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Man charged over SAS soldier kidnap
Captain Robert Nairac who disappeared in 1977 in South Armagh	A man has been charged with kidnapping and falsely imprisoning British soldier Robert Nairac 30 years ago in Northern Ireland. The 57-year-old suspect will appear in court on Thursday in connection with the 1977 disappearance of the undercover Army officer in south Armagh.He will appear at Newry Magistrates' Court after being charged by detectives.Kevin Crilly was arrested on Tuesday at an address in the village of Jonesborough, South Armagh. Captain Nairac, 29, was captured by the IRA, interrogated and shot. His body was never recovered. Six men were convicted for their part in the killing, three for murder.
Commander: Al-Qaida in Iraq is at its weakest Wednesday, May 21, 2008 7:41:54 PM By ROBERT BURNS The al-Qaida terror group in Iraq appears to be at its weakest state since it gained an initial foothold in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion five years ago, the acting commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Wednesday in an Associated Press interview. Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who assumed interim command of U.S. Central Command on March 28, acknowledged that al-Qaida remains a relentless foe and has not disappeared as a serious threat to stability. But he said an accelerated U.S. and Iraq campaign to pressure al-Qaida has paid big dividends. "Our forces and the Iraqi forces have certainly disrupted al-Qaida, probably to a level that we haven't seen at any time in my experience," said Dempsey, who served in Iraq in the initial stages as a division commander and later as head of the military organization in charge of training Iraqi security forces. "They can regenerate, and do from time to time," he added in the interview in his office at Central Command headquarters. Dempsey was in Iraq last week on a journey that also took him to Lebanon, where he consulted with the government and military commanders on their approach to dealing with Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters. In separate remarks at a military conference just a few miles from Dempsey's headquarters in Tampa, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Islamic extremist movements like al-Qaida have been "built on an illusion of success" yet in some ways pose a more daunting challenge today than on Sept. 11, 2001. Gates described these extremist groups as more diffuse and less reliant on a single figure like Osama bin Laden. "It has become an independent force of its own, capable of animating a corps of devoted followers without direct contact," Gates told an international conference sponsored by U.S. Special Operations Command. He said this adversary is now "capable of inspiring violence without direct orders." Dempsey, who was the Central Command deputy until Adm. William Fallon abruptly resigned amid reports that his views on Iran differed with those of the White House, is expected to remain as the acting commander until Gen. David Petraeus shifts from his post as top commander in Iraq, probably in September. Petraeus's Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday. Earlier Wednesday, the Army general who oversees U.S. commando operations in the Middle East said that al-Qaida in Iraq has yet to be vanquished but is increasingly running out of places where local Iraqis will accommodate the group's extremist ideology. "Is he still a lethal and dangerous threat to us? Absolutely," Maj. Gen. John Mulholland said in an interview with reporters at the headquarters of U.S. Special Operations Command, the organization with global responsibility for providing Army Green Berets, Navy SEALs and other commandos to combat terrorism. Of the approximately 155,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 5,000 are special operations forces, who not only hunt and attack terrorist targets but also help train Iraqi security forces and work with local Iraqi governments. Mulholland acknowledged that al-Qaida, which U.S. intelligence says is led by foreign terrorists but is populated mainly by local Iraqis seeking to establish a radical Islamic state, still poses a major challenge in the Mosul area of northern Iraq and has occasionally slipped back into areas like Anbar province in western Iraq. "Do we think he can at least try to regain a foothold in Anbar province? Yes, we do think he's trying to do that," Mulholland said. While U.S. officials do not believe al-Qaida is succeeding in re-establishing a significant presence in Anbar -- which the group was forced to abandon a year ago as local Sunni Arabs turned violently against it -- it does appear that small al-Qaida cells can still slip into isolated areas and make trouble, he said. "I don't want to paint a picture -- or to convey to you in any way -- that al-Qaida in Iraq is being completely destroyed or rendered irrelevant, because that's not the case," he said. "They are still potentially a threat capable of death and destruction against the Iraqi people and our own forces there. But it is not something he can do easily any more." Separately, Adm. Eric Olson, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, told a group of reporters that "the nature of the threat" posed by Iran's support for anti-U.S. forces in Iraq is unclear. He made the remark in response to a question about the ability of U.S. special operations forces to meet the Iranian challenge. "It's clear that there is some lethal aid originating from across the Iranian border," Olson said. "We can't say what the origin or the source of that is. So we are uncertain about our overall ability because we are uncertain of the nature of the threat. But I would say in general that special operations forces are well prepared and well equipped to meet the nation's expectations in that regard."
