British Military Current Events
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daftandbarmy
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RAF pilot tells how he won bravery medal
A helicopter pilot decorated for bravery after coming under attack twice in Afghanistan has told how he flew through fire so intense it was like "a night in Berlin in the Second World War".
By Ben Leach
Last Updated: 8:17PM GMT 08 Mar 2009
Flight Lieutenant Alexander "Frenchie" Duncan was one of more than 150 servicemen recognised in the first week of March for their gallantry in the UK and overseas during 2008.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his "consummate professionalism" during the two attacks on his Chinook helicopter in southern Afghanistan last summer.
The two acts of heroism happened just six days apart and he was said to have shown great "strength of character".
The first incident happened as he was trying to land his helicopter in an area of Musa Qala, in Helmand.
The helicopter was carrying an Afghan official and Flt Lt Duncan was warned that it may come under heavy enemy fire as there was an increased Taliban presence.
The vehicle was hit by a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) - knocking out the rotary blade, part of the hydraulic system and part of the automatic flight control system.
Speaking about the incident publicly for the first time, the 32-year-old said: "We spotted a suspicious looking vehicle and I was just manoeuvring so we could bring our guns to bear on it when we suddenly jolted to the right and up. Then one of the crew shouted: 'We're hit'.
"For a second I thought 'oh - we are going in'. Then I tried the controls and they still responded. I said: 'Right, we're getting out of here'.
"We were still taking a lot of fire. The crew could hear the bullets hitting the top of the aircraft. We nearly hit a huge radio mast on a ridge nearby."
Eventually the married father-of-one managed to return the Chinook to base and land it safely, with no harm to any of its passengers.
But just six days later, Flt Lt Duncan was back under fire. This time he was leading a four-Chinook airborne assault on the Taliban fighters who had tried to bring down his helicopter and kill the Afghan official he was transporting.
He said: "The whole operation was at night. We were eight minutes behind the first drop and we heard they were already involved in a fire fight.
"We were going to drop our troops at a safer distance for us but we thought: 'those soldiers are under fire, they need the extra troops we are bringing now' so we went straight in.
"Amazingly, as we landed all the firing stopped. But as we pulled away an RPG went under our cockpit.
"It was so close I could see the purple fizz coming out of the back of it and I instinctively lifted my legs up off the controls.
"We went back to pick up more paratroopers and as we lifted up to begin the journey back we could see the amount of fire they were under.
"It was like a night in Berlin in the Second World War. Everything was going up. RPGs, heavy machine guns, the lot."
His aircraft came under fire again but he managed to avoid being hit. Flt Lt Duncan will be presented with his DFC at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace later this year.
He added: "The DFC is not just for me. It is also for the co-pilot and the crew, without them we would have crashed. They were fantastic."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/4958873/RAF-pilot-tells-how-he-won-bravery-medal.html
A helicopter pilot decorated for bravery after coming under attack twice in Afghanistan has told how he flew through fire so intense it was like "a night in Berlin in the Second World War".
By Ben Leach
Last Updated: 8:17PM GMT 08 Mar 2009
Flight Lieutenant Alexander "Frenchie" Duncan was one of more than 150 servicemen recognised in the first week of March for their gallantry in the UK and overseas during 2008.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his "consummate professionalism" during the two attacks on his Chinook helicopter in southern Afghanistan last summer.
The two acts of heroism happened just six days apart and he was said to have shown great "strength of character".
The first incident happened as he was trying to land his helicopter in an area of Musa Qala, in Helmand.
The helicopter was carrying an Afghan official and Flt Lt Duncan was warned that it may come under heavy enemy fire as there was an increased Taliban presence.
The vehicle was hit by a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) - knocking out the rotary blade, part of the hydraulic system and part of the automatic flight control system.
Speaking about the incident publicly for the first time, the 32-year-old said: "We spotted a suspicious looking vehicle and I was just manoeuvring so we could bring our guns to bear on it when we suddenly jolted to the right and up. Then one of the crew shouted: 'We're hit'.
"For a second I thought 'oh - we are going in'. Then I tried the controls and they still responded. I said: 'Right, we're getting out of here'.
"We were still taking a lot of fire. The crew could hear the bullets hitting the top of the aircraft. We nearly hit a huge radio mast on a ridge nearby."
Eventually the married father-of-one managed to return the Chinook to base and land it safely, with no harm to any of its passengers.
But just six days later, Flt Lt Duncan was back under fire. This time he was leading a four-Chinook airborne assault on the Taliban fighters who had tried to bring down his helicopter and kill the Afghan official he was transporting.
He said: "The whole operation was at night. We were eight minutes behind the first drop and we heard they were already involved in a fire fight.
"We were going to drop our troops at a safer distance for us but we thought: 'those soldiers are under fire, they need the extra troops we are bringing now' so we went straight in.
"Amazingly, as we landed all the firing stopped. But as we pulled away an RPG went under our cockpit.
"It was so close I could see the purple fizz coming out of the back of it and I instinctively lifted my legs up off the controls.
"We went back to pick up more paratroopers and as we lifted up to begin the journey back we could see the amount of fire they were under.
"It was like a night in Berlin in the Second World War. Everything was going up. RPGs, heavy machine guns, the lot."
