TIME magazine was reporting this story of an incident that happened way back in Sept. 2006 wherein a joint US/Iraqi patrol came upon 2 Iranians on the Iraqi side of the border. Shortly thereafter, they came upon a third - apparently an officer. The officer told them that they would be fired upon if they tried to leave. A platoon of armed Iranians then surrounded the American humvees. The US troops from the 73rd Cavalry, thinking they would be captured, then started shooting killing at least 1 of the Iranians before withdrawing further to the Iraqi side. However, 4 of the Iraqis including an interpreter were captured.
This incident is only talked about in hush hush terms in light of the 15 British sailors captured and then released by Iran.
Here is the link: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1605487,00.html
Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It's the courage to continue that counts.