Here is a link to the BBC reports and video of the second soldier:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6509813.stm
I see these unfortunate soldiers in the pictures and video and they do not appear to be coerced or beaten as has been suggested by posters in Yahoo Answers. There does seem to be problems in translations from Farsi language to English as well as some bad editing on the video.
To me the soldiers look very confused by it all and are hoping this situation will meet with a diplomatic resoloution soon. They do not appear to be abused at all by the Iranians, and the broadcasts are for Iranian television and probably to calm the fears for Iranian citizens.
I think it would be best not to get all inflamed about this. Obviously the reactions intend to whip up anger and fury, which always causes a problem.
So far Iran just wants a promise that this will not happen again and wants a trial. I say let them have thier process and see what happens- then respond accordingly.
We have no enlightened leaders in the world right now- and clearly there is much deception from all world leaders- so to take such a hateful angry stance on this issue- I think is very irresponsible. Iran is not a threat unless they ally with a nuclear enemy. If they wanted to engage they would do far more that holding a few hostages. They are trying to provoke an agressive response- that we should not fall for. It is difficult to believe anyone these days- but I do know by their eyes that the soldiers are not afraid. They do not agree with what they are being asked to say. That much is obvious, but they are not in any danger if we respond properly.
It is England’s fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time- As if we didn’t expect them to do something like this- given history. Oh, and we have broken the geneva convention and many treaties as well. No one can point a finger at anyone right now. We should just fix our own country and stay out of matters not of our making!
Just so that everybody knows- I am not some bleeding heart liberal hippie. I am a realist. We are not wanted in the middle east. Truthfully we shouldn’t even be there- and this is their waying of saying just that.
I wonder how kind we would be to Iranian soldiers in Gitmo?
Should they have just fired a shot and turned them around? Yes, that would be the action I would take. But serving in the middle east right now means this is a possibility for any soldier so the fact that this happened is not the fault of the Iranians- it is OUR responsibility to protect our soldiers- especially when we know what the Iranians are capable of.
That’s all I am saying.