Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, 25, from Berkshire, England, died in an attack by US warplanes in Iraq in March 2003.  It was a “Blue on Blue” incident, and not one of malice. But, the inquest into his death is causing quite a bit of news over here, primarily because of the cockpit footage (with sound) from the A10 Tank Buster, which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) denied the existence of.  And then, when the video did come to light, the MoD refused to enter it into evidence at the hearing because it was classified Secret (within the collective agencies).  Things being as they are, the video entered the public domain soon after when a tabloid managed to get a copy of the footage and the video was subsequently declassified by the US in order for it to be viewed at the inquest.

Well, apart from the egg on the face of the MoD, which is not the most trusted office at present (in the eys of the public), and whether it will have to answer for its denied stance, is whether the pilot(s) of the aircraft involved will face a court regarding their actions.  Allegedly, the pilot(s), not yet named, are still serving, have been promoted (one to colonel) and are teaching novice pilots how to fly.  Bear in mind that the same pilots were apparently novice in 2003 also.

Having watched part of the footage, heard the recorded voices and read the transcript of the incident, I don’t suspect anything above and beyond a blue on blue, which although tragic and sad is an unfortunate occurrence in war.  But, I do harbour other concerns regarding the way Britain willingly handed over four bankers to US courts for trial on some money/fraud incident, yet when the shoe is on the other foot the US doesnt appear so willing to show openess.  Now, I understand it can be fragile, but I very much doubt the classification of the footage served to protect any deeper operational need other than to perhaps avoid what may (hopefully not) move on to a hunt to identify the pilots.

The important part. The only part is putting to rest an incident whereby soldiers of the same coalition happened upon each other and a death ensued.  Perhaps we can learn why.  Perhaps we can learn how not to let it happen again.

If you are interested in reading up on this story and keeping abreast, follow the BBC.  Strangely, I didn’t find mention of it on a US Site, but I am probably mistaken.

Whilst the Americans cannot be legally obliged to help, they should do so, bearing in mind they are our allies

Constitutional Affairs minister Harriet Harman

Yes, literally rubbish.  Upon reading The Guardian newspaper this evening (two days overdue, but I got there eventually).  I happened accross an article on waste disposal and recycling.  This caught my attention as someone who recycles now more than ever and also has a compost bin (which I attribute more to being in my thirties now).  Britain now has a major problem with waste going to landfill and we are being told that we need to address the issue asap, as opposed to some point in the distant future when it is no longer our or our governments problem.  Apparently, some sort of payment is gaining strong support, in the same vein as utility bills.  So what you dump you pay for.  Ok, this is only pertaining to household waste.  We are receiving a lot of pressure about household waste and to reduce, reuse and recycle, which I think we should all be personally responsible for, but levying taxes on households, who by this articles own admission only contributes 9% of the amount of waste going to landfill, I think is a bit rich really.  Only a passing mention of main contributors to landfill waste e.g building and demolition materials.  Again, the main supermarkets (who are the main contributors to household waste) are barely mentioned.  Surely, rather than levy more taxes on the household, why not campaign the supermarkets and main food distributers to produce less packaging on their foods?  We all know there is far too much.  Or would it be too much to ask that all of this packaging is made from biodegradable materials like many carrier bags these days, so then people like me can just chuck it in our composters.  If you want to address the problem of waste going to landfill, address the propogators of this mass waste industry and not the recipients.

Whats the deal? Is there a rise in cocain in Britain or is there a rise in the study/testing of Britains?

Example #1:
New figures reveal that there has been an increase of 3,000 per cent in the number of workers caught with cocaine in their system over the past decade. Read more

Example #2:
British soldiers have been caught smuggling stolen guns out of Iraq and allegedly exchanging them for cocaine and cash on the black market. Read more

By Patrick Cockburn

It is the war that was meant to have ended for good. Just under five years ago the Taliban fled Kabul without firing a shot. But yesterday the Islamic militants showed they were back with a vengeance when a massive suicide bomb blew up beside an American convoy in the city killing 18 Afghans and two US soldiers. Fighting between the Taliban and Nato forces is raging across the south of the country.

