What the Americans read

G.I.’s in Iraq Ready for Rest, but Hardly at Ease
Marko Georgiev for The New York Times
Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division’s Second Brigade recently paid Iraqis $10 a day to clean a canal near Baghdad.
MAHMUDIYA, Iraq — On bases big and small south of Baghdad, the scrambled reality of war has become routine: an unending loop of anxious driving in armored Humvees, gallons of Gatorade, laughter at the absurd and 4 a.m. raids into intimate Iraqi bedrooms.
This is Iraq for the 3,300 soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division’s Second Brigade, and many have come to the unfortunate realization that it now feels more like home than home.
No brigade in the Army has spent more days deployed since Sept. 11, 2001, and with only a few weeks to go before ending their 15-month tour, the soldiers here are eager to go. But they are also nervous about what their minds will carry back, given the psychic toll of war day after day and the prospect of additional tours.
Heartache can be heard in the quiet voice of Specialist Gerald Barranco-Oro, who at 22 is on his second tour of Iraq and will leave for home without two close friends who were killed May 19.

Read more...

Not read in British newspapers

Why not.

Are it not our soldiers dying in Afghanistan?

clipped from www.thestar.com KABUL–President Hamid Karzai yesterday offered to meet the Taliban leader and give militants a government position only hours after a suicide bomber in army disguise attacked a military bus, killing 30 people – nearly all of them Afghan soldiers. Hours after suicide bomb attack kills 30 in Kabul, Karzai says: `I want conflicts and fighting to end' It was reminiscent of the deadliest attack since the U.S.-led invasion, when a bomber boarded a police academy bus at Kabul's busiest transportation hub in June, killing 35 people. Police and soldiers climbed trees to retrieve body parts.

Politics in Blackpool

You may wonder why I dare take this article from a leading Sunday paper.
I dare because I know many former BOOTNECKS who are now members of the BNP and several of them are Councillors. At least I know where these people stand. I contrast this position with that of Councillors, both past and present, who represent the major parties, but do not have a clear conviction of their own except - as it appears to gain office for the sake of talking down to those who do not. When I say talking down I also mean those who purport to listen, and then they listen, and they end up listening and doing nothing.
When their political masters say jump their only response is to whimper "how high?"
When Blackpool Council was debating the adoption of 12 Reg. RA as the towns regiment I wqs one of only three independent observers in the Council Chambers. My notes read..."I wonder if I am at a Meeting of a august body, or a debating society for the illiterate?" It left the two former regular Artillery senior ranks -observing -with a distinctly sour taste in their mouths. How dare the political parties try to gain political points from an issue that ought to be taken as read. Had the All Pink Mincing Regiment applied for adoption there would be hoardes outside the town hall demanding acceptance. Regular soldiers, it seems, have to beg for the right to march through English towns. What is going to happen when a regiment marches through Tipton? Sorry (sic), that can never happen whilst the country is more interested in the plight of former American detainees, while some are still asking why they were there? I know why British soldiers are in war zones. I do not know why British citizens are confronting them. I know what the BNP are saying. I have no idea what the major parties postulate.

clipped from news.independent.co.uk Cameron ally sparks immigration row: 'We must listen to BNP voters' Remarks by Conservative peer on eve of party conference are labelled 'grotesque' Brown calls 'council of war' to weigh up whether to announce a snap election One of David Cameron's most trusted and senior political allies has plunged the party into a race row by claiming that people who vote for the far-right British National Party (BNP) have "some very legitimate views" on immigration and crime. In an interview with The Independent on Sunday, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the shadow Minister for Community Cohesion, fuelled the already highly charged debate about immigration by arguing that it has been "out of control". Mr Cameron's problems were deepened today by a new poll that shows him trailing on nearly every indicator. The Observer survey found 70 per cent of voters wanted an election before next spring – and 41 per cent would vote Labour, compared to 34 per cent supporting the Tories.

Who is watching?

Nobody?
Both in the US of A and UK, the institutions that supposedly monitor the excesses of state appear to be so comfortable with politics that the division cannot be recognised. Read the computer weekly article for yourself and start judging for yourself and do not relying on dogma as the established political parties expect you to do.

clipped from www.computerweekly.com Policing IT in government - is the National Audit Office too timid?

Nice work if you can get it

For ages observers have lamented the divide that has emerged in society. Peter Oborne has highlighted what I have been saying for the past decade, and the problem get worse whilst YOU, the public, allows it to happen. If it were not so sad, it would be hilarious.

clipped from www.channel4.com Political journalist Peter Oborne examines the emergence of a new political class that appears to pursue its own interests above that of the country and the British people. Politicians; is it one rule for us and another for them? Political journalist Peter Oborne examines the emergence of a new political class that appears to pursue its own interests above that of the country and the British people.