Forces discrimination to be offence and about bloody time too. Ed.   Discrimination against Armed Forces personnel in military uniform is to be made a criminal offence under proposals accepted by the Government. A new law was one of 40 recommendations of a study ordered by Prime Minister Gordon Brown into ways to improve relations between the public and the military.It follows a number of high-profile incidents of apparent discrimination, including an army officer in service dress being refused entry to the Harrods store in London.MP Quentin Davies, who carried out the study, called for "legislation making discrimination directed at those wearing military uniforms by purveyors of public or commercial services an offence". He also said assaults or threats of violence against anyone in uniform should be considered an aggravated offence. Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said the Government was now engaged in discussions about how such a law could be introduced.He said: "We've all heard of the instances of military people being discriminated against. I do not believe that they are widespread, but I do believe they are totally and utterly unacceptable. "He said they were no different to other forms of discrimination and needed to be outlawed. Mr Davies confirmed: "The Government have accepted that recommendation and we will get that protection. "Other incidents of discrimination highlighted by the report included troops at Birmingham and Edinburgh Airports being told to change into civilian clothes or avoid public areas, injured veterans being abused by members of the public at a swimming pool, and intimidation and abuse levelled at RAF personnel in parts of Peterborough.The latter incident was highlighted after personnel there were told not to wear their uniform in public to avoid further incidents. Mr Davies' report also recommended that troops should be encouraged to wear military dress on all appropriate occasions in public. Mr Ainsworth confirmed the Government was considering marking a new national day of celebration of the Armed Forces by making it a public holiday. Among the report's other recommendations were an increase in the number of young people, especially at state schools, joining cadet forces and more onus on local councils to ensure local units returning from the frontline are given home-coming parades.
Navy releases McCain's military record By JIM KUHNHENN Associated Press May 8, 2008 WASHINGTON (AP) -- From his five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp to his tenure as the Navy's liaison to the Senate, John McCain's Navy record boils down to a series of unadorned paragraphs that bestow upon him some of the nation's top military honors.The Navy recently released McCain's military record -- most of it citations for medals during his Navy career -- after a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press. McCain was awarded a Silver Star Medal for resisting ''extreme mental and physical cruelties'' inflicted upon him by his captors from late October to early December 1967, the early months of his captivity, according to the citation. The North Vietnamese, according to the Navy, ignored international agreements and tortured McCain ''in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes.' 'McCain, now the Republican Party's likely presidential nominee, was taken prisoner in October 1967 after he was shot down while on a mission over Hanoi. He wasn't freed until March 1973, after the United States signed peace agreements with the North Vietnamese. His captors tortured him and held him in solitary confinement. Still, he declined an offer of early release until those who had been at the prison longer than him were let go.That decision earned McCain a Navy Commendation Medal. Although McCain was ''crippled from serious and ill-treated injuries,'' he steadfastly refused offers of freedom from those holding him prisoner. ''His selfless action served as an example to others and his forthright refusal, by giving emphasis to the insidious nature of such releases, may have prevented a possibly chaotic deterioration in prisoner discipline,'' the citation says.McCain attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1954 to 1958, and was commissioned as an ensign in June of that year. He retired in April 1981 with the rank of captain. In that time he received 17 awards and decorations. Besides the Silver Star Medal, McCain also received the Legion of Merit with a combat ''V'' and one gold star, a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Art Medal with a combat ''V'' and two gold stars.Several citations mention his achievements either as a prisoner or as a lieutenant commander flying bombing runs off the deck of the USS Oriskany. Some are signed by then-Secretary of the Navy John Warner, who would become a colleague of McCain's in the Senate.The citations refer to his ''accurate ordnance delivery'' and his ''aggressive and skillful airmanship.'' He earned his Bronze Star the day before he was shot down, for participating in a mission over an airfield in Phuc Yen, 11 miles north of Hanoi. The citation for his Distinguished Flying Cross sums up McCain's misfortune the following day:''Although his aircraft was severely damaged, he continued his bomb delivery pass and released his bombs on the target. When the aircraft would not recover from the dive, Commander McCain was forced to eject over the target.''Years later, as his Navy career approached its end, McCain received the Legion of Merit Medal. By then, his missions were in the halls of Congress as a liaison to the Senate from the Navy's Office of Legislative Affairs.He was praised for providing Navy leaders ''with sage advice and sound judgment for enacting critical legislation during a period of severe fiscal constraint.''The following year, he ran for Congress from Arizona, and won.