The victory won by President George Bush in 2001 after the 11 September al-Qa’ida attacks on America has evaporated. “The fighting is extraordinarily intense. The intensity and ferocity of the fighting is far greater than in Iraq on a daily basis,” the commander of British forces in Afghanistan, Brig Ed Butler said this week. Taliban units have taken over swaths of country around Kandahar and are increasingly active in and around the capital.

Nato defence chiefs meeting in Poland yesterday asked for a further 2,000 to 2,500 men to supplement the 18,500 Nato troops already in Afghanistan. Nato commander James L Jones called for reinforcements saying the next few weeks could be “decisive”.

The suicide bomb near the US embassy was the largest to explode in Kabul since the overthrow of the Taliban. The bomber drove a Corolla packed with explosives which he detonated beside a US Humvee, tearing the vehicle apart. A spiral of brown smoke rose high into the sky from the blazing wreckage. The explosion was powerful enough to gouge a 6ft-deep crater in the road.

US troops stood guard over the bodies of two of their soldiers, one lying slumped in the gutter and the other covered by a plastic sheet. Near by were the remains of other bodies, Muslim prayer caps, floppy khaki coloured military caps and shoes. Some of the dead were street cleaners and seven were said to be foreigners.

Among the dead was the body of an elderly woman who had been sitting with her grand-daughter outside the apartment building where they both lived.

The victory by the US and its local allies after 9/11 was deceptively easy. Pounded by US bombers flying so high they could not be seen and often heavily bribed by emissaries of the CIA the warlords fighting with the Taliban changed sides or went home.

As the Taliban broke up in December 2001 I drove from Kabul to Kandahar and was amazed by how few people had been killed. Everywhere deals were being done between the old and the new regime so the Taliban could retire gracefully to their villages or across the border into Pakistan.

It was all too easy. Many of the local warlords stayed in business. There was little change in who held power on the ground. I visited one warlord south of Kabul who was so averse to giving his allegiance to Hamid Karzai, soon to be elected President, that he only recognised the authority of the UN and raised its blue flag over his village.

President Bush believed the victory was total and the Taliban had gone forever. By the spring of 2002 his administration was already planning to invade Iraq.

The White House and Downing Street exaggerated its own achievements in Afghanistan. The US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld said that what had happened in Afghanistan was “a breathtaking accomplishment”, even as US forces devoted their time to a vain pursuit of al-Qa’ida and Osama bin Laden.

But it took some time before the fragility of the regime became apparent. The Taliban had been deeply unpopular. Many Afghans believed it had been foisted on them by Pakistani military intelligence backed by Saudi money. In a country where there were land mines everywhere but few bridges and roads there was also a desperate desire for peace and development.

But President Karzai never controlled the four fifths of the country outside Kabul. One third of the MPs in the new parliament elected last year were warlords and drug smugglers. Aid was inadequate. For farmers in the southern provinces growing opium poppies was the only cash crop that could pay off their debts. Meanwhile the Taliban were raising fresh men. From a few hundred last year they claimed to have 12,000 men under arms in the south this year.

The most striking feature of the 4,000-strong British force dispatched to southern Afghanistan is its small size. Even the armies that Britain dispatched to Afghanistan, usually with disastrous results, in the 19th century were larger in number. There are hardly enough soldiers to defend themselves, still less to start an ambitious “hearts and minds” campaign.

In July 2002, 1,000 British peacekeepers were withdrawn as Britain handed over control of the international peacekeeping force to Turkey, leaving just 300 British peacekeepers.

The same month, 1,700 soldiers from the Royal Marines 45 Commando were sent home having largely failed to find al Qa’ida leaders in joint missions with US forces. Britain ignored entreaties from President Karzai for more troops. The military build-up for the Iraq invasion was already being planned.