His aircraft came under fire again but he managed to avoid being hit. Flt Lt Duncan will be presented with his DFC at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace later this year.
He added: "The DFC is not just for me. It is also for the co-pilot and the crew, without them we would have crashed. They were fantastic."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/4958873/RAF-pilot-tells-how-he-won-bravery-medal.html
daftandbarmy
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Hmm… I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t the Real IRA guys who were the cowards in this case. And so the blame game starts ....
Why didn't private gun guards even fire as 'Real' IRA cowards murdered unarmed British soldiers?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1160459/Why-didnt-private-gun-guards-Real-IRA-cowards-murdered-unarmed-British-soldiers.html
Why didn't private gun guards even fire as 'Real' IRA cowards murdered unarmed British soldiers?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1160459/Why-didnt-private-gun-guards-Real-IRA-cowards-murdered-unarmed-British-soldiers.html
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Two dead Brit squaddies.
Now a dead Policeman
The Chief Constable had called in the SRR
And Gerry Adams has got his knickers in a twist......
Summat oop 'ere?
Now a dead Policeman
The Chief Constable had called in the SRR
And Gerry Adams has got his knickers in a twist......
Summat oop 'ere?
daftandbarmy
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Kirkhill said:
Here's my paranoid armchair theory: The Real IRA have launched 'the next phase' of the Long War.
Having broken away from PIRA (fully penetrated by UKSF & police, co-opted by the dirty Brits etc), and permitted to recruit and train a new force in the past years of 'peace', they now have dozens of a new breed of unknown terrorist on the job. They have a long list of people they will want to get rid of in other proscribed organizations to take over the underground protection and drug rackets, which will funnel all the dirty money into their war chest. They will use this money to expand their full time army, as well as buy arms from places other than the now no longer supportive US, which will likely be smuggled into new, unknown, sympathetic safe houses in the south. Luckily, the past years of 'truth and reconciliation' have allowed them to identify a long list of touts and anti-republican covert operatives who they will either massacre or terrorize/ blackmail into doing their dirtier jobs. Their aim is no longer 'Brits Out', but will be to carve out a niche market in the terror business and force the government (UK & Eire) to negotiate a deal that suits their interests e.g., recognize their right to extract protection and drug money from anyone within certain geo-political spectrum over the long term - kind of like your average South/Central American Narco-terrorist. This happened before in the 70s when PIRA broke away from the Official IRA (a.k.a. The Stickies) and is a good blueprint for a resurgent organized crime culture.
This next phase will be characterized by an opening period of particular savagery, taking advantage of the British Army being over-extended in Afghanistan and suffering from the neglect we've seen throughout the Blair era. Unchecked by any need to heed the moral force of the Catholic church due to creeping Irish secularism, they will attempt to dominate the republican life of, first, the north and then, the south of Ireland. Luckily, the 'Old Guard' have all either been seen off or, like most aging baby boomers, retired, so this new blood sees an easy path to the top. Once they gain control over their home turf, they will again threaten the UK mainland until they get what they want.
The government will get its act together in about 5 years and defeat this new insurgency in about 10.
Upside: A new campaign medal for service in Ireland post-2008!
How do we know all this? Luckily the Irish terrorist, like Adolf Hitler, likes to publish written materials that tell people what they intend to do. For example:
Real IRA is ready for ‘long war’
Filed under: an príomhbhóthar
Derry Journal
**Via Newshound
02 January 2009
The Real IRA have vowed to continue their armed campaign and say they are prepared for a “long war.”
In the organisation’s New Year message, the leadership of the Real IRA said they would continue to target police and British military targets, as well as drug dealers.
“In the past 12 months Óglaigh na h’Éireann have continued to organise, developand consolidate,” the statement reads. “We have carried out a number of attacks against British state interests in Ireland and our volunteers have stood shoulder to shoulder with our communities against the scourge of drugs. Óglaigh na h’Éireann have taken direct action against a number of drug networks across the country and, in the coming year, we not allow our communities to face this menace alone.
“In the coming year Óglaigh na hÉireann will continue to resist the British occupation of Ireland by any and all means including the force of arms. However, all republican organisations must remain disciplined and no one should engage in attacks or threats that they cannot immediately defend or explain. For our part, Óglaigh na h’Éireann will stand behind any actions we take,” the leadership’s statement said.
The dissident group acknowledged it is facing a difficult task, insisting their campaign would last as long as necessary.
“Republicans must develop realistic short and medium term goals.
“2009 will not be the year of victory and another phase of the long war is yet to begin in earnest. Óglaigh na h’Éireann is facing a huge uphill struggle but we will face it full-on; make no mistake, we are here for the long haul.”
The Real IRA also slammed the Catholic Church’s criticism of their campaign. “We would advise the church to clean up their own back yard before commenting on others. They should take the plank out of their own eyes before worrying themselves about the splinters in others.
“It is perhaps a small mercy that the church is no longer a major player in forming opinions in Irish society,” it said.
http://saoirse32.blogsome.com/2009/01/06/real-ira-is-ready-for-long-war/
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Dear God in Heaven D&B!