US troops to help 'deluded' British in southern Iraq American troops will be deployed to southern Iraq this summer with orders to adopt a more robust approach than the "self-delusional" British. A senior US officer has told the Telegraph that Iraqi troops had not been ready to assume responsibility for Basra when British forces withdrew late last year. He also said that US commanders in Iraq believe the Shia south is ready to copy the developments that transformed the western province of Anbar from being the main hotbed of insurgency into one of Iraq's most peaceful regions. To foster this change, US troops are moving south for the first time since the 2003 war. "There's going to be a whole new approach when we send troops down there," said the US officer. "We won't take the self-delusional route of convincing ourselves that the Iraqis are ready to fight but then standing back while they fall apart. "They're not ready and we have to be more proactive. There's too much at stake." Britain has been in charge of four provinces in southern Iraq since Saddam Hussein's downfall. While the divisional command will continue to operate under British leadership at Basra airbase, the orders of the US units will be to "get out front" and resume patrols and combat missions. US hopes of making the whole of Iraq secure before its eventual withdrawal have been raised by what commanders see as a potential southern version of the Sahwa, or tribal awakening, which turned locals against al-Qa'eda. Troops have been shifted from Anbar province to the Tallil airbase, Nasiriya, to assume responsibility from 550 Australian troops pulling out of the country. According to the US assessment, the Australians followed the mistakes of the British by pulling back to "overwatch" local forces but then neglecting the security challenges in the area. The US officer said its allies had adopted a "University of Arizona" attitude - American slang for being rigid and unimaginative. "There's dirty work to be done and we've got to go forward to it," he said.
Vietnam Vet Back to the Fight at 55 May 02, 2008 Atlanta Journal Constitution Redstone Arsenal, Ala. - The sun has just cleared the northern Alabama mountains, but nothing shines brighter than Army Spc. Tom Owens' smile as he joshes with the fellow Soldiers he calls his grandkids. "C'mon, show that big-man move," the 6-foot-3-inch Owens taunts a reluctant Spc. Jericar Martinez, as the smaller man tries to put him in a headlock. "He can't. He's got to worry about your osteoporosis, " teases Spc. Brandon Crabtree. Staff Sgt. Michael Cookson, the highest-ranking man waiting with the others to return their training gear, joins the mocking -- "Yeah, Owens, it's all fun and games 'til you break a hip," -- then turns serious to explain to a visitor. "I tell him, 'You're 55 years old. You've got nothing to prove,' " Cookson says. Owens, a Doraville landscaper who has become one of the oldest recruits in the history of the Army, sees it differently. Last December, the decorated Vietnam veteran who spent 14 years in the Army and Army National Guard re-enlisted -- 15 years after he ostensibly left military service for good. He recently completed training to be an ammo specialist and expects to be sent to either Iraq or Afghanistan. Owens may be the only member of his company who wears bifocals. His long johns, issued by the Army during his stint in Vietnam, are probably older than anyone in his unit. But Owens re-upped, he says, because he has been a Soldier since his days serving in the demilitarized zone in Vietnam. "I learned values in the Army, how to conduct myself and stand up for what's right," Owens said. "I could be home, getting fat and drinking a beer, or I could step up and show these Soldiers today how much I appreciate what they're doing." Owens' love of being a Soldier has never waned. It started after a high school guidance counselor said he wouldn't be fit for college. Owens, a Chamblee native, had suffered a head injury when he was 12 and was in a coma for months. The counselor said he would never catch up. In 1969, when he was in 10th grade, Owens took his GED and enlisted. He was 17. He spent a year as an infantryman in Vietnam, enduring daily rocket and sniper attacks. Of about 100 men in his unit, 29 didn't survive. For his service in Vietnam, Owens was awarded two Bronze Stars. The Army released him in 1972, a year early as part of a reduction in force. Owens returned to DeKalb County and went to college after all, earning a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Georgia State in 1975. He thought he wanted to be a cop, then held a handful of jobs before realizing he missed being a Soldier. He joined the Army National Guard in 1981, working as a unit administrator until he went back to active duty in 1987. In 1992, he was discharged as a sergeant as part of another reduction in force. "I didn't want to go. It was involuntary, " Owens said. Owens returned to DeKalb, setting up his own landscaping business in Doraville and continuing a strict fitness routine. For more than 15 years, he has run for 90 minutes virtually every morning, lifted weights for an hour, then headed to a nearby McDonald's for coffee. "I don't drink Starbucks coffee or watch reality TV," Owens said. "I'm just a regular guy who drinks coffee at McDonald's. I want to be with regular people." And, he wants to be as close as possible to "regular Soldiers." He tried to re-up after Sept. 11, but was told he was too old. