Britain’s ex-army commandos train armed rebels in Syria: UK media
Britain’s former Special Air Service (SAS) commandos are reportedly training armed opposition groups fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, reports say.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Daily Mail and Sunday Express have revealed that the mercenaries have set up training camps in Iraq and on the Syrian border for the armed rebels.
British army sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the militants are receiving instructions in military tactics, weapons handling and communications systems.
Groups of 50 militants at a time are being trained by two Mideast-based private security firms which employ former SAS personnel.
More than 300 rebel forces have completed the commando training program, and are said to account for a number of the opposition’s combatant units fighting Syrian security forces in Damascus.
Britain has also placed more than 600 troops on standby over the unrest in Syria.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says London should be acting outside the UN Security Council and step up its support for militant groups in Syria.
Syria has been the scene of violence by armed groups since March 2011.
Damascus blames “outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
Charity sad as former SAS soldier dies 15 October 2012 | UK
Former SAS soldier and prison inspector Clive Fairweather has died aged 68.
Mr Fairweather was born and educated in Edinburgh and spent 34 years in the Army, rising from the rank of private soldier to Colonel.
During his military career he completed three tours with the SAS and was also security adviser to the Iranian and Jordanian Royal Households in 1970-71. He was second-in-command of 22 SAS at the Iranian Embassy siege in London in 1980.
His last job in the military was at Edinburgh Castle, where he was military security officer for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
He was appointed Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland in 1994 and held the job until 2002. He was made a CBE in 2003 for public service.
Mr Fairweather was a major fundraiser for military charity Combat Stress, which helps former service personnel damaged by their military experiences. He died at the Western Infirmary in Edinburgh yesterday.
Andrew Cameron, chief executive of Combat Stress, said: "It was with great sadness that we learned of Clive Fairweather's passing.
"Clive was a tireless servant of Combat Stress, and a wonderful advocate of our work and the issue of veterans' welfare and mental health. Over the years he raised thousands of pounds in Scotland to support Combat Stress's vital work and greatly raised awareness of the needs of Scottish veterans.
"Clive had a wonderful rapport with the veterans who we support and, as an ex-serviceman of considerable distinction himself, was trusted and respected by them. His energy and passion will be sorely missed and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very sad time."
"He was a true gentleman, good company and compassionate, and simply liked to get things done.
"He will be widely missed and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time."
sursa: Former SAS soldier and prison inspector Clive Fairweather has died aged 68.
Mr Fairweather was born and educated in Edinburgh and spent 34 years in the Army, rising from the rank of private soldier to Colonel.
During his military career he completed three tours with the SAS and was also security adviser to the Iranian and Jordanian Royal Households in 1970-71. He was second-in-command of 22 SAS at the Iranian Embassy siege in London in 1980.
His last job in the military was at Edinburgh Castle, where he was military security officer for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
He was appointed Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland in 1994 and held the job until 2002. He was made a CBE in 2003 for public service.
Mr Fairweather was a major fundraiser for military charity Combat Stress, which helps former service personnel damaged by their military experiences. He died at the Western Infirmary in Edinburgh yesterday.
Andrew Cameron, chief executive of Combat Stress, said: "It was with great sadness that we learned of Clive Fairweather's passing.
"Clive was a tireless servant of Combat Stress, and a wonderful advocate of our work and the issue of veterans' welfare and mental health. Over the years he raised thousands of pounds in Scotland to support Combat Stress's vital work and greatly raised awareness of the needs of Scottish veterans.
"Clive had a wonderful rapport with the veterans who we support and, as an ex-serviceman of considerable distinction himself, was trusted and respected by them. His energy and passion will be sorely missed and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very sad time."
"He was a true gentleman, good company and compassionate, and simply liked to get things done.
"He will be widely missed and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time."
O ironie a sortii. Iata ce a patit un sergent din 22 SAS:
SAS war hero betrayed by the Army, says wife The wife of SAS soldier Danny Nightingale tells Sean Rayment about the impact her husband's courtmartial has had on the family.
Sally Nightingale the wife of court marshalled soldier Danny Nightingale with their daughters Mara 5 and Alys 2 at home in Crewe Photo: Warren Smith
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
7:00AM GMT 11 Nov 2012
Comments140 Comments
Sally Nightingale is a woman who knows the meaning both of loyalty and sacrifice.
