How the world is watching in disgust

By DAVID GARDNER

Last updated at 00:11 13 April 2007


Britain's international reputation continues to be dragged down by the Iran hostages fiasco, as this selection of media comment shows

UNITED STATES

'The saga of the 15 naval personnel has become a parable for modern Britain ... the heady cocktail of money and TV has placed the ex-captives' exploits in the same league as the Big Brother show.' - New York Times

On British captives shaking hands with the smiling Iranian president: 'Why did it remind me of Princess Diana's funeral? It seemed that Brits, once a tough-minded nation marked by self-control, had been transformed into touchy-feely devotees of a loose and selfforgiving emotionalism.' - Chicago Tribune.

After the hostages' press conference in London: 'As those self-righteous officers offered excuse after excuse, the ghosts of those who died rather than collaborate stood between them and that backdrop Union Jack.' - New York Post.

'When will Tony Blair learn that, in international relations, nice guys finish last? Blair's timid response to his soldiers' abduction shows how weak-willed the once-imperial power has become.' - Los Angeles Times.

'On any given day, one isn't likely to find common cause with Iranian President Ahmadinejad. He's a dangerous, lying, Holocaust-denying, Jew-hating cutthroat thug, not to put too fine a point on it. But he was dead-on when he wondered why a once-great power such as Britain sends mothers of toddlers to fight its battles. - Washington Post

FRANCE

'What has become of the greatness in Great Britain? The Iran hostages affair has humiliated the country and exposed its marginalisation on the international scene. - Le Temps.

GERMANY

'The British Navy might once have ruled the waves but following the spat with Iran over the capture and release of 15 personnel, the Ministry of Defence looks set to be remembered for waiving the rules. - Der Spiegel.

'Naturally, the 15 should have been allowed to speak, to tell of their experiences, but under no circumstances for money.' - Die Welt.

AUSTRALIA

'Britain's Royal Navy is knee-deep in bilge water. With the approval of the Defence Secretary, its top brass have made a hash of an encounter with chequebook journalism. Nothing can justify the setting of so troubling, so tacky, a precedent.' - Sydney Morning Herald.

ITALY

'The Ministry of Defence has had its blackest day throughout the crisis through the row over the servicemen selling their stories.

And then Britain had been forced to digest the sight of the servicemen playing ping pong and cooking at a stove.' - Corriere della Sera

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