Two official reports into Iran's capture of a Royal Navy boarding party last night blamed no one individual for the "national embarrassment" but instead suggested that a combination of small mistakes led to the 13-day drama in the Persian Gulf.
The main outcome of the inquiries was that the temporary ban on serving military and civilian personnel selling their stories to the media in light of the seizure had now become permanent, Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, told MPs yesterday.
Lieutenant General Sir Rob Fulton, a former Commandant of the Royal Marines, investigating the operational side of the incident, concluded there was no case for disciplinary action against any of the individuals concerned.
Rather, he blamed the "coming together of a series of vulnerabilities, many relatively small when viewed in isolation", which had left the 15 sailors and Royal Marines exposed when their inflatable boarding craft was surrounded by Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats in the Gulf on March 23.
However, he also found that many of those involved could have done more to have prevented the incident. He identified a series of "shortcomings" and called for improvements in intelligence handling, communications, doctrine and training.
The "central lesson" was that British forces must improve their ability to assess the risks posed by the "complex environment" of the Gulf and train troops accordingly. His recommendation that only specialist teams be used for boarding had already been acted on, Mr Browne told MPs.
The Royal Navy boarding party from the frigate HMS Cornwall was seized after carrying out a routine boarding in the Gulf off Iraq as part of the coalition naval operation.
Later, some of the group were shown on Iranian television apologising for straying into Iranian territorial waters - something the government denies happened - and then effusively thanking President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad following their release.
In Britain, there was an outcry after some were allowed to sell their stories.
One of the sailors, Arthur Batchelor, 20, was widely ridiculed after he admitted that he had cried himself to sleep after the Iranians took away his i-Pod and called him Mr Bean.
While no-one faced disciplinary action, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, the head of the Royal Navy, said some personnel could still face "appropriate administrative action" as a result of Gen Fulton's findings.
"People who need to be given any messages will be given the message," he said.
Gen Fulton's report will not be made public because it contains classified information that could put British forces' lives at risk.
A separate critical report into the media handling of the Gulf incident by Tony Hall, a former BBC director of news, also concluded no one person was to blame.
He argued that there had been a "collective failure of judgment or an abstention of judgment" within the Ministry of Defence and noted: "Many people were consulted or involved but very few took a clear view and nobody clearly took control of the issue. Many people could have said no and nobody did." He went on: "The acceptance of payment from the media offended the public and their view of the special place of the Armed Forces in British life.
"It also ran contrary to what the Armed Forces believe that they stand for. That the decision to accept payment caused such anger and concern was entirely understandable."
Mr Hall's report called for the MoD press office to be strengthened and for steps to be taken to improve relations with the media.
In the Commons, Mr Browne said he would accept the reports' recommendations, the great majority of which would be implemented by the end of the year.
He has already apologised for not blocking the sales of the service personnel's story.
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