As the wife of an SAS soldier, she learned to live with the knowledge that a knock on the door could bring news of her husband’s death.
But she never complained and instead stood by her husband as he took part in secret operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, risking everything in the service of his government and country.
In six years of marriage, the couple has effectively spent three years apart.
Today, as the nation remembers its fallen heroes, she is wondering whether the worry, the pain and the sacrifice have been worth anything, as her husband languishes inside, a military prison, his career and future in tatters. “I expected to be opening a bottle of Champagne and getting our lives back on track,” said Mrs Nightingale.
“Instead I had to tell my two daughters, Mara who is five and Alys, who’s just two and a half, that daddy wasn’t coming home.
“I can’t bear to tell them at he’s in prison and will not be home for a long time - I still can’t believe it myself.
“I feel as though I am in a horrible dream. Danny has been hung out to dry and the whole family is suffering. He is a hero who has been betrayed by the Army and the government.
"He is being treated as though he was a common criminal - it just doesn’t make sense.
“Danny’s Army pay has been stopped - I can’t pay the mortgage and we may lose our home - the whole family is being punished.”
What put Mrs Nightingale in this situation was a sequence of events which has seen her husband taken from a role at the heart of protecting his country to a military detention centre in Colchester.
Even in the SAS Sgt Nightingale was something special. As well as a trained sniper, he was a qualified medic who designed a new field dressing, which is now used by the SAS, the American Delta Force, and Britain’s Ambulance Service.
The device is now known as the “Nightingale Dressing” and has reputedly saved hundreds of lives.
In 2007, Sgt Nightingale was serving in Iraq as part of a secret British-US counter-terrorist unit known as Task Force Black.
The unit was composed of members of the SAS and Delta Force, its American equivalent, and their mission was to kill or capture members of al-Qaeda.
Baghdad was then at the nexus of a violent insurgency driven by terrorists who thought nothing of killing hundreds of innocent civilians every day.
Every evening Sgt Nightingale’s team, working alongside a group of Iraqi special forces known as “The Apostles”, would venture onto the streets to hunt down al-Qaeda terrorists. It was later described as the most intense period of war fighting in SAS history.
Towards the end of the tour Sgt Nightingale was presented with a 9mm Glock by the Iraqis as a gift.
He intended to have it decommissioned and hung on the SAS sergeants’ mess wall as a war trophy, alongside dozens of others amassed by the regiment in operations.
But days before he was due to be flown home, two members of his squadron, Sgt John Battersby and Cpl Lee Fitzsimmons, were killed when their helicopter crashed. The two men were burnt to death, and Sgt Nightingale was escorted the bodies back home and helped arrange the funerals of his friends.
“As soon as Danny returned home he went straight to John’s wife offering her support and arranging the funerals.
"He was exhausted, all of his squadron were, but he would not talk about what happened on operations - he never did and I accepted that,” his wife said.
Meanwhile his operational equipment - and the pistol - was packed away in Iraq by members of the regiment and sent back to Hereford, where it remained locked away on the base in the secure “cage” which every SAS trooper uses.
The couple on their wedding day and Sgt Danny Nightingale on duty
Stung by the death of his two friends, Sgt Nightingale decided to raise thousands of pound for the regiment’s “Clock Tower Fund”, which supports the widows and orphans of dead SAS soldiers by choosing to take partin one of the most arduous races on earth - the Brazil Jungle Marathon where competitors race over 200 miles through the Amazon basin.
But ultimately the race would prove to be Sgt Nightingale’s undoing and set him on a journey which would end with his imprisonment.
On the first day of competition he collapsed. As medics fought to revive him, Sgt Nightingale’s body temperature rose to 111F and his body began to convulse in series of violent fits before he slipped into a three-day coma.
He was eventually flown back to Britain, virtually unable to speak and suffering from terrible memory loss.
“He was talking like a two-year-old and couldn’t even remember he had a daughter,” his wife continued..
“I don’t actually think he could remember anything at all. He was sent to Headley Court but only for rehabilitation, there were no brain functioning tests or anything.
“A few weeks later he was out and the SAS said take two weeks off and come back to work. In the end he was off for three months.”
But Danny was not the same person. He had suffered brain damage and would later learn that he had lost pockets of memory.