You suggest that local criminals and local terrorists may be linked? Next thing you know you will be suggesting that said organizations know no borders and work under international umbrellas. If you keep heading down that track no telling where it might lead. You might even find yourself suggesting that national governments are establishing training grounds in places like Libya to lead fine young Irish lads astray.
You over-extend yourself, Sir. And reading the other side's mail is no excuse.
You suggest that local criminals and local terrorists may be linked? Next thing you know you will be suggesting that said organizations know no borders and work under international umbrellas. If you keep heading down that track no telling where it might lead. You might even find yourself suggesting that national governments are establishing training grounds in places like Libya to lead fine young Irish lads astray.
You over-extend yourself, Sir. And reading the other side's mail is no excuse.
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Kirkhill said:You over-extend yourself, Sir. And reading the other side's mail is no excuse.
Just call me another cockeyed optimist!
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The article doesn't really go into much detail into why the Nimrod MRA4s were delayed before.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3980831&c=EUR&s=AIR
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3980831&c=EUR&s=AIR
daftandbarmy
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Cadet axed over sex with sarge
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article2311591.ece
Shocking. But then again, we officers have been doing this to SNCOs for years in one way or another ;D
They used to segregate the women in another college a few klicks away from Sandhurst. They ‘raided’ our company lines once and we, very efficiently, flushed them from the building and chucked them in the Wish Stream by the Churchill Hall – then never saw them again. What idiots we were….
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article2311591.ece
Shocking. But then again, we officers have been doing this to SNCOs for years in one way or another ;D
They used to segregate the women in another college a few klicks away from Sandhurst. They ‘raided’ our company lines once and we, very efficiently, flushed them from the building and chucked them in the Wish Stream by the Churchill Hall – then never saw them again. What idiots we were….
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Just when you thought it was safe
IT LOOKED like a scene from the bad old days. Two British soldiers at a base in Antrim took delivery of a last pizza before deploying to Afghanistan and were mown down in the street. A Northern Ireland police officer answered a call in Armagh and was shot in the back of the head. The killings were claimed by dissident IRA groups who believe, or pretend to, that the mainstream movement sold out its republican heritage in doing a deal with the unionists, to say nothing of the British. A shudder ran round the province at the thought that the Troubles might not, after all, be over.
Yet the striking thing is not that uniformed men once again lie dead in the streets of Northern Ireland, though the Good Friday agreement in 1998 supposedly put paid to politically motivated violence. It is that the people of the province, not least the leaders of its main parties (after a gulp on the part of Sinn Fein), united to condemn the killings. The most moving sight of the past week, after the grief of the bereaved families, was that of Peter Robinson, the Democratic Unionist first minister, Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein deputy first minister and former IRA strongman, and Sir Hugh Orde, the English boss of the Northern Ireland police, standing shoulder to shoulder outside the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont (see article). In vigils across the province, thousands showed their dismay at the resumption of violence.
The hand of history
The vast majority in Northern Ireland support the peace process. Most have benefited from the increased prosperity it has brought. Devolved government returned to the province in 2007, and old enemies are learning to work together. The killers have nothing like the glamour or support that the old IRA did; they are pipsqueak diehards, some of them soaked in garden-variety crime. All this suggests that the outbreak of violence may be a tragic blip.
But grievances in Northern Ireland run centuries-deep. The transformation of IRA leaders into Sinn Fein politicians does not mean the end of militant republicanism. Loyalist paramilitaries, still armed to the teeth, may seek to even up the body-count. Trust between old antagonists, on which power-sharing rests, is fragile. And there are two particular reasons for concern just at the moment.
The first has to do with security and intelligence. Although the IRA dissidents appear to have little support, it doesn’t take many men with arms and experience to wreak havoc. The police have been well enough informed to foil any number of attempted attacks over the past few years. More recently, however, Sir Hugh gave warning that the terrorist threat was growing and asked (controversially) for backup from military intelligence. He was right, it seems, to worry about the capacity of his police service—smaller and less experienced than the Royal Ulster Constabulary that it replaced—to contain the situation. The assault on the army base was not foreseen, even though, guarded by poorly armed civilians, it was a soft target.
The economic slump is a second worry. The peace process has been tacitly predicated on economic growth. Unemployment fell, new businesses multiplied and house prices soared after 1998. This is now changing. Northern Ireland’s economy is boosted by a big public sector and by Irish shoppers who flock north to buy Pampers priced in newly cheap pounds. But the public sector too will be trimming its workforce. The growing number of those with nothing better to do may find it tempting to join the political malcontents.
The best response is not to put British soldiers back on the streets (though their bases do need proper guarding); such a potent symbol of a jackbooted Britain is just what the dissidents need to give them substance. It is to carry on undeterred with the peace process and to strengthen Northern Ireland’s own police service, the central pillar of power-sharing.
