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Media:
Daily Telegraph (UK)
Byline: Thomas Harding
Date: 31 October 2008
Major Sebastian Morley claims that Whitehall officials
and military commanders repeatedly ignored his warnings that people
would be killed if they continued to allow troops to be transported
in the vulnerable Snatch Land Rovers.
As a result, he says Cpl Sarah Bryant - the first
female soldier to die in Afghanistan - and three male colleagues,
the SAS soldiers, Cpl Sean Reeve, L/Cpl Richard Larkin and Paul
Stout were killed needlessly.
All four died when their lightly armoured Snatch
Land Rover split apart after hitting a landmine in Helmand province
in June.
In his resignation letter, Major Morley, the commander
of D Squadron, 23 SAS, said "chronic underinvestment"
in equipment by the Ministry of Defence was to blame for their deaths.
The Old Etonian officer, a cousin to the late
Diana, Princess of Wales, is understood to have described the MoD's
failure to buy better equipment as "cavalier at best criminal
at worst". The resignation of Major Morley, the grandson of
the newspaper tycoon Lord Beaverbrook, follows those of Col Stuart
Tootal, Brig Ed Butler and a commanding officer of 22 SAS.
"We highlighted this issue saying people
are going to die and now they have died," said a soldier who
served with Major Morley. "Our commanding officer and RSM (Regimental
Sergeant Major) tried everything in their power to stop us using
Snatch. The point of failure here lies squarely with the MoD.
"The boys nicknamed Snatch the mobile coffin."
The resignation of Major Morley will reignite the debate on the
standard of equipment for troops, with many front line soldiers
believing that their lives are being put at risk.
In recent weeks the MoD has been criticised by
coroners who said the right equipment could have saved lives.
The frailties of Snatch Land Rovers have been responsible for 34
British fatalities - or one in eight of the total killed in Iraq
and Afghanistan. They are only now being replaced. The reservists
of 23 SAS were first asked to send a squadron of about 100 men to
Helmand in Afghanistan because the regular soldiers of 22 SAS were
severely stretched in Iraq. Their mission was to supervise elite
elements of the Afghan police. But the men were aghast when they
were told during pre-deployment training that only Snatch Land Rovers
- designed to withstand rioters in Northern Ireland - were available.
Emails were sent to Whitehall planners in the
MoD, but they were told to "get on with it".
"We said this was dangerous and unacceptable,"
an SAS trooper said. "Snatch was highlighted as lethal and
useless for two reasons – the armour does not work as rounds
go through it like butter and it has no cross-country capability,
denying us the element of surprise."
The soldiers also arrived in Afghanistan with
a "desperate shortage" of night vision sights despite
a coroner castigating the MoD over the lack of night-time goggles
blamed for the death of the first British soldier to die in Helmand,
Capt Jim Phillipson.
One in 10 of the SAS soldiers had to go without
night sights despite many operations in the dark. The Special Forces
troops are understood to have resorted to hitching lifts with the
infantry in the bombproof Mastiff vehicles or march to missions.
Politicians and senior officers, were told of
the SAS fears over the lack of equipment but still nothing was done,
officers allege. When the SAS squadron learnt of the deaths of Cpl
Bryant and her three colleagues on June 17 there was immense anger.
"We thought we could muddle through and that luck was with
us," one officer said. "It happened because we could not
drive across country."
In a statement the MoD said: "Equipping our
personnel is a clear priority and we are absolutely focused on providing
them with a range of vehicles that will protect them from the ever-shifting
threats posed by
the enemy."
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The Princess Royal met the family of a senior aircraftman who died
in Afghanistan after unveiling a plaque to commemorate those killed
in conflict since the Second World War.
The widow of Senior Aircraftman Gary Thompson, who became the oldest
British serviceman to die in Afghanistan when he was killed in April
aged 51, attended a service at Westminster Abbey with her five teenage
daughters.
The service was attended by Defence Ministers and Chiefs as well as
400 Service personnel who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan with
the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force.
The metal plaque in Westminster Abbey's South Cloister, which the
Princess Royal unveiled before the service, is part of the Armed Forces
Memorial which includes the National Remembrance Arboretum near Lichfield,
opened earlier this year by the Queen.