Crucially, one of them was the Glock pistol, locked away inside the cage within the headquarters, which had disappeared from his memory.
“Danny got himself fit again but was very good at hiding his memory problems,” Mrs Nightingale said.
“He would make lists so that he never forgot. He knew that if he ever admitted that he had a problem his future in the SAS would be in doubt. Danny lived for the regiment. He was totally loyal, totally committed.”
As far as the regiment were concerned, Sgt Nightingale was ready to serve, and in 2010 he joined the regiment’s counter-terrorist team. It meant being on constant alert and ready at any time to go on active duty.
“Danny needed to be close to the regiment’s headquarters so he moved into an Army house with one of his mates,” said Mrs Nightingale.
His equipment - crucially including the pistol, locked inside a box - was taken from the “cage” and put in the Army quarters.
In May 2011, both men were sent on a six month tour to Afghanistan. A few weeks after they left, his colleague’s wife complained to the police that she was a victim of domestic violence and that her husband had ammunition in his house.
The complaint resulted in a raid on the house in which civilian police searched not just his colleague’s possessions, but Sgt Nightingale’s, and found the Glock pistol. It was in the box in which Sgt Nightingale had locked it in 2007.
Both men were sent back to Britain and Sgt Nightingale was questioned by West Mercia Police, who did not press charges.
Instead the police decided it was a matter for the military, and the case was passed to the Royal Military Police and both men who were charged with firearms offences.
Last Tuesday morning he appeared at a court martial, presided over by Judge Advocate Alistair McGrigor.
Sgt Nightingale knew that he could either fight the charge or plead guilty.
He was told by the judge advocate that if he fought the case and was found guilty he would get a minimum of five years in a civilian prison. If he pleaded guilty, however, the court would treat him leniently.
He and his family stepped outside the court to talk.
Courts martial broadly follow civilian sentencing guidelines, although they are not compelled to. A civilian judge would have followed guidelines which impose a five-year mandatory sentence for possession of a handgun.
Although some judges have imposed lower sentences, including one man jailed for a year for ordering a gun online which he did not actually receive, such cases are rare.
Judge Advocate McGrigor, however, could have imposed a far lower sentence, and Sgt Nightingale’s legal team believed he would.
“Danny’s priority was to get home to his family - five years in a civilian prison is not going to get him home to his family,” said Mrs Nightingale.
“The decision to plead guilty was about creating the minimum damage. It hurts us both with every bone in our body to be forced to go back into the court and say 'I’m guilty’ but that’s what we had to do to try and limit the damage.
“At that stage I didn’t think he would go to prison, never. We spent the afternoon going over the case. We went into court on Wednesday morning, the prosecution put their case forward, which was quite positive.
“The prosecutor said he was an exemplary soldier but he has been found in possession of an illegal firearm and we need to deal with this appropriately.
“We had testimony from two expert witnesses who supported Danny’s case and said that it was completely possible that his brain injury meant that he never knew the gun existed.
“I believe that, because he never spoke about having a Glock. I never knew anything about it until he was sent home from Afghanistan.”
The court accepted that the Glock pistol had been given to Sgt Nightingale as a gift and the testimony from the expert witnesses who stated that he had suffered from severe memory loss.
But the judge refused to accept that Sgt Nightingale was not aware that he was in possession of an illegal firearm and sentenced him to 18 months in the Military Corrective Training Centre in Colchester, known to the military as “the glasshouse”.
He will be discharged from the Army once his sentenced is complete, and will have with a criminal conviction which will make it difficult to secure employment.
Stripped of the SAS career he loved, Sgt Nightingale must hope that the appeal his legal team will lodge against both conviction and sentence succeed.
But until then Mrs Nightingale is determined that she will fight for the return of her husband with dedication equal to his as her fought for his country: “All I want now is justice for my husband and a future for my family and I will not stop fighting until we get it.”
Figuri importante ale politicii si fostul sau superior vor protesta pentru a obtine eliberarea lui Nightingale:
Judge Advocate Alistair McGrigor, presiding over the court martial, could have spared the soldier prison by passing a suspended sentence. Instead he handed down the custodial term.
Sgt Nightingale and his family chose to waive the anonymity usually given to members of the special forces.
