I've just watched the news conference given by the returned sailors and I'm riled to say the least. Not from what the sailors said but from the reaction of some idiots on forums and some newspaper columnists in the papers today. I think people have been watching too many Hollywood war movies. I'd like to see how they'd fare if they were captured, kept in solitary confinement and told they might spend 7 years in an Iranian prison.

It's clear now that their appearances on TV in Iran was heavily manipulated and edited. In my view, and the view of of people like John Nicol who have actually been captured and tortured, they did exactly what they should have done. Even the SAS will tell you that the Name, Rank, Number line that you're supposed to take is useless when you're in the hands of people who don't consider themselves bound by the Geneva Convention. They didn't give out any intelligence or operational information, and they're supposed apologies were edited and taken out of context by the Iranian propaganda machine. No they weren't tortured, but those who have been through torture say that the psychological pressure can be just as bad as physical torture.

I hope those sad little columnists in the papers, who have never served a single day in the armed forces, are thoroughly ashamed of themselves.