The Princess Royal said the purpose of the memorial was "to remember
the sacrifice and heroism in defence of freedom of the men and women
who have lost their lives in conflict since the Second World War".
The plaque, designed by artist Tom Phillips, is made of welded steel
and covered with earth gathered from battlefields across the world.
It reads: "Remember the men and women of the Armed and Auxiliary
Forces who lost their lives in times and places of conflict since
the Second World War."
A total of 16,000 men and women have been killed in conflict zones
since 1945.
At the service, Anne and 17-year old Kelly Thompson, the youngest
daughter of SAC Thompson, both gave a reading.
Speaking to the family after the service, the Princess Royal congratulated
Kelly on her reading, saying: "It isn't an easy thing to do.". |
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Syria (Oct. 27) – Families in this Syrian village on Monday buried
loved ones they said died in a U.S. helicopter attack. A U.S. counterterrorism
official said American forces killed the head of a Syrian network
that funneled fighters, weapons and cash into Iraq.
The raid Sunday targeted the home of Abu Ghadiyah, the nickname for
the leader of a key cell of foreign fighters in Iraq, according to
the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
sensitive intelligence.
Raid in SyriaHussein Malla, AP6 photos Syrian villagers shout anti-U.S.
slogans as they gather Monday near the coffins of relatives who they
say died in a U.S. military strike on Sunday. An American counterterrorism
official said Abu Ghadiyah, the nickname for the leader of a key cell
of foreign fighters in Iraq, was killed in the raid.
Also Monday, a villager said U.S. forces grabbed two men and took
them away by helicopter during the cross-border raid.
During the funerals, residents shouted anti-American slogans and carried
banners reading: "Down with Bush and the American enemy."
Syria's foreign minister condemned the raid as "cowboy politics."
The Syrian government said four U.S. military helicopters attacked
a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown, killing
eight people in Sukkariyeh — a village about five miles inside
the Syrian border.
A U.S. military official in Washington confirmed Sunday that special
forces had conducted a raid in Syria that targeted the network of
al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria into Iraq.
"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official
told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because
of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.
The attack is another sign that the United States is aggressively
launching military raids across the borders of Afghanistan and Iraq
to destroy insurgent sanctuaries. In Pakistan, U.S. missile strikes
have killed at least two senior al-Qaida operatives this year and
ramped up the threat to groups suspected of plotting attacks on Western
troops in Afghanistan and terror strikes in the West.
A Sukkariyeh resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity because
he feared for his life, said he saw at least two men taken into custody
by American forces and whisked away by helicopter. Another villager
displayed amateur video footage he took with his mobile phone that
shows four helicopters flying toward them as villagers point to the
skies in alarm.
An Associated Press journalist saw the grainy video Monday.
At the targeted building, about a five-minute drive off the main road,
the floor was bloodstained and white tennis shoes were surrounded
by blood and pieces of human flesh. A tent pitched near the site had
bags of bread, pots and pans and wool blankets.
In Washington, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino refused to confirm,
or even discuss, Sunday's attack. Iran condemned the attack as did
Russia, which has had close ties with Syria since Soviet times.
The raid also put the Baghdad government in an awkward position while
negotiating a security pact with the United States. Iraqi officials
said they hoped the raid would not harm their relations with Syria,
but the government spokesman in Baghdad noted that it happened in
an area known as a terrorist haven.
"We are trying to contain the fallout from the incident,"
Iraqi Foreign Ministry undersecretary Labid Abbawi said. "It
is regrettable and we are sorry it happened."
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, however, said the area where
the raid occurred "is a theater of military operations where
anti-Iraq terrorist activity takes place."
Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, described the raid as
"cowboy politics." He spoke to reporters in London and warned
that if there was a repeat attack on Syria, "we would defend
our territories."
The Syrian government statement said eight people were killed, including
a man and his four children and a woman. However, local officials
said seven men were killed and two other people were wounded, including
a woman among the injured.
An Associated Press journalist at the funerals in the village cemetery
saw the bodies of seven men — none of them children. The discrepancy
could not immediately be explained.
Sunday's attack came at a time when Syria appears to be making some
amends with the United States. Though Syria has long been viewed by
the U.S. as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, Damascus has
been trying in recent months to change its image and end years of
global seclusion.
The raid came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western
Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian
border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters
entering Iraq.