His wife, Sally, said her husband’s sentence was a “disgrace”. She called him a “hero who had been betrayed”. She said she and the couple’s two daughters, aged two and five, faced losing their home after his Army pay was stopped.
The soldier’s former commanding officer and politicians have called for the sentence to be overturned.
Lt Col Richard Williams, who won a Military Cross in Afghanistan in 2001 and was Sgt Nightingale’s commanding officer in Iraq, said the sentence “clearly needed to be overturned immediately”.
He said: “His military career has been ruined and his wife and children face being evicted from their home — this is a total betrayal of a man who dedicated his life to the service of his country.”
Patrick Mercer, the Conservative MP for Newark and a former infantry officer, said he planned to take up the case with the Defence Secretary. Simon McKay, Sgt Nightingale’s lawyer, said: “On Remembrance Sunday, when the nation remembers its war heroes, my client — one of their number — is in a prison cell.
"I consider the sentence to be excessive and the basis of the guilty plea unsafe. It is a gross miscarriage of justice and grounds of appeal are already being prepared.”
In 2007, Sgt Nightingale was serving in Iraq as a member of Task Force Black, a covert counter-terrorist unit that conducted operations under orders to capture and kill members of al-Qaeda.
He also helped train members of a secret counter-terrorist force called the Apostles. At the end of the training he was presented with the Glock, which he planned to donate to his regiment as a war trophy.
But in November 2007, two of Sgt Nightingale’s closest friends, Sgt John
Battersby and Cpl Lee Fitzsimmons, were killed in a helicopter crash. He accompanied both bodies back to Britain and helped arrange the funerals.
In Iraq, his equipment was packed by colleagues, one of whom placed the pistol inside a container that was sent first to the SAS regimental headquarters in Hereford, then to his home where it remained unopened until 2010.
In 2009, Sgt Nightingale, now a member of the SAS selection staff, took part in a 200-mile fund-raising trek in Brazil. He collapsed after 30 miles and fell into a coma for three days.
He recovered but his memory was severely damaged, according to two expert witnesses, including Prof Michael Kopleman of King’s College, London, an authority on memory loss.
In May, 2010, Sgt Nightingale was living in a house with another soldier close to the regiment’s headquarters when he was posted to Afghanistan at short notice.
During the tour, his housemate’s estranged wife claimed her husband had assaulted her and kept a stash of ammunition in the house. West Mercia Police raided the house and found the Glock, still in its container.
Sgt Nightingale’s court martial did not dispute that the pistol had been a gift. It accepted statements from expert witnesses, including Dr Susan Young, a forensic psychologist also from King’s College, London. She said that he probably had no recollection that he had the gun.
The court also accepted that Sgt Nightingale had suffered severe memory loss. But the judge did not believe that he had no recollection of being in possession of the weapon.
Situatie paradoxala -as spune, cel putin - in Marea Britanie. In timp ce sergentul SAS Dann Nightingale sta in inchisoare, clericul Abu Qatada nu doar ca a fost eliberat, dar intentioneaza sa dea in judecata statul britanic pentru a primi o despagubire de 10 milioane de lire. Oricum, el deja sta in Uk pe cheltuiala statului britanic. Sincer, i-as da si cele 10 milioane de lire sterline, dar l-as trimite pachet inapoi in Iordania.
iata ce spune fostul sau comandant SAS Commander pays tribute to jailed hero The former commanding officer of 22 SAS, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Williams, recalls serving with Sergeant Danny Nightingale.
By Lieutenant Colonel Richard Williams MBE MC
7:00AM GMT 18 Nov 2012
Comments13 Comments
My lasting memory of Danny Nightingale is not on the battlefield.
It is back in Hereford after the repatriation of two of his comrades, killed in Iraq during the last days of a gruelling 2007 tour.
Standing in his assault uniform with his arms around the family of his fallen friends, talking to them, making them feel stronger, with his calm, steady and compassionate manner, at the most dreadful time imaginable.
Not going home to his family, as much as he longed to, or sharing a pint and a story with his mates, but looking after others, with no fuss, and no sign of the strains of the battlefield he had just left: a good man doing important work for others at a very tough time.
All this is how I remember Danny.
Danny - Sergeant Nightingale - was part of an SAS squadron fighting the al Qaeda suicide bombers in Iraq. He and his mates spent six months facing death every night - such was the unprecedented tempo of these operations, playing their vital part in US-led special forces operation commanded by the American General Stanley McCrystal.