This will require concrete measures. On March 11th the British Parliament passed a law paving the way for devolution of responsibility for policing and criminal justice to Stormont. The Northern Ireland Assembly must now vote in favour if it is to be implemented. Sinn Fein is committed to doing so; the Democratic Unionists have been slower to accept this deeply symbolic transfer of authority from Britain, insisting on further proofs of loyalty from their partners in power. Substantial help from former members of the IRA as the police run down the dissident killers would serve everyone’s interests.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13278360
IT LOOKED like a scene from the bad old days. Two British soldiers at a base in Antrim took delivery of a last pizza before deploying to Afghanistan and were mown down in the street. A Northern Ireland police officer answered a call in Armagh and was shot in the back of the head. The killings were claimed by dissident IRA groups who believe, or pretend to, that the mainstream movement sold out its republican heritage in doing a deal with the unionists, to say nothing of the British. A shudder ran round the province at the thought that the Troubles might not, after all, be over.
Yet the striking thing is not that uniformed men once again lie dead in the streets of Northern Ireland, though the Good Friday agreement in 1998 supposedly put paid to politically motivated violence. It is that the people of the province, not least the leaders of its main parties (after a gulp on the part of Sinn Fein), united to condemn the killings. The most moving sight of the past week, after the grief of the bereaved families, was that of Peter Robinson, the Democratic Unionist first minister, Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein deputy first minister and former IRA strongman, and Sir Hugh Orde, the English boss of the Northern Ireland police, standing shoulder to shoulder outside the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont (see article). In vigils across the province, thousands showed their dismay at the resumption of violence.
The hand of history
The vast majority in Northern Ireland support the peace process. Most have benefited from the increased prosperity it has brought. Devolved government returned to the province in 2007, and old enemies are learning to work together. The killers have nothing like the glamour or support that the old IRA did; they are pipsqueak diehards, some of them soaked in garden-variety crime. All this suggests that the outbreak of violence may be a tragic blip.
But grievances in Northern Ireland run centuries-deep. The transformation of IRA leaders into Sinn Fein politicians does not mean the end of militant republicanism. Loyalist paramilitaries, still armed to the teeth, may seek to even up the body-count. Trust between old antagonists, on which power-sharing rests, is fragile. And there are two particular reasons for concern just at the moment.
The first has to do with security and intelligence. Although the IRA dissidents appear to have little support, it doesn’t take many men with arms and experience to wreak havoc. The police have been well enough informed to foil any number of attempted attacks over the past few years. More recently, however, Sir Hugh gave warning that the terrorist threat was growing and asked (controversially) for backup from military intelligence. He was right, it seems, to worry about the capacity of his police service—smaller and less experienced than the Royal Ulster Constabulary that it replaced—to contain the situation. The assault on the army base was not foreseen, even though, guarded by poorly armed civilians, it was a soft target.
The economic slump is a second worry. The peace process has been tacitly predicated on economic growth. Unemployment fell, new businesses multiplied and house prices soared after 1998. This is now changing. Northern Ireland’s economy is boosted by a big public sector and by Irish shoppers who flock north to buy Pampers priced in newly cheap pounds. But the public sector too will be trimming its workforce. The growing number of those with nothing better to do may find it tempting to join the political malcontents.
The best response is not to put British soldiers back on the streets (though their bases do need proper guarding); such a potent symbol of a jackbooted Britain is just what the dissidents need to give them substance. It is to carry on undeterred with the peace process and to strengthen Northern Ireland’s own police service, the central pillar of power-sharing.
This will require concrete measures. On March 11th the British Parliament passed a law paving the way for devolution of responsibility for policing and criminal justice to Stormont. The Northern Ireland Assembly must now vote in favour if it is to be implemented. Sinn Fein is committed to doing so; the Democratic Unionists have been slower to accept this deeply symbolic transfer of authority from Britain, insisting on further proofs of loyalty from their partners in power. Substantial help from former members of the IRA as the police run down the dissident killers would serve everyone’s interests.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13278360
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N. Ireland police arrest 3 in soldier killings
Updated Sat. Mar. 14 2009 12:12 PM ET
The Associated Press
BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Police arrested three suspected IRA dissidents -- including a well-known Irish republican -- Saturday on suspicion of killing two off-duty British soldiers, an attack designed to trigger wider violence in Northern Ireland.
Police said they arrested three men aged 41, 32 and 21 during house raids on the Irish Catholic side of Lurgan, a bitterly polarized town southwest of Belfast, and the overwhelmingly Catholic village of Bellaghy to the northwest.
A detective identified the eldest suspect as Colin Duffy, the most notorious Irish republican in Lurgan, whom police branded a top IRA figure at the time of that group's 1997 cease-fire -- the truce that the dissidents now are trying to destroy.
The detective spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because police officially do not identify arrested people if they have not been charged.
Police braced for potential rioting in the Kilwilkie district of Lurgan, where loyalties to Duffy run high. He was convicted of killing a former soldier in Lurgan in 1993, but was freed on appeal three years later after the key witness against him was identified as a member of an outlawed Protestant gang.
Duffy was back behind bars within a year after police identified him as the gunman who committed the IRA's last two killings before its cease-fire: two Protestant policemen shot point-blank through the backs of their heads while on foot patrol in Lurgan in June 1997.
The prosecutors' case against Duffy collapsed after their key witness suffered a nervous breakdown and withdrew her testimony. Two years later, Protestant extremists assassinated Duffy's lawyer, Rosemary Nelson, with an under-car booby trap bomb in a case still being investigated today because of allegations that police were involved.