In Sukkariyeh, villager Jumaa Ahmad al-Hamad told the AP he was walking
Sunday when he saw four helicopters, two of which landed.
"Shooting then started ringing for more than 10 minutes,"
al-Hamad said Monday. After the helicopters stopped firing and left
the area, he and other villagers went to the site and discovered the
bodies of his uncle, Dawoud al-Hamad, and four of his uncle's sons,
who he said were killed.
At the one-story family house of the deceased Dawoud al-Hamad and
his sons, about 30 women dressed in black wept in a courtyard. They
all dismissed allegations that the dead men had links to al-Qaida.
"They were innocent laborers who worked from dusk to dawn,"
said Abdullah's wife, Rima, while sitting on the floor. She said work
at the construction site started last week.
Asked about U.S. reports that an al-Qaida-linked group used the site,
Siham, the widow of one of Dawoud al-Hamad's sons, Ibrahim, said:
"I don't know about any of that."
"All I know is that they went to work and never came back,"
said the mother of seven children, the youngest of whom is an 8-month-old
girl.
Some Iraqi officials warned that the U.S. military raid into Syria
could be used by opponents of the security pact under negotiation
with the United States.
"Now neighboring countries have a good reason to be concerned
about the continued U.S. presence in Iraq," Kurdish politician
Mahmoud Othman told the AP.
Abbawi said he did not believe the Syrian raid would affect the security
negotiations but acknowledged that "some will use the incident
for the argument against the agreement."
Sunday's attack comes as the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq has
been declining. A senior U.S. military intelligence official told
the AP in July that it had been cut to an estimated 20 a month. That's
a 50 percent decline from six months ago, and just a fifth of the
estimated 100 foreign fighters who were infiltrating Iraq a year ago,
according to the official.
The area targeted Sunday is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which
had been a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming
into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency.
Ninety percent of the foreign fighters enter through Syria, according
to U.S. intelligence. Foreigners are some of the most deadly fighters
in Iraq, trained in bomb-making and with small-arms expertise and
more likely to be willing suicide bombers than Iraqis. |
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United States military helicopters bombed targets in a Syrian border
town near Iraq on Sunday after Global Jihad operatives allegedly crossed
the border into Syria, killing at least eight people.
The raid, which a US military official in Washington confirmed, indicated
the desert frontier between the two countries remains a key battleground
5 1/2 years into the Iraq war. The US official said the attack targeted
elements of a robust foreign fighter logistics network and that due
to Syrian inaction the US was now "taking matters into our own
hands."
Israeli defense officials said the incident was not connected to Israel
and that the American troops had been chasing Global Jihad suspects
in Iraq. The helicopters then crossed into Syria in pursuit of the
terrorists.
According to Syria's state-run television, US military helicopters
attacked an area near the Syrian border town of Abu Kamal and that
there were casualties. It gave no other details on Sunday's attack.
The US military official said the special forces raid targeted elements
of a network that sends fighters from North Africa and elsewhere in
the Middle East to Syria, where elements of the Syrian military are
in league with al-Qaida and other fighters. He spoke on condition
of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border
raids.
While US forces have had considerable success in shutting down the
"rat lines" in Iraq with help from Iraq and governments
in North Africa, the Syrian part of the network has been out of reach,
he said.
"The one piece of the puzzle we have not been showing success
on is the nexus in Syria," the official said. "We are taking
matters into our own hands."
Local residents told The Associated Press by telephone that two helicopters
carrying US soldiers raided Hwijeh village, 17 kilometers inside Syria's
border, killing seven people and wounding five others. Reuters quoted
residents who said that the attack targeted a house in the area in
which a man and his four sons and two nearby workers were killed.
Another report said that four helicopters were involved in the operation
and that two of the helicopters landed and soldiers disembarked.
On Sunday night, Syria condemned the US military strike, and said
it holds the US responsible for the incident.
Syria claimed the eight casualties were construction workers, who
were building at a private construction site, Israel Radio reported.
According to the report, a senior Syrian official told the national
Syrian television network that Syria demands that the Iraqi government
investigate the violation of Syrian sovereignty and prevent further
attacks on Syria from Iraqi territory.