Four years on, Nato troops are fighting for their lives in Afghanistan in battles which left hundreds of Taliban dead this week alone. The Taliban use tactics found so effective by guerrillas in Iraq. Suicide bombers driving vehicles packed with explosives, as happened yesterday in Kabul, are a horribly effective way of destabilising a government. It forces foreign forces to retreat into fortified bases.

The roadside bomb, which has inflicted half of American casualties in Iraq, is a simple but fierce some weapon against a vehicle-borne army.

The British Government was warned what might happen. Generals admitted privately that in Afghanistan and in Iraq British soldiers could end up penned into their encampments unable to move outside its fortifications. It is nevertheless strange that the Government, having become entangled in a messy guerrilla war in Iraq, should make exactly the same mistake in Afghanistan.

 

Happy New year Bib, Mob, K , Ginger, Lee, Rose and all others.

Anyway…

It was nice to see snow in Chicago on the news tonight. However, the story behind the city focused on how the Police of that city is concentrating efforts on gang culture and the overall disrespect for lawful authorities. Kind of a wake up call. What Mrs Hooligan said was quite right. She said that we have been adopting American ways in Britain regarding the fluffy, human rights approach and now it has gone full circle and America is slowly having to revise its stance on topics such as this. No disrespect to Americans of course, except maybe those who started re-inventing the wheel way back when, but then this applys to the Brits also. More power to Chicago Police Dept is what I say.

2006. I hope I get my new job which I am being assessed for in February and then perhaps I will settle down.

regards.

Hooligan.

..that Mob is back? I thought I could chew for Britain… but Mob you are the best. And what’s even better I agree with you entirely (most of the time) and couldnt have put it better myself. I am impressed with the Koran Desecration article.. my take on the whole Moslem thing is that they really believe this stuff.. and they’re willing to die for it too.. how many Christians can say that? Just now in my own faith Im pondering along the lines of.. how nice can Christ actually be.. he’s so nice He’d die for you. In the world’s eyes being kind on such a great level comes over as weak. Like a doormat even.. lucky for us He didnt stay dead..

On an entirely different subject I’d personally like to kiss anyone who voted “Non” in France and will do the same for any Dutch person who votes “no” tomorrow. Id love to have the EEC yes; monster superstate of beaurocrats… no way..

It has created much debate in my house regarding the popular topic of schools lately. More and more is being printed arguing the need for segregation and/or identification of different religions in schools. For example: In one school they have openly encouraged religious segregation in order to A) become a more attractive school to the Muslim community of that area, and B) Highlight their desire to embrace differences in religions and the cultural diversity of it.
Well…I say its all a load of arse. The children of Britain, regardless of race, colour or creed, go to school to learn and part of it means learning to get on with each other regardless. But, it seems that the “adults” are the ones who want to highlight the differences in these children and this to my mind will be damaging in the long run.
In my Ivory tower I admit that my kids get very little spiritual guidance from me. Thats not to say I havent a clue, but it was in adult life that I chose not to partake in religion, but again…it doesnt stop me answering their questions as I see fit. On the same note, it doesnt stop them learning about others and how they live blah blah.
However, as much as I accept that we should all just “get along”, I did wonder why the majority of the books my children used to bring home for reading practice were about characters with Asian names. Its all got fluffy and Im not sure we have a clue what we are doing to our kids because of it. I suppose it depends on whether you as a parent draw attention to it? I dont..so maybe my kids are okay? We shall see.

Could it be that the UN has finally come to the end of its usefulnes? On Fox yesterday someone came up with an interesting point about what the UN was not doing in Kosovo, or Rwanda…. What is the point of the UN now?
Britain is crumbling in its support. Finally the message of the people is getting through and it’s chinking away at Mr Blair’s armour. I must remember to pray for him too….
I think the Americans are just going to go on their own now and to hell with the consequences. You can have a lot of shiny big weapons but have you got the ability to use them wisely? I do not want to see lots of innocent dead civilians again. Will one day dawn when we have done with war forever? Is this all we do every now and again?

Also, try not to be too busy for spending time with God. When you get to the gates of heaven you may find that He’s just too busy for you…

R.