This was relentless, exhausting, dangerous and necessary; and fate had it that his squadron’s tour was the most punishing of all those deployed since 2003.
But as tough as it was, it also worked: by the end of 2007 the suicide bombing rate had fallen from a punishing 150 attacks every month in early 2006 to less than two each month. Crucially, the previously hostile Sunni population had signed up en masse to the local anti-al Qaeda militia as part of a process known as the “Sunni Awakening”.
Danny had helped to make that happen.
Not as one of the decorated, and inevitably noisy team leaders, but as one of the fiercely determined and skilled senior soldiers who entered the enemy’s rooms first, without flinching, or one of whose who covered his mates back from a flank with his sniper rifle.
He was the first to give medical aid and carry the wounded to safety, the first to talk to frightened children woken by the assault, to search dark corners for the escaped target, the first to run back to pick up more ammunition, the first to provide the crucial piece of intelligence at the de-briefing when everyone else was too tired or too excited to bother.
Danny was the servant of his team, one of those crucial men that made things work, and was always there to pick up the pieces when they didn’t, without passing judgment on those who had slipped up.
Danny was a man who had learned how to quietly conquer his fear, and to suffer any doubts only privately.
The quiet, tough, calm, stalwart, a great example of what the best type of British soldier can be, in the SAS and in all units.
Like his farming father he is a stoical man who knew how to quietly get the job done whatever the enemy, the weather or life threw at him, requiring neither praise nor thanks.
Danny is from farming stock, growing up on the plains of Kenya and in the fields of Hampshire before leaving the land to study at the Lancashire College of Nursing, where he met his wife and joined the TA, the Regular Army and the Queens Lancashire Regiment.
He only spent five years in the Infantry before he passed SAS selection in the year the Twin Towers were hit by al Qaeda.
By the end of 2007 he and his wife had two children born into the turbulence of the SAS life. Trained as a medic in the SAS, he helped a group of private medical consultants design a new type of bandage designed to seal chest wounds using a revolutionary gel-like substance more normally used to assist with the placing of explosives.
It joined perfectly Danny’s medical background with his SAS experience. In recognition of this breakthrough it was named the “Nightingale Dressing” and used by paramedics throughout the UK.
It is the mark of the man that he did not seek any financial benefit from it, and there are many who him a deep debt of gratitude for the invention.
When he suffered brain damage and memory loss caused because of the stress-induced coma of 2009 - when he was competing in an event to raise money for the wives and children of the regiment - he quietly overcame it to return to operational duty, only have it curtailed by the discovery in his military accommodation of a pistol he cannot remember he possessed.
Danny gave his comrades and their families support in the toughest of times and gave his all for his country: now it is time for that debt to be honoured, and for Danny to be freed.
* Lt Col Richard Williams MBE MC Commanding officer 22 SAS 2005 - 2008 sursa: LINK
Uite si ce doreste Qatada:
Abu Qatada plans to sue Government for £10m, his brother says Abu Qatada intends to sue the Government for £10 million in compensation for his “unlawful detention,” his family has disclosed.
By Rosa Silverman
6:30AM GMT 19 Nov 2012
The extremist cleric plans to seek a pay-out for his “extended mistreatment” now that he has won his battle against deportation to Jordan to face trial and has been freed from prison.
A senior immigration judge last week upheld his appeal after his lawyers claimed he would not get a fair hearing, a ruling that has reportedly boosted the hate preacher’s hopes for a large settlement.
He was released on bail afterwards, subject to a 16 hour a day curfew and other restrictions.
Ibrahim Othman, his brother, told the Daily Mail: “He said he hopes to get £10million for being wrongly put in jail.
“He says he will make the claim when the court processes are finished for his extended mistreatment.
“He has done nothing against the British people but the British authorities put him jail for many years.
“He has not had any trial in Britain. It is only right that he should have the money.
“He hasn’t been able to work for a long time because he has been in jail, so how could he survive without compensation when it is all over?”
If Qatada’s claim is successful, he plans to spend the money on a new house in Jordan, if he is allowed to return without facing trial, his brother said.
He would also want to donate some of the money to an Islamic charity to help the country’s poor, Mr Othman added.