Following the attack, the Syrian Foreign Ministry summoned the stand-in
US ambassador in Syria and Iraqi officials in Damascus in order to
formally express objection to the attack carried out on Syrian territory.
On Thursday, the commander of US forces in western Iraq said in a
briefing with reporters that American troops were redoubling efforts
to secure the Syrian border, from where some fighters were continuing
to enter Iraq.
Maj. Gen. John Kelly said in last week's briefing that Iraq's western
borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result
of good policing by security forces in those countries but that Syria
was a "different story."
"The Syrian side is, I guess, uncontrolled by their side,"
Kelly said. "We still have a certain level of foreign fighter
movement."
He added that the US was helping construct a sand berm and ditches
along the border.
"There hasn't been much, in the way of a physical barrier, along
that border for years," Kelly said.
On September 6, 2007 the Israeli Air Force bombed and destroyed a
nuclear reactor Syria was building in the northeast along the Euphrates
River.
The area bombed Sunday is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which
had been a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming
into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency.
Iraqi insurgents seized Qaim in April 2005, forcing US Marines to
recapture the town the following month in heavy fighting. The area
became secure only after Sunni tribes in Anbar turned against al-Qaida
in late 2006 and joined forces with the Americans.
A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted
the foreign fighter network that travels through Syria into Iraq.
The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area
because Syria was out of the military’s reach.
‘’We are taking matters into our own hands,’’
the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because
of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.
The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western
Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian
border, which he called an ‘’uncontrolled’’ gateway
for fighters entering Iraq.”. |
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By:
Master Sgt. Bob Haskell
National Guard Bureau
KINGSTON, R.I.
Capt. Roy Hatch, who is closing in on 60 years old, is a member of
the United Kingdom’s Territorial Army who still believes that
airborne soldiers are something special.
Their brotherhood transcends boundaries, he reflected, because they
have all dared to do something dangerous that a lot of people have
heard about but that considerably fewer have actually done. They have
jumped out of aircraft and trusted their lives to a few pounds of
silk that has billowed open above them.
“We have all stood in the door and have overcome our fears. We
have all become brothers,” said Hatch, of the 144 Parachute Medical
Squadron, after completing his first jump of the day on, Aug. 9, 2008,
a pristine Saturday with lots of sunshine and little wind, during
the National Guard’s international military parachute competition
called Leapfest. The Territorial Army is the U.K.’s equivalent
to the Army National Guard.
“We’ve done something that most people never do,” added
Hatch.
That was the tie that bound 306 paratroopers from the United States,
the U.K., and nine other countries during the 26th Leapfest hosted
by the Rhode Island National Guard. It is the largest and longest
continually running international parachute competition in this country.
This year’s cast included four man parachute teams, plus alternates,
from Canada and four European nations, including Serbia, and from
Nicaragua and four other Latin American countries.
There were also 24 Army National Guard teams from 13 states and 21
teams from the active Army. There were frequently enough parachutes
in the air to give the impression that Rhode Island was being invaded.
An active Army team from Fort Campbell, Ky., won the championship.
The four paratroopers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company,
1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, became
the first active Army team to capture the Leapfest crown since 1999.
Team members were Sergeants 1st Class Alfredo Cardenas, Jody Johnston
and Anthony Hebel and Staff Sgt. Brian Evans. Five international teams,
an Alaska Army Guard team and a Navy and Air Force team have won the
last eight championships.
Yes, many languages were spoken during the Leapfest events on large,
flat fields of sod beside the University of Rhode Island. But Leapfest
again reinforced the idea that, at the end of the day, airborne is
the same in any language.
“Every jump is still an adrenaline rush,” said German Army
Master Sgt. Andre Wetter who, he added, has stepped from aircraft
into the thin air nearly 600 times and who is a freefall instructor
near Hamburg.
“To be a little bit nervous before you jump, that is good,”
Wetter added. “You don’t make mistakes.”
“It is still frightening,” said the U.K.’s Hatch. “You
have to be doubly sure you know what to do.”
Why does airborne continue to be one of the most common forms of advanced
infantry training during a time when so few soldiers actually parachute
into combat?
Col. Charles Petrarca, commander of the Rhode Island Army Guard’s
56th Troop Command, believes the answer has to do with a willingness
to face down fear.
“Airborne soldiers have already overcome their fear of death.
