yous to their magnanimous hosts.
If the hostages' superior officers didn't train them to advance toward the enemy with hands held high in the air, why didn't they train them to put up a fight? Rudyard Kipling, Horatio Nelson (not to mention Horatio Hornblower), Viscount Monty Montgomery and Churchill, himself, must be spinning, agonized in their graves. And what of all the Tars and Tommies who won the admiration and gratitude not only of their own people but also of the entire Free World? What would they say?
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Indeed, what are the 15 sissies' current comrades in arms going to say, going to do, to them when they return to regular duty? The kindest thing the admiralty could do for the lily-livers would be to post them out of harm's way in some weather station off Tierra del Fuego.
On reflection, though, they may yet have a career of celebrityhood awaiting them. There's no end to the lack of taste or warped news sense among the American masscomm. It's no stretch to imagine the make-believe heroes and heroine being toasted and interviewed news cycle after news cycle. There would be no shortage of left-wing arms on Capitol Hill, just waiting to enfold them. Can you not just see Rep. Jack Murtha telling them how they set the example of the proper way nations should resolve differences? By golly, jihad Jack wouldn't be cutting off any funds for them to surrender their way to peace. Perhaps Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Miss Damascus 2007) would get over jet lag coming home from her shuttle diplomacy throughout the Middle East in time to bestow the Congressional Medal of Surrender upon them in the Capitol Rotunda.
While all this might be going on, perhaps some dutiful British schoolboy or schoolgirl will have stumbled across a dusty copy of some of Churchill's most-memorable quotes:
Early in World War II when French generals advised their prime minister that in three weeks England "will have her neck wrung like a chicken," Churchill answered: "Some chicken; some neck." What remains of the Free World that Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt fought to preserve can only hope those once-valiant British allies will not replace the Union Jack with a white towel. That entire linen supply is needed these days to pass out among the Democrats and the fearful Republicans to wave in Congress. Some roost of no-neck chickens. John L. Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is a regular columnist for NewsMax.com. Read John Perry's columns here.
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