Saturday's arrest of Duffy appeared likely to pose a political challenge for Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party that is the leading Irish nationalist voice in Northern Ireland's power-sharing administration -- and is trying to convince Protestants of its newfound support for British embrace law and order.
The leading Sinn Fein member of the coalition, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, earlier this week denounced IRA dissidents as "traitors" and pledged to support the police's hunt for the gunmen. But previously, Sinn Fein has defended Duffy as an innocent man and a victim of British conspiracies.
Sinn Fein offered no immediate reaction to the arrests. McGuinness was traveling Saturday in the United States and could not be reached for comment.
Saturday's arrests came a week after the Real IRA splinter group ambushed unarmed soldiers outside an army base as they collected pizzas, the first of two deadly gun attacks against British security forces.
Two soldiers, aged 21 and 23, died and four other people were seriously wounded, including both pizza delivery men -- whom the Real IRA described as legitimate targets because they were "collaborating" with the enemy. Police said the attack involved three men: two armed with assault rifles and a getaway driver.
The IRA dissidents next struck Monday when Constable Stephen Carroll, 48, was shot fatally through the back of the head as he sat in his police car in Craigavon, the town beside Lurgan. A different splinter group, the Continuity IRA, admitted responsibility for that killing.
Police arrested two people -- a 17-year-old boy and a 37-year-old man -- on Tuesday, and a third man in his mid-20s on Friday, on suspicion of involvement in killing the policeman. All were still being interrogated Saturday.
The dissidents trying to unravel the IRA cease-fire insist they have no intention of stopping attacks on British security forces and the civilians who work with them -- the policy that the IRA pursued during its own 1970-97 attempt to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom. Most IRA members agreed to renounce violence and disarm in 2005.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090314/northern_ireland_090314/20090314?hub=World
Updated Sat. Mar. 14 2009 12:12 PM ET
The Associated Press
BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Police arrested three suspected IRA dissidents -- including a well-known Irish republican -- Saturday on suspicion of killing two off-duty British soldiers, an attack designed to trigger wider violence in Northern Ireland.
Police said they arrested three men aged 41, 32 and 21 during house raids on the Irish Catholic side of Lurgan, a bitterly polarized town southwest of Belfast, and the overwhelmingly Catholic village of Bellaghy to the northwest.
A detective identified the eldest suspect as Colin Duffy, the most notorious Irish republican in Lurgan, whom police branded a top IRA figure at the time of that group's 1997 cease-fire -- the truce that the dissidents now are trying to destroy.
The detective spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because police officially do not identify arrested people if they have not been charged.
Police braced for potential rioting in the Kilwilkie district of Lurgan, where loyalties to Duffy run high. He was convicted of killing a former soldier in Lurgan in 1993, but was freed on appeal three years later after the key witness against him was identified as a member of an outlawed Protestant gang.
Duffy was back behind bars within a year after police identified him as the gunman who committed the IRA's last two killings before its cease-fire: two Protestant policemen shot point-blank through the backs of their heads while on foot patrol in Lurgan in June 1997.
The prosecutors' case against Duffy collapsed after their key witness suffered a nervous breakdown and withdrew her testimony. Two years later, Protestant extremists assassinated Duffy's lawyer, Rosemary Nelson, with an under-car booby trap bomb in a case still being investigated today because of allegations that police were involved.
Saturday's arrest of Duffy appeared likely to pose a political challenge for Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party that is the leading Irish nationalist voice in Northern Ireland's power-sharing administration -- and is trying to convince Protestants of its newfound support for British embrace law and order.
The leading Sinn Fein member of the coalition, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, earlier this week denounced IRA dissidents as "traitors" and pledged to support the police's hunt for the gunmen. But previously, Sinn Fein has defended Duffy as an innocent man and a victim of British conspiracies.
Sinn Fein offered no immediate reaction to the arrests. McGuinness was traveling Saturday in the United States and could not be reached for comment.
Saturday's arrests came a week after the Real IRA splinter group ambushed unarmed soldiers outside an army base as they collected pizzas, the first of two deadly gun attacks against British security forces.
Two soldiers, aged 21 and 23, died and four other people were seriously wounded, including both pizza delivery men -- whom the Real IRA described as legitimate targets because they were "collaborating" with the enemy. Police said the attack involved three men: two armed with assault rifles and a getaway driver.
The IRA dissidents next struck Monday when Constable Stephen Carroll, 48, was shot fatally through the back of the head as he sat in his police car in Craigavon, the town beside Lurgan. A different splinter group, the Continuity IRA, admitted responsibility for that killing.
Police arrested two people -- a 17-year-old boy and a 37-year-old man -- on Tuesday, and a third man in his mid-20s on Friday, on suspicion of involvement in killing the policeman. All were still being interrogated Saturday.
The dissidents trying to unravel the IRA cease-fire insist they have no intention of stopping attacks on British security forces and the civilians who work with them -- the policy that the IRA pursued during its own 1970-97 attempt to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom. Most IRA members agreed to renounce violence and disarm in 2005.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090314/northern_ireland_090314/20090314?hub=World
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Well done that Marine!
A Royal Marine foiled a roadside bomb plot in Afghanistan single-handedly, the Ministry of Defence has revealed.
