[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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