In 2009 Qatada, who was once described at Osama bin Laden’s right hand man in Europe, was awarded £2,500 compensation by the European Court of Human Rights after judges ruled that his detention without trial in the UK under anti-terrorism powers breached his human rights.
In 2001 he became one of Britain's most wanted men after going on the run from his home in Acton, west London but in October 2002 he was arrested by police in a council house in south London and detained in Belmarsh high-security jail. sursa: LINK
SAS sniper Sgt Danny Nightingale pays tribute to 'hero wife'
The SAS hero jailed for illegally possessing a souvenir weapon, last night paid tribute to his “hero wife” and said he was looking forward to a typically hectic family Christmas.
By Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent
6:00AM GMT 01 Dec 2012
Comments24 Comments
Sergeant Danny Nightingale, 37, was dramatically freed from military detention after wife Sally swung into action to campaign for his release.
With the help of newspaper publicity the 38-year-old mother-of-two organised a petition containing more than 107,000 signatures and also appealed directly to the Prime Minister.
On Thursday Sgt Nightingale, who was serving 18-months detention after pleading guilty at a military court to possessing a firearm and ammunition, was dramatically set free when the Court of Appeal suspended his sentence.
Yesterday with his two daughters Mara, 5, and two-year-old Alys, wrapped in his arms, the highly trained elite soldier said he owed his freedom to his “courageous” wife. He said: “Sally is the real hero here. Without her this would not have happened. She has been the catalyst. Her courage, her dignity and the way she maintained her integrity all the way through has been absolutely superb.”
He added: “She has done wonders. I think common sense prevailed really and also the amount of support that has been shown by everyone. Sally is a hero in this, along with the public.”
Sgt Nightingale, who has served in the Army for 17 years, more than a decade of that with the SAS, has faced death many times in operations in some of the world’s most dangerous war zones.
But he said even those experiences had not prepared him for the moment he realised he was being sent to prison and taken away from his family.
He explained: “I had been expecting to go home to the girls that night but Sally had to tell them that daddy was not coming home. It was shocking and gut-wrenching and I had to prepare for the fact that I might not see them until August next year.”
Last night as the family headed back home to Cheshire, to prepare for the family Christmas they never expected to enjoy, they said they had been "humbled" by the incredible outpouring of public support.
Sgt Nightingale said: "It has amazing and I can't thank everyone enough for their support. This will be a very special Christmas."
Sally said rather than a quiet time they were looking forward to enjoying a hectic time surrounded by their family.
His wife said added: “Despite Danny’s job he is normally always around at Christmas because his tours are usually in the summer. So this year we couldn’t imagine what it was going to be like without him around.
“Thankfully we will all be together now and although it won’t be particularly peaceful with two little girls we can look forward to a hectic time with our family.”
Despite his release, Sgt Nightingale has insisted he would not rest until he has cleared his name completely.
On Monday morning he is planning to meet with his lawyers to plan the next stage of his legal battle.
He said: “This weekend is family time but on Monday we will go back in with full vigour to see what we can do.”
A free Danny Nightingale with his wife Sarah Nightingale and father outside the High Court (Picture: PAUL GROVER)
Mrs Nightingale added: “Danny has been used as a scapegoat and they chose the wrong person to do that to they chose the wrong person to make an example of."
The Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, sitting with Mr Justice Fulford and Mr Justice Bean, reduced Sgt Nightingale’s sentence from 18-months to 12-months and suspended it for a year.
They also granted him leave to appeal against his conviction after his lawyers argued that his guilty plea had been made following unfair advice.
Mrs Nightingale said her husband’s treatment by the Court Martial had rocked her faith in the military’s legal system.
She said: “We felt that the Court Martial was a very unfair hearing because before we went in and had our case heard Danny was told if he did not plead guilty he would be facing five years and if he did plead guilty he would be treated leniently. The common sense did not prevail.
“We have not got a lot of trust around that system, but my faith was restored by what happened in the civilian court.”
The publicity generated during the campaign to secure Sgt Nightingale’s release could mean that even if his appeal against conviction is successful, his career in the SAS is no longer possible.
But the soldier, who was praised for his exemplary record by his former SAS commanding officer, said whatever happened in the future he would always remain incredibly proud of the British Army and of the regiment.