Last Updated: 10:40AM GMT 14 Mar 2009
While on guard duty he spotted three men digging on a track near a British army base in Sangin, northern Helmand.
The Royal Marine Commando, from 45 Commando Group, became suspicious when he noticed that local people were avoiding the area.
Thinking they were hidden from sight, the three men were in fact preparing a hole to plant a road-side bomb.
One of them had an explosive device attached to a pressure plate trigger, similar to several bombs which have been used by Taliban fighters and killed soldiers as well as civilians.
After making sure that there was no one nearby, the marine used a shoulder-launched missile to kill the three men and destroy the device.
Commander Paula Rowe, spokesman for British troops in Helmand, said: "It is clear that these men were engaged in the laying of an improvised explosive device on a busy route used by ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] forces, the Afghan National Security Forces and daily by civilians from the local area.
"These devices are totally indiscriminate and it is highly likely that if it had detonated, it would have been innocent people from Sangin who would have been killed or injured.
"The Taliban have been forced to use these cowardly devices, showing no regard for life.
"An accurate strike by ISAF forces prevented this device being laid and protected the local population, causing no damage or injuries to anyone other than those enemies of Afghanistan who were attempting to lay it."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/4989998/Royal-Marine-foils-roadside-bomb-plot.html
A Royal Marine foiled a roadside bomb plot in Afghanistan single-handedly, the Ministry of Defence has revealed.
Last Updated: 10:40AM GMT 14 Mar 2009
While on guard duty he spotted three men digging on a track near a British army base in Sangin, northern Helmand.
The Royal Marine Commando, from 45 Commando Group, became suspicious when he noticed that local people were avoiding the area.
Thinking they were hidden from sight, the three men were in fact preparing a hole to plant a road-side bomb.
One of them had an explosive device attached to a pressure plate trigger, similar to several bombs which have been used by Taliban fighters and killed soldiers as well as civilians.
After making sure that there was no one nearby, the marine used a shoulder-launched missile to kill the three men and destroy the device.
Commander Paula Rowe, spokesman for British troops in Helmand, said: "It is clear that these men were engaged in the laying of an improvised explosive device on a busy route used by ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] forces, the Afghan National Security Forces and daily by civilians from the local area.
"These devices are totally indiscriminate and it is highly likely that if it had detonated, it would have been innocent people from Sangin who would have been killed or injured.
"The Taliban have been forced to use these cowardly devices, showing no regard for life.
"An accurate strike by ISAF forces prevented this device being laid and protected the local population, causing no damage or injuries to anyone other than those enemies of Afghanistan who were attempting to lay it."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/4989998/Royal-Marine-foils-roadside-bomb-plot.html
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
Afghan blast kills 2 British soldiers
Updated Sun. Mar. 15 2009 10:42 PM ET
The Associated Press
LONDON -- Britain's Ministry of Defence says two British soldiers have died in an explosion in southern Afghanistan.
The ministry said the pair were travelling in an armoured vehicle which was hit by a blast in the Garmsir district of Helmand province.
Word of the deaths comes after a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan killed four American troops earlier today.
Other bombings and clashes elsewhere in the country killed at least 14 other people.
The latest British deaths bring to 152 the number of British personnel to die in Afghanistan since the U-S-led invasion in 2001.
On Saturday, another British soldier died in an explosion in Helmand, while a French soldier and five Afghan troops were killed during a clash with militants in Kapisa province.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090315/Afghan_Blast_090315/20090315?hub=World
Updated Sun. Mar. 15 2009 10:42 PM ET
The Associated Press
LONDON -- Britain's Ministry of Defence says two British soldiers have died in an explosion in southern Afghanistan.
The ministry said the pair were travelling in an armoured vehicle which was hit by a blast in the Garmsir district of Helmand province.
Word of the deaths comes after a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan killed four American troops earlier today.
Other bombings and clashes elsewhere in the country killed at least 14 other people.
The latest British deaths bring to 152 the number of British personnel to die in Afghanistan since the U-S-led invasion in 2001.
On Saturday, another British soldier died in an explosion in Helmand, while a French soldier and five Afghan troops were killed during a clash with militants in Kapisa province.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090315/Afghan_Blast_090315/20090315?hub=World
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 32,173
- Points
- 1,160
Ahhhh, just like the bad old days....
Riots erupt as top republican is held over soldiers' murders
Tensions flared in Northern Ireland yesterday when masked gangs attacked police with petrol bombs, bricks and stones after a dissident republican was arrested in connection with the murder of two soldiers last week.
Colin Duffy, 42, is a former IRA prisoner who stood trial in the 1990s for the murder of a soldier but was acquitted when it emerged that a key witness against him was a loyalist paramilitary.
Following his arrest yesterday, gangs took to the streets near his home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) were pelted with stones before petrol bombs were hurled at their vehicles. A tense stand-off developed last night with youths forming makeshift barricades to block the railway lines in the town.
Also arrested in the Craigavon area last night in connection with the murder were a 30-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man. Detectives are now questioning five people over the murder.
Two other men, aged 21 and 32, were also arrested after police raids in Lurgan and Bellaghy, Co Londonderry, in connection with the killings of the two soldiers last week.
Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar were shot dead last Saturday by the dissident republican Real IRA as they collected pizzas at the gates of the Massereene barracks in Antrim.
