[ssf] Battle for Baghdad: 90 Days to Victory? : the right of soldiers to criticise
adam basid
adam at diamat.org.uk
Thu Apr 5 16:59:06 BST 2007
Four UK soldiers killed in Iraq
-------------------------------
[ Thursday April 5, 2007 ]
Four British soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb near Basra,
southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
A civilian translator was also killed in the bomb blast, which targeted
a Warrior patrol.
A fifth soldier was also "very seriously injured" and is being treated
in the military hospital in Basra.
This latest incident brings the total number of UK troops killed in
operations in Iraq to 140.
The MoD said next of kin were being informed and no further details
would be released until that process was complete ...
More : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6529081.stm
Army chief hits out at weapons failures
---------------------------------------
[ Saturday March 31, 2007 ]
British Army officers struggling to hold the line in Iraq have lost
faith in their weapons, vehicles and radios as a result of the poor
quality and quantity of equipment provided by the Ministry of Defence.
A damning report sent to Defence Secretary Des Browne by the head of the
Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, lists a catalogue of complaints by
officers and front-line troops. He says:
- There are not enough properly trained medics to treat injured troops.
- The radio communication system keeps going wrong and equipment has to
be sent back to the UK to be repaired.
- Private security firms in Iraq have better equipment.
- Front-line troops are at risk because they are sent into action with
weapons they have never used before ...
More : http://tinyurl.com/2rwm5s
Charlie Brooker's Screen burn
-----------------------------
[ Saturday March 31, 2007 ]
Did you see that Catherine Tate sketch on Comic Relief the other week?
The one where Tony Blair played himself? He gave a fantastic
performance. Genuinely - a fantastic performance. He actually made me
laugh out loud. Admittedly, not as loud as I'll laugh the day he and
Bush are found guilty of war crimes following a six-month show trial at
the Hague, but close.
When he unexpectedly delivered the "Am I bovvered?" catchphrase, his
timing was immaculate - for a second, I guffawed so loudly I almost
forgot about the teetering stacks of skulls, the foaming geysers of
blood, the phosphor burns, the pictures of young children with their
arms blown off, and the constant metronomic background tick-tock of lie
upon lie upon lie upon lie upon lie ...
... I'm in a bad mood, in case you hadn't noticed, but for the best of
reasons. I've just watched The Mark Of Cain (Thu, C4, 9pm), an intensely
powerful drama about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of
British soldiers, and it's made me very angry indeed. That's its job:
it's a protest film. A work of fiction, based heavily on fact, written
by Tony Marchant, featuring taut direction and some superb central
performances ...
More :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/columnists/story/0,,2045893,00.html
To see or not to see?
---------------------
[ Thursday April 5, 2007 ]
Tony Marchant's The Mark of Cain, scheduled to be screened tonight on
Channel 4, shows British squaddies in Iraq torturing and taunting locals.
Whether it will actually be shown tonight is still unclear. Channel 4
said this morning it has still not made a final decision ...
... The people who most put British troops in danger abroad are the
fellow soldiers who committed the documented acts on which Marchant has
drawn and the politicians who failed to create a coherent war plan. We
are told that soldiers fight for freedom and part of that freedom is the
right to criticise soldiers ...
More :
http://tinyurl.com/2lnf7g
Re: Battle for Baghdad: 90 Days to Victory?
-------------------------------------------
[ Tuesday January 23, 2007 - present ]
... In the last couple of days, the Belgrade press has been discussing
the rumour that the former Federal Defence Minister at the time of the
break-up, General Veljko Kadijevic, is currently advising the Bush
Administration and US military on Iraq strategy. Given that he's been
living in Florida since 2003, and is a graduate from CGSS, he seems
'ideally' placed ...
More:
the ARmy Rumour SErvice
http://tinyurl.com/2whef4 : page 41
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