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have strained the Army's ranks, so officials raised the enlistment age. The limit has been just under 42 since 2006. Re-enlisting Soldiers get credit for time served. The Army takes a recruit's age and subtracts the previous service. At 55, with 14 years' prior service, Owens just makes the threshold at 41. The Army has hit its annual recruiting goal of 80,000 since raising the age limit, though records show few new Soldiers are in the older age range. In the fiscal year that ended in November, only 378 recruits were 40 or older. "Older recruits were needlessly being denied an opportunity, " said Douglas Smith, spokesman for the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox. "If you're fit to be a Soldier, there is nothing age-related that affects your ability." When Owens found out the Army had increased the age limit, he immediately went to a recruiter. He spent the next year shedding 20 pounds, down to his current 230 pounds, and began slowly selling off his business. He took a pay cut and demotion to specialist to rejoin the Army. He gets a $15,000 signing bonus as a returning Soldier and can re-earn his sergeant's stripes over his six-year stint. He reported to Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Ala., in January. The requirement for his age included doing 29 sit-ups and 24 pushups and running two miles in 19 minutes and 30 seconds. Owens did 55 sit ups and 50 pushups -- exceeding the minimums for younger Soldiers -- and ran the course in 16 minutes and 55 seconds -- just 19 seconds over the younger Soldiers' minimums. "You'll see 18, 19-year-olds who can't do that," said Sgt. Samuel Sykes, a Soldier from Conyers who briefly stepped in as Owens' platoon leader. "We call him Old Head, but his attitude is straight-up, " Last week the man known as Old Head to some and Grandpa to most graduated from training. Like the men half his age, Owens is expected to be deployed into combat later this year. If he is sent to Iraq, he will serve under the command of Gen. David Petraeus, who is six months younger than Owens. Never married and without kids, Owens has made the Army his family. He stays in touch with the 75-year-old sergeant major who commanded his unit in Vietnam. The sergeant major drove 12 hours straight from Florida to see Owens graduate. A dozen Vietnam veterans from Atlanta also drove out for the ceremony. Owens was proud to represent the older Soldiers, he said, and thrilled to again be in uniform. "They say, either be a leader, a follower or get out of the way. Well, I'm a follower. I will follow and do my duty," Owens said. Back in line, the younger Soldiers continue teasing Owens. "It's not your Granddaddy's Army. You better learn technology," says Staff Sgt. Cookson, 31. "Forget cellphones. Did they even have Kevlar when you were first in," asks the 23-year-old Crabtree. Owens loves to play along. He tells them, "I was in the Army when Moses was a corporal." Even as he says it, Owens can't stop beaming."
Hollywood Good Guys Of The Day   What good it does my spirit to announce that one of todayís Hollywood good guys also happens to be my favorite actor still working ‚ Sir Michael Caine: Veteran movie star Sir Michael Caine is to donate posters from the iconic film Zulu in aid of an armed forces fund-raising campaign.Sir Michael is among a host of stars to show their support for the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) Big Salute, the new annual forces fundraiser on BFBS Radio and TV worldwide.Actor Ewan McGregor, singer James Blunt, comedian Al Murray, and reality TV stars the Osbournes are among those backing the scheme.The campaign is dedicated to supporting British Forces personnel and those who have served their country and suffered as a result.Can you imagine a world in which The Mighty Michael Caine doesnít appear in movies? Pardon me while I *shudder* This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 7:19 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Produced by: The Liberty Film Festival editor: jason apuzzo
Radical Cleric Fighting Extradition Last Updated: Monday, 12 May 2008, 15:48 GMT - Search: Abu Hamza extradition Abu Hamza has launched a High Court battle against extradition The radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza has launched a High Court battle against extradition to the US to face terror charges. He is wanted in the US for allegedly trying to set up an al Qaida training camp in Oregon.But his lawyers are arguing at London's High Court that extradition should be blocked because evidence gained by torture was being used against him.They also contend that it would be "unjust and oppressive" to extradite because of the passage of time and it would be incompatible with his human rights. The case before Sir Igor Judge and Mr Justice Sullivan is expected to last four days. Abu Hamza al-Masri faces a total of 11 charges, including sending money and recruits to assist the Taliban and al Qaida. He is taking part in the legal challenge via a video link from Belmarsh top security prison in south-east London.London's City of Westminster Magistrates Court ruled that he could be extradited, and in February this year Home Secretary Jacqui Smith gave the final approval.Egyptian-born Hamza, 49, from west London, who is fitted with hooks on both partially-amputated arms, is currently serving a seven-year jail term for inciting followers to murder non-believers. The July 7 London bombers were inspired by his sermons and the would-be bombers of July 21 were regular worshippers at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London where he was formerly the imam. In 2003 he was dismissed from his position after making speeches supporting al Qaida and speaking out against the invasion of Iraq.Listed at the High Court in London under his real name, Mostafa Kamel Mostafa, he was the first person to be arrested under the streamlined Anglo-American extradition treaty when police raided his home in May 2004.
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