Mr Duffy broke away from mainstream republicanism in opposition to Sinn Fein's decision to back the new PSNI in 2007, and became a member of the republican protest group Eirigi, which insists it is a peaceful pressure group opposed to the new police.
He has been a high-profile and controversial figure in the feuding world of Northern Ireland politics for nearly two decades. He was charged four times with terrorist offences, including murder, and was acquitted each time, once on appeal.
In 1990, he was charged with possessing 10 bullets. He was granted bail but when he left the barracks of the then Royal Ulster Constabulary he was followed by a hit squad who opened fire on him and his two co-accused. Mr Duffy survived but one of his co-accused, Sean Marshall, was killed.
In 1997, Mr Duffy walked free from court after charges over the killings of two RUC constables in Lurgan were dropped when the Director of Public Prosecutions said there was less than a "reasonable chance" of conviction. His solicitor, Rosemary Nelson, received threats after representing him in court. She was murdered in a loyalist car bomb attack in 1999.
In 2001, his home was raided by police, who removed his shoes for forensic analysis. They were investigating the 1989 murder of Roy Metcalfe, 40, a Protestant owner of an army surplus store, who was shot 18 times. Police had found a pair of boots at the scene.
Last year Mr Duffy attracted criticism when rioting broke out in the Lurgan area, leading to gun and petrol bomb attacks on the police. He said the attacks were due to a section of the nationalist community refusing to accept the PSNI.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/riots-erupt-as-top-republican-is-held-over-soldiers-murders-1645348.html
Riots erupt as top republican is held over soldiers' murders
Tensions flared in Northern Ireland yesterday when masked gangs attacked police with petrol bombs, bricks and stones after a dissident republican was arrested in connection with the murder of two soldiers last week.
Colin Duffy, 42, is a former IRA prisoner who stood trial in the 1990s for the murder of a soldier but was acquitted when it emerged that a key witness against him was a loyalist paramilitary.
Following his arrest yesterday, gangs took to the streets near his home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) were pelted with stones before petrol bombs were hurled at their vehicles. A tense stand-off developed last night with youths forming makeshift barricades to block the railway lines in the town.
Also arrested in the Craigavon area last night in connection with the murder were a 30-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man. Detectives are now questioning five people over the murder.
Two other men, aged 21 and 32, were also arrested after police raids in Lurgan and Bellaghy, Co Londonderry, in connection with the killings of the two soldiers last week.
Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar were shot dead last Saturday by the dissident republican Real IRA as they collected pizzas at the gates of the Massereene barracks in Antrim.
Mr Duffy broke away from mainstream republicanism in opposition to Sinn Fein's decision to back the new PSNI in 2007, and became a member of the republican protest group Eirigi, which insists it is a peaceful pressure group opposed to the new police.
He has been a high-profile and controversial figure in the feuding world of Northern Ireland politics for nearly two decades. He was charged four times with terrorist offences, including murder, and was acquitted each time, once on appeal.
In 1990, he was charged with possessing 10 bullets. He was granted bail but when he left the barracks of the then Royal Ulster Constabulary he was followed by a hit squad who opened fire on him and his two co-accused. Mr Duffy survived but one of his co-accused, Sean Marshall, was killed.
In 1997, Mr Duffy walked free from court after charges over the killings of two RUC constables in Lurgan were dropped when the Director of Public Prosecutions said there was less than a "reasonable chance" of conviction. His solicitor, Rosemary Nelson, received threats after representing him in court. She was murdered in a loyalist car bomb attack in 1999.
In 2001, his home was raided by police, who removed his shoes for forensic analysis. They were investigating the 1989 murder of Roy Metcalfe, 40, a Protestant owner of an army surplus store, who was shot 18 times. Police had found a pair of boots at the scene.
Last year Mr Duffy attracted criticism when rioting broke out in the Lurgan area, leading to gun and petrol bomb attacks on the police. He said the attacks were due to a section of the nationalist community refusing to accept the PSNI.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/riots-erupt-as-top-republican-is-held-over-soldiers-murders-1645348.html
- Reaction score
- 3,106
- Points
- 1,160
What was it Gee Dubyah said? " We will hunt down terrorists wherever blah, blah, blah....". Does that mean we can expect M1s rolling into Ulster any time soon?
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 32,173
- Points
- 1,160
Kat Stevens said:
Not likely with the Democrats 'Legacy of the Kennedys' in power now. The fountain in front of the White House is green today for the first time... there's a good indicator of where their sympathies lie.
- Reaction score
- 3,106
- Points
- 1,160
I must have missed the fine print: "Not aplicable to non brown, christian, big campaign contributors."
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
Teen charged with NIreland police murder
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON - Police say they have charged a 17-year-old suspect with the murder of a policeman in Northern Ireland.
The killing was the second of a pair of deadly attacks that shook Northern Ireland's fragile power-sharing government.
It came two days after attackers killed two soldiers just outside a British army base.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland says the 17-year-old male is accused of killing Constable Stephen Carroll on the night of March 9.
Both attacks were claimed by Irish Republican Army dissidents.
The Continuity IRA took responsibility for Carroll's death.