That makes them better soldiers in combat theaters,” said Petrarca
who went through jump school at Fort Benning, Ga., in January 2007
when he was 47.
“There are 265 Rhode Island airborne troops in this troop command.
I felt I should go to airborne school if those Soldiers were in my
command,” he explained.
“The way the world is today, free nations need to band together.
These events help band them together,” Petrarca told the Leapfest
participants during the opening ceremonies. Then he and Command Sgt.
Maj. Joe Klostermann, the troop command’s enlisted leader, jumped
with other members of the staff to kick off the ceremonies.
The competition was pretty basic. The four member teams, mostly men,
jumped from the rear ramps of CH-47 Chinook helicopters at 1,500 feet
onto a smooth sod field featuring a large orange X. Team members steered
themselves as close to the X as they could, executed a parachute landing
fall, and then dragged their parachutes to the X as quickly as possible.
The team with the lowest combined time for three jumps won. Individual
awards were also presented.
But there is much more to Leapfest than prizes for the lowest times.
It is a celebration of the camaraderie that exists among those who
embrace and practice this military discipline. They believe there
is still a place for airborne soldiers.
“I love the opportunity to interact with other forces from other
countries, and I am interested in the procedures practiced by the
U.S. military members, especially the jumpmasters,” said Capt.
Silvio Antonio Reyes of the Nicaraguan Army’s Special Forces.
He was participating in his second Leapfest.
“The value of airborne training is to be ready,” added Reyes
who is also an army scuba instructor. “We can’t wait to
get people trained for combat jumps if they are needed right now.”
“It is the most efficient way to transport troops during a conflict,”
said Ecuadorian Army Capt. Francisco Acosta. “It is easy to drop
them where you want at the right time [weather permitting] and in
the right place.”
Two Soldiers from Fort Campbell, Ky., who were not members of the
championship team, experienced some anxious moments during Leapfest
when their parachutes became tangled after jumping from a helicopter.
Sergeants 1st Class Christopher O’Malley and Kurt Merrell tried
several times to free themselves before deploying their reserve parachutes
and landing safely on a newly-plowed field beside the drop zone.
O’Malley said the incident was his fault because Merrell had
the right of way and that he turned the wrong way into Merrell’s
parachute.
The only injuries, however, were the Soldiers’ wounded pride.
And they were determined to jump again as soon as they could that
day.
“The training came through. Everything worked just like it was
supposed to,” Merrell said. “Still, you don’t pull
your reserve every
day.” |
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A
new $15 million veterinary hospital for four-legged military personnel
opened Tuesday at Lackland Air Force Base, offering a long overdue
facility that gives advanced medical treatment for combat-wounded
dogs.
A $15 million veterinary hospital that just opened up at Lackland
Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. The new facility, complete with
operating rooms and rehab rooms, is designed to treat pooches wounded
in combat.Dogs working for all branches of the military and the Transportation
Safety Administration are trained at the base to find explosive devices,
drugs and land mines. Some 2,500 dogs are working with military units.
Like soldiers and Marines in combat, military dogs suffer from war
wounds and routine health issues that need to be treated to ensure
they can continue working.
Dogs injured in Iraq or Afghanistan get emergency medical treatment
on the battlefield and are flown to Germany for care. If necessary,
they'll fly on to San Antonio for more advanced treatment — much
like wounded human personnel.
"We act as the Walter Reed of the veterinary world," said
Army Col. Bob Vogelsang, hospital director, referring to the Washington
military medical center that treats troops returning severely wounded
from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The dogs can usually return to combat areas if they recover at the
Military Working Dog Center, he said.
Before the center opened, veterinarians treated and rehabilitated
dogs in a cramped building that opened in 1968, when the military
trained dogs for work in Vietnam.
The hospital was already overloaded by Sept. 11, 2001, but since then,
demand for military working dogs has jumped dramatically. They're
so short on dog breeds such as German shepherds, Labrador retrievers
and Belgian Malinoises that Lackland officials have begun breeding
puppies at the base.
Lackland is training 750 dogs, which is nearly double the number of
dogs there before the Sept. 11 attacks, Vogelsang said.