Asked if he one day wanted to resume his career in the SAS he replied: "Of course I do. The pride and everything being there, it's the best place to be. It is the pinnacle of the British forces."
He added: “Joining that unit was the proudest day of my life. Any soldier who serves their country should feel proud of what they do. But the real heroes are those guys on the frontline now defending the country, rather than me."
Armata britanica mai pierde cateva mii de oameni. E vorba despre asa-numitele 'redundancies'. Asta inseamna ca 5300 de soldati vor redeveni civili. Recent, alti 7000 au parasit uniforma militara, ca urmare a deficitului bugetar mostenit de Ministerul Apararii.
Oricum ar fi, pana cel mai tarziu in 2020, de la circa 98.000 de oameni, fortele terestre vor ajunge un efectiv de 82.000 de militari profesionisti. Asa cum am mai spus, acesta este cel mai mic efectiv al armatei britanice din ultimii 200 de ani. Un numar atat de mic de soldati nu a mai avut armata britanica din perioada de dupa razboaiele napoleoniene.
Se mizeaza, in schimb, pe recrutarea unui mare numar de rezervisti (Territorial Army redenumita, dupa model american, Reserve Forces). Cifra-tinta este de 30.000, astfel ca efectivul total va fi de 112.000. Problema e ca angajatorii rezervistilor sa fie de acord. Au avut loc discutii iar acestia nu s-ar putea spune ca debordeaza de entuziasm. Au spus insa ca perspectiva li se pare 'interesanta' iar pe viitor, vom mai vedea. Insa cei din MoD, cel putin in varianta oficiala sunt foarte optimisti.
Interesanta este noua structura, la a carei elaborare un rol important a fost jucat de actualul comandant al contingentului britanic din Afganistan si loctiitor al comandantului ISAF, generalul locotenent Nick Carter. Unitatile de militari profesionisti si cele de rezervisti vor fi integrate. Fata de varianta din 2011 privind viitoarea structura a armatei terestre, preconizata in SDSR din 2010, vara trecua au aparut modificari. Se renunta la structura cu 5 brigazi multirol si brigada 16 asalt aerian. Fortele vor fi impartite in: -Reaction Forces -Adaptative Forces - Force Troops
Reaction Forces vor fi grupate intr-un comandament de divizie, actuala Divizie 1 Blindata, ale carei forte vor fi pana in 2020 repatriate in totalitate din Germania. Aceasta va fi compusa din 3 brigazi blindate si brigada 16 asalt aerian (16 AAB). Structura lor va fi insa diferita fata de cea actuala. Astfel, 16 AAB va avea in organica sa cele 2 batalioane de parasutisti (2 PARA si 3 PARA, 1 PARA fiind nucleul Special Forces Support Group) si doua regimente de elicoptere de atac AH-64 Apache. Cele trei brigazi blindate vor fi organizate astfel: -1 regiment de blindate cu 3 escadroane a 18 Challenger 2 MBT fiecare (actualele regimente blindate au cate 4 escadroane a 14 tancuri fiecare) si un escadron de comanda si recunoastere - 1 regiment cavalerie blindata formata din 3 escadroane a 16 vehicule blindate usoare CVR(T) fiecare, ce vor fi inlocuite de Scout Specialist Vehicle si un escadron de comanda si sprijin - 2 batalioane de infanterie mecanizata (ei ii spun blindata) fiecare cu 3 companii de masini de lupta ale infanteriei de tip Warrior (14 de companie) si o companie de sprijin - 1 batalion motorizat blindat cu 3 companii a 14 camioane Mastiff fiecare si o companie de sprijin
In fiecare moment, o brigada blindata va avea un grup de lupta de batalion in stare de pregatire avansata iar brigada 16 asalt aerian va avea un grup de lupta aeropurtat gata de intrare in actiune. Fiecare din cele 3 brigazi blindate si 16 AAB vor fi pregatite sa fie desfasurate in maximum trei luni pe orice teatru de operatii.
Partea interesanta vine acum. In cazul participarii la operatii, divizia 1 primeste brigada 101 logistica iar fiecareia dintre brigazi i se aloca in functie de misiune unitatile necesare de artilerie, geniu, reparatii, transmisiuni, suport logistic, spitale de campanie etc. din cadrul Force Troops. Prin urmare, se renuntat la existenta acestor unitati de sprijin de lupta si sprijin logistic ca parti integrante din organica brigazilor. Brigazile primesc din acest 'bazin' (Force Troops) asemenea unitati doar in functie de nevoi.
