The difference is: the good colonel is speaking from the point of view of someone who is at war with Iran, (as to all intents and purposes, every regular viewer of US Fox News is). The young servicemen who found themselves looking down the barrels of the Revolutionary Guards' guns don't - (or didn't) - consider themselves at war with Iran.
I find myself hoping that the senior officers who put the 15 into the impossible position they found themselves in suffer very close scrutiny of their actions. And I don't mean just the ship's captain - I mean way above that, right up to those wearing suits rather than uniforms.
I also find myself wondering what some of the enlisted men, particularly the Royal Marines, will be saying to their debriefing officers about their reactions to the order to lay down their arms.