To treat the trainees and injured working dogs, the new hospital has
operating rooms, digital radiography, CT scanning equipment, an intensive
care unit and rehab rooms with an underwater treadmill and exercise
balls, among other features. A behavioral specialist has an office
near the lobby.
"This investment made sense ... and somehow, we were able to
convince others," said retired Col. Larry Carpenter, who first
heard complaints about the poor facilities in 1994 and later helped
to launch the project.
Training a military working dog takes about four months. With demand
outstripping the number of dogs available, hospital and veterinary
workers were trying to keep them healthy and working as long as possible,
Vogelsang said.
Working dogs usually enter training at 1 1/2- to 3-years-old, and
most can work until they're about 10, he said.
Then, the military tries to adopt them out and "station them
at Fort Living Room," Vogelsang said. |
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The
Ministry of Defence "should hang their heads in shame" over
the lack of equipment and funds that led to the death of a soldier
in a minefield in Afghanistan, a coroner said.
Corporal Mark Wright, 27, was killed when a mine exploded as a Chinook
helicopter attempted to rescue a stranded platoon of Paras.
Coroner Andrew Walker, who recorded a narrative verdict following
a two-week inquest in Oxford, said a catalogue of serious failures
had contributed to his death.
He highlighted three factors - the lack of appropriate UK helicopters
in Afghanistan fitted with a winch, the downwash from the Chinook
sent to the minefield, and the administrative delay in sending a suitable
helicopter.
Mr Walker said the lack of suitable helicopters was "lamentable"
and "simply about money". He added: "That a brave soldier
is lost in battle is always a matter of deep sadness, but when that
life is lost where it need not have been because of a lack of equipment
and assets, those responsible should hang their heads in shame.
"This tragedy has its roots in the expectation that a small force
of dedicated professional soldiers would be expected to extend the
scope and number of their operations without the necessary support."
The inquest heard the Chinook was sent in to rescue troops from the
Parachute Regiment's 3rd Battalion who were injured by explosions
after a sniper strayed into the unmarked danger zone. The marooned
soldiers requested a helicopter with a winch be sent to extract the
sniper, whose leg had been blown off, but were told none was available.
Instead the Chinook, which was not fitted with a winch, was dispatched
but was waved away for fear of causing further explosions as it tried
to land. As it took off, a mine exploded, causing Cpl Wright, who
was trying to help injured comrades, severe shrapnel wounds from which
he later died.
Cpl Wright, from Edinburgh, was posthumously awarded a George Cross
medal - the highest military honour for actions which are not in the
face of the enemy. He was described by Mr Walker as an "exceptional
soldier" who acted with "unhesitating courage in the most
desperate circumstances".
Six others were hurt, including three who lost limbs, during the incident
in the region of Kajaki in Helmand Province on September 6 2006. The
MoD has agreed to pay compensation to the Wright family and five of
the soldiers involved in the incident.
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Tom
Coghlan in Kabul
British and Afghan forces repulsed an attempt by hundreds of Taleban
fighters to attack the provincial capital of Helmand, Lashkar Gah,
on Saturday night in the most audacious Taliban attack in the province
since 2006. Up to 100 Taleban fighters were killed in a series of
airstrikes and firefights around the city outskirts in fighting that
began in the early evening as Taleban fighters were concentrating
to attack the city of three sides and continued into the early hours
of Sunday morning.
It was the first time that the Helmand capital has been attacked.
The Taleban plan appeared to be for a “Tet Offensive” style
infiltration of the city, the seat of the Afghan provincial government
and home to the headquarters of the British commander in Helmand and
the civilian reconstruction component of the British mission in Helmand.
Had the infiltration succeeded then British and Afghan forces would
have faced confused street fighting in which Western airstrikes would
have been impossible without the risk of causing mass civilian deaths
in the city.
A British army spokesman said that the Taleban operation displayed
"a level of co-ordination that wasn't expected." He estimated
the Taleban forces at around 170, though some Afghan estimates were
much higher. However, British officials insisted that there was absolutely
no threat of the British base falling. "Whatever their military
objectives were, we didn't get to find them out, because they were
defeated on the edge of the city" said the Helmand Task Force
spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Woody Page.
“At around 1700hours we detected terrorist vehicles moving in
just to the west of the river (on the western edge of Lashkar Gah).