La fel stau lucrurile si in cazul Adaptable Forces (scuze, nu Adaptative Forces). Acestea vor fi grupate in 7 brigazi de infanterie ce vor forma Divizia 3 Infanterie Mecanizata. Cele 7 brigazi au o structura mixta, integrand unitati ale armatei regulate si pe rezervisti. Fiecare brigada are urmatoarea structura: -1 regiment de cavalerie usoara a 3 escadroane formate din 16 vehicule blindate usoare Jackal, grupat cu un regiment de rezervisti Yeomanry - 1 batalion de infanterie motorizata blindata cu 3 companii in camioane blindate Foxhound si o companie de sprijin, la care se adauga un batalion de rezervisti - 1 batalion de infanterie usoara cu 3 companii si o companie de sprijin la care se adauga un batalion de rezervisti
Oricum, structura lor va varia in functie de obiective: -unele vor activa in zone unde Marea Britanie are misiuni permanente: in tara, in Brunei, in Cipru si in insulele Falkland - ele vor avea relatii de cooperare si instruire cu tari din Golf, Orientul Mijlociu, Asiade SE si Africa Unitatile de sprijin si sprijin de lupta vor proveni din acelasi bazin, fiind gestionate centralizat de Forces Troops.
Force Troops vor avea in structura: 1 brigada de artilerie, 1 brigada de geniu, 1 brigada intelligence & surveillance, 2 brigazi de transmisiuni, 1 brigada medicala, 1 brigada de sustinere logistica, 1 brigada de politie militara, si Security Assistance Group (de nivel regiment). Am uitat sa spun ca divizia 3 dispune de brigada 102 Sprijin Logistic.
In varianta initiala din SDSR se preconiza dizolvarea a 11 din cele 36 de batalioane de infanterie. Noul proiect propune disparitia a doar 5: -Batalionul 2/Royal Regiment of Fusiliers -Batalionul 2/Yorkshire Regiment (fost Green Howards) -Batalionul 2/Royal Welsh (fost Royal Regiment of Wales) -Batalionul 3/Mercian Regiment (fost Staffordshire Regiment) -Batalionul 5/Royal Regiment of Scotland (fost Argyll and Sutherlands Highlanders) va deveni companie avand misiuni ceremoniale
Joint Helicopter Command va pierde regimentul 9 Army Air Corps (AAC), aflat in structura 16 AAB (probabil ca cele 16 elicoptere AH-64 pe care le detine vor fi preluate de regimentele 3 si 4 AAC ?)
De la 'grei' dispar: -regimentele blindate 9/12 Royal Lancers si Queen's Royal Lancers vor fuziona in The Royal Lancers - 1st Royal Tank Regiment si 2nd Royal Tank Regiment - Regimentul 39 artilerie va fi desfiintat, iar MLRS-urile sale vor fi preluate de Territorial Army Vor disparea si regimentele 8, 23 si 24 Royal Logistic Corps
Royal Navy va fi redusa de la 35,000, in prezent, la 30,000 de oameni. RAF isi va reduce efectivele de la 44,000 la 39,000 de oameni. Deci UK Armed Forces vor numara, in 2020, 151,000 de militari de profesie. RN va avea 6 distrugatoare si 13 fregate, 2 portavioane (se pune problema ca doar unul sa fie operatonal, iar celalalt tinut in rezerva sau chiar vandut) 6 vase amfibii, 7 submarine de atac Astute, 14 vase de patrulare si dragoare. Se pune problema inlocuirii celor 4 submarine purtatoaere de rachete balistice, dar liberal-democratii din coalitia de guvernamant se opun din cauza costurilor prea ridicate. Durata de operare a actualelor submarine de tip Vanguard va fi extinsa pana in anii 2020 sau chiar 2030. Numarul focoselor imbarcate pe fiecare submarin va fi redus de la 48 la 40. Marea Britanie nu va dispune de mai mult de 180 de focoase nucleare. Fiecare racheta va purta doar 5 focoase.
RAF va achizitiona pentru inceput 48 