Northern Ireland police said Monday that the unnamed teenager was also charged with belonging to the Continuity IRA.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/03/23/8858746-ap.html
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON - Police say they have charged a 17-year-old suspect with the murder of a policeman in Northern Ireland.
The killing was the second of a pair of deadly attacks that shook Northern Ireland's fragile power-sharing government.
It came two days after attackers killed two soldiers just outside a British army base.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland says the 17-year-old male is accused of killing Constable Stephen Carroll on the night of March 9.
Both attacks were claimed by Irish Republican Army dissidents.
The Continuity IRA took responsibility for Carroll's death.
Northern Ireland police said Monday that the unnamed teenager was also charged with belonging to the Continuity IRA.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/03/23/8858746-ap.html
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 360
At least the people of Basra have the Brits to thank for their rebuilt airport.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7959315.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7959315.stm
Yrys
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 12
- Points
- 430
Iraq inquiry set up 'after July'
Ministers have said they will hold an inquiry into the Iraq war as "soon as practically possible"
after the bulk of UK troops leave in July. The government has previously said it would only be
prepared to contemplate an inquiry once the involvement of UK troops in combat operations
ends. UK troop numbers will be reduced from 4,100 to 400 by the end of July.
The Conservatives say there is no "reasonable impediment" to an immediate inquiry into the
war and its aftermath.
Foreign secretary David Miliband said ministers were committed to holding a "comprehensive"
inquiry but was not prepared to give any details of when this would happen. Shadow foreign
secretary William Hague told MPs that the process should begin straight away and it was a
"grievous error" it had not already started.
'Inconceivable'
The Conservatives have repeatedly called for a judicial inquiry into Iraq along the lines of the
Franks inquiry conducted in the aftermath of the Falklands War. With the bulk of UK troops set
to leave within months and the security and political situation in Iraq "substantially improved",
Mr Hague said was "inconceivable" that an inquiry could not happen. The inquiry must look into
how ministers "discharged their responsibilities" in the run-up to the war, Mr Hague said. Other
areas that must be examined included the use of intelligence, how the UK dealt with the US and
other allies and why planning for post-war Iraq was so inadequate.
Mr Hague said opposition to an inquiry within the government had "evaporated" and many Labour
MPs backed a move. He expressed concerns ministers were contemplating a "more limited" inquiry
than most MPs and the British public expected. He also suggested that ministers may want to delay
an inquiry for as long as possible so that its findings would not be published until after the next
general election.
If Labour did not set up an inquiry, the Conservatives would do it as one of its "first acts" should it
win the next election. "We will learn the necessary lessons and what went wrong in the functioning
of government itself," Mr Hague said.
Mr Miliband said the UK's "sole focus" was on ensuring a "smooth and effective conclusion" to the
UK's combat operation in Iraq. "The time to focus on an official inquiry is when the troops come
home to safety, not when they are exposed to dangers in Iraq," he told MPs. However, he said
any inquiry would be "comprehensive" and look at the conduct of the war and its aftermath.
Two inquiries - the Hutton and Butler inquiries - have already been held into aspects of the Iraq war.
Ministers have said they will hold an inquiry into the Iraq war as "soon as practically possible"
after the bulk of UK troops leave in July. The government has previously said it would only be
prepared to contemplate an inquiry once the involvement of UK troops in combat operations
ends. UK troop numbers will be reduced from 4,100 to 400 by the end of July.
The Conservatives say there is no "reasonable impediment" to an immediate inquiry into the
war and its aftermath.
Foreign secretary David Miliband said ministers were committed to holding a "comprehensive"
inquiry but was not prepared to give any details of when this would happen. Shadow foreign
secretary William Hague told MPs that the process should begin straight away and it was a
"grievous error" it had not already started.
'Inconceivable'
The Conservatives have repeatedly called for a judicial inquiry into Iraq along the lines of the
Franks inquiry conducted in the aftermath of the Falklands War. With the bulk of UK troops set
to leave within months and the security and political situation in Iraq "substantially improved",
Mr Hague said was "inconceivable" that an inquiry could not happen. The inquiry must look into
how ministers "discharged their responsibilities" in the run-up to the war, Mr Hague said. Other
areas that must be examined included the use of intelligence, how the UK dealt with the US and
other allies and why planning for post-war Iraq was so inadequate.
Mr Hague said opposition to an inquiry within the government had "evaporated" and many Labour
MPs backed a move. He expressed concerns ministers were contemplating a "more limited" inquiry
than most MPs and the British public expected. He also suggested that ministers may want to delay
an inquiry for as long as possible so that its findings would not be published until after the next
general election.
If Labour did not set up an inquiry, the Conservatives would do it as one of its "first acts" should it
win the next election. "We will learn the necessary lessons and what went wrong in the functioning
of government itself," Mr Hague said.
Mr Miliband said the UK's "sole focus" was on ensuring a "smooth and effective conclusion" to the
UK's combat operation in Iraq. "The time to focus on an official inquiry is when the troops come
home to safety, not when they are exposed to dangers in Iraq," he told MPs. However, he said
any inquiry would be "comprehensive" and look at the conduct of the war and its aftermath.
Two inquiries - the Hutton and Butler inquiries - have already been held into aspects of the Iraq war.
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