By 1730 there were three or four separate groupings. There appeared
to be a plan to attack on three different sides, with a blocking force
on the fourth side. We waited until the terrorists were concentrated
and then attacked with maximum effect," he added. The British
Army spokesman said that an initial airstrike in a wooded area called
Bolan, west of the city, killed 27 Taleban fighters and injured approximately
the same number. There were then follow up strikes by British Apache
ground attack helicopters on further concentrations of Taleban fighters.
Afghan National Army and Police were also involved in ground skirmishes
around the city limits which continued until 3am on Sunday morning.
Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Helmand governor Gulab Mangal said
that 62 Taleban fighters were killed but that the number could rise.
“Afghan National Security Forces did a really good job of limiting
the Taleban to the outskirts of the city," said Colonel Page.
"It is impossible to say if the target was the British PRT, though
it is a possibility." The British Provincial Reconstruction Team
(PRT) base in Lashkar Gah is heavily defended with 30ft Hesco walls
and wire fences designed to prematurely detonate rocket propelled
grenades.
It contains hundreds of British troops and the large civilian reconstruction
component of the UK mission from the Foreign Office and the Department
for Overseas Development (DfID). Today, local residents who didn't
want to be named for fear of Taleban retribution said they saw two
truckloads filled with dead and wounded Taleban driven away from the
Lashkar Bazaar area on the east of the city after the attack.
Another report was of Taleban dead being buried in the Bolan area.
Alhough the Taleban attack appears to have been decisively defeated,
local people said that there was atmosphere of rising panic inside
Lashkar Gah.
"They attacked from everywhere," said one local man, who
asked that his name only be given as Mirwais. "There were rockets
and mortars. No one could sleep, everyone was trying to hide themselves.
I don't trust the Afghan government or the British. Tell me where
to escape to."
Haji Salim Khan, a tribal elder of the Alizai tribe living in Lashkar
Gah said: "They were throwing artillery to the city. Children
and women were weeping and screaming. I asked my tribe to protect
me and twenty of my tribesmen surrounded my house. This is a shame,
a shame, a shame, upon the British. They turned off the lights of
the PRT and shut the doors. There are rumours they are going to withdraw
from the city."
Colonel Page said that no lights were turned off in the PRT and that
local people were, on the contrary, reassured by the defeat of the
Taleban attack: "The atmospherics we are getting are very far
from that situation," he said. "There is a lot of confidence
that Lashkar Gah was safe last night and will continue to be safe.
The Afghan National Security Forces and British forces will continue
to maintain that as the status quo." The attack follows heavy
fighting in recent days in the district of Nad Ali to the west of
Lashkargar. Previously a government stronghold, the district and neighbouring
Marja fell to Taleban fighters in September.
British forces from 3 Commando Brigade retook Nad Ali district centre
with Afghan Army troops in a three day operation that finished on
Saturday. A statement by Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, the official Taleban
spokesman for southern Afghanistan, had a different version of events.
"Until four in the morning the fight went on. We killed 25 government
soldiers and destroyed ten Ranger vehicles. Several others soldiers
were wounded. We targeted the NDS (Afghan intelligence department),
the governor's residency and office and some other areas. Hundreds
of Taleban participated in the fight. Four Taleban were killed and
their bodies remain on the battleground. Three others were wounded.
"The rumours spread by the enemy that they killed dozens of Taleban
are just to keep up the morale of the soldiers of the puppet government.
It was a huge attack from three directions."
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AN
IRAQI illegal immigrant who killed a 12-year-old girl in a road crash
has still not been deported five years on, it has emerged. Proceedings
began to kick Aso Mohammed Ibrahim out of the country as long as four
years ago but immigration officials have admitted that he remained
in Lancashire.
Paul Houston’s daughter Amy was killed when she was hit by a
vehicle driven by Ibrahim in Blackburn in November 2003. He had no
licence or insurance and was jailed for four months. The following
year he was again caught driving while disqualified. Bosses at the
UK Border Agency said steps to deport Ibrahim had been “prolonged”
but were ongoing.
The agency denied that the case had been mismanged. Mr Houston, of
Argle Street, Darwen, said: “It is an insult to Amy’s memory
that he is still in the country.
“He says that it is not safe for him to return to Iraq but I
have no concerns for his well being because he showed none for ours
when he killed my daughter.