Commando ITV

Again the MOD has imposed its regime on something it knows nothing about, and the serving Officer Class genuflect to their stupidity. Once before they GAVE the green beret to a 'celeb', Jimmy Saville, and the whole episode back fired on them.
I give one graphic example.Chris Terrill is with his camera crew and come under fire with whatever unit they are recording. Not only are they shouted at to get their arses down, they have no idea that they are easy 'target indicators' for the enemy.
The whole series indicates the new system is wrong. 18 week at Deal used to get the marine prepare for the vigor's of Lypmstone, get them ready to switch off when needed, to switch on when required. The Lympstone episode gives the marine the absolute basics for soldiering, and not the complete answer. When I joined 42 Commando in Borneo as a ripe 17 year old I was told by a two badger to keep my head down, my mouth shut for the first 18 months and probably I might learn something. How right he was.
That clip convinces me that the MOD is more interested in propaganda than reflecting the true nature of war. It is the soldiers job to kill the enemy, to destroy it, to completely remove the threat. They are not policemen, as used in Ulster; firemen, as used at home. They are killing machines with a certain mentality, and that has to be remembered first, second and last. Those out there are magnificent young people and deserve all the accolades a nation can bestow. It also deserves a Nation that respects their sacrifices. BLESS YOU ALL. Pongo, Bootneck, them grey jobs up in the sky

Reflect on these words

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." - Winston Churchill.

During his lifetime, Winston Churchill was widely misunderstood. The regular soldier is today also misunderstood, maligned and castigated.
There are too many people, many politicians, this week feeding on vein glories, lying openly to a gullible nation, a revelling in the fact that they can get away with it. Destroying rights, vilifying the brave, undermining the ethos of the brave man, all in the name of political correctness.
It is a different mentality that allows an individual to go through all kinds of hell and emerge a human being at the end of it. How does parliament reward these heroes, by building an exclusion zone around the Mothers of Parliaments, denying front line troops their say whilst paying them a fraction the wage of a bus driver, by destroying the FAMILY of the regiments, the history and the pride that is often all a soldier has when every thing else has gone

A soldiers lot - or just a little?

On 5 Live last Friday a bus driver compared his lot to that of a fighting soldier.
I will only add to the debate by quoting: "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
Unless you are prepared to do what 'rough men' do, keep your ill-judged comments to yourself.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Army chief warns of social 'gulf' Gen Sir Richard Dannatt said soldiers were sometimes greeted with indifference on returning from service. He contrasted the attitude in Britain with support for soldiers among people in the United States. A "willingness to serve in such an atmosphere again" could be sapped, he said in a speech in London. "Soldiers are genuinely concerned when they come back from Iraq to hear the population that sent them being occasionally dismissive or indifferent about their achievements," he added.

Let us test the resolve and patriotism of the nation and have the next regiment drummed through the streets of Tipton. I doubt if Labour has the courage to allow any parade outside of Horse Guards.

Another insulting handout?

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Troops to get council tax rebate The measure will be worth £140 to every soldier who pays the tax on a UK property and is serving a six-month tour of duty. Defence Secretary Des Browne said: "It underlines the government's commitment to support our armed forces and their families. The tax-free Operational Allowance is worth £2,320 over a six-month tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Too LITTLE too late

Almost all former regulars have been saying this for the past 30 years. Welcome aboard General.

Now do something about the C130's having no flame retardant fuel capability.
The fiasco of buying unfit rifles - SA80.
Helicopters with no night flying equipment.
The penny piching that removed the wonderful sv boot from QM stores...sailors going on ops with ipods...

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk Honour troops with parades, says Gen Dannatt Gen Sir Richard Dannatt spoke of a "gulf" between the Army and the nation. Celebrating the return of units from Iraq and Afghanistan would help demonstrate "respect" for their commitment, he said. "Soldiers do not ask why; but they do ask for respect and honour," he said.

New Brits celebrating?

Nothing to say!

A picture says a milllion words.

clipped from www.nickscipio.com “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” – Martin Luther King Jr. I want to believe that Islam is a religion of peace, but the words we hear and actions we see in the West are entirely different. The Islam we see is a religion of intolerance and extremism, a violent, sexist, barbaric culture desperately holding on to a way of life rooted in the 7th Century. Today is a day for mourning and remembrance in the United States, but it should also be a day when every Muslim is ashamed of what their “religion of peace” is capable of, and how their appalling silence makes such hatred possible.