“The fact that he still has not been deported is a joke. I cannot
move on with my life, even after all of this time, because of the
fear that I will see him in the street. Enough is enough and he must
be deported.”
In the past two years Ibrahim has got married to a Lancashire woman
and has two children.
The Home Office has blocked his applications for citizenship because
he is ineligible as a failed asylum seeker. Speaking last year when
the Border Agency said he was about to be deported, Ibrahim, who was
living in Whalley Banks, Blackburn, at the time, said: “I did
not expect to meet Christina or have any children when I came here
seven years ago, but it has happened and I cannot leave them.
“I cannot go back to Iraq. Do you not watch the news? It is far
too dangerous.”
A spokeswoman for the UK Border Agency said: “We seek to remove
failed asylum seekers as quickly as possible.
“Time scales in individual circumstances can be prolonged by
practical considerations such as the need to obtain travel documents,
but the UK has established safe routes and re-documentation arrangements
with a significant number of countries and we are working ever more
closely with governments around the world to facilitate removals at
the earliest possible opportunity.”
Darwen MP Janet Anderson has been involved in fighting for Ibrahim’s
expulsion from the country.
Ibrahim is a Kurdish Iraqi and Mrs Anderson believes he would be safe
in northern Iraq.
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11
October 2008 Print E-mail
BERLIN - An Iranian businessman arrested a week ago in Germany on
suspicion of illegal exports to Iran was a valued agent of the German
foreign intelligence service BND, the news magazine Der Spiegel reported
on Saturday.
Prosecutors had advised the BND before the arrest they had no choice
but to detain the man, 61, who had the code name Sindbad, because
of suspicions that he was supplying equipment needed to make Iran's
Shabah missiles, Spiegel said.
In a story to hit the streets in its Monday issue, Spiegel said Sindbad's
intelligence deliveries to Germany included photographs of tunnel-drilling
machinery, details of secret warehouses and up-to-date reports on
Iranian missile development work.
His intelligence had been so good that the BND was even concerned
he might be a double agent hoodwinking the West on Iran's orders.
Prosecutors announced Wednesday they had detained the man, who has
dual Canadian and Iranian nationality, on October 5 on suspicion of
breaching a German ban on export of militarily useful goods.
Spiegel said Germany was not just concerned at losing a spy who had
served it for a decade and had been paid 1 million euros (1.4 million
dollars), but also at potential tension with Teheran.
In addition, the BND feared the Iranians would try to assassinate
the man in revenge if he were freed from prison in Germany, the magazine
said.
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This
dog, BRUTUS, is truly an amazing animal!
The K9 pictured is Brutus, a military K9 at McChord. He's huge - part
Boxer and part British Bull Mastiff and tops the scales at 200 lbs.
His handler took the picture. Brutus is running toward me because
he knows I have some Milk Bone treats, so he's slobbering away! I
had to duck around a tree just before he got to me in case he couldn't
stop, but he did. Brutus won the Congressional Medal of Honor last
year from his tour in Iraq . His handler and four other soldiers were
taken hostage by insurgents. Brutus and his handler communicate by
sign language and he gave Brutus the signal that meant 'go away but
come back and find me'.
The Iraqis paid no attention to Brutus. He came back later and quietly
tore the throat out of one guard at one door and another guard at
another door. He then jumped against one of the doors repeatedly (the
guys were being held in an old warehouse) until it opened. He went
in and untied his handler and they all escaped. He's the first K9
to receive this honor. If he knows you're ok, he's a big old lug and
wants to sit in your lap. He also enjoys the company of cats!
Remember that pet dog can't do a lot of things for themselves and
that they depend on you to make their life a quality life!
A PET'S TEN COMMANDMENTS
1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from
you is likely to be painful.
2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.
3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.
4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment.
You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only
you.
5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words, I do understand
your voice when speaking to me.
6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.
7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could
hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.
8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself
if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting
the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might
be getting old or weak.
9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will grow
old.
10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never
say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone.
Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.
Take a moment today to thank God for your pets. Enjoy and take
good care of them. Life would be a much duller, less joyful experience
without God's critters.
Now please pass this on to other pet owners. We do not have
to wait for Heaven, to be surrounded by hope, love, and joyfulness.
It is here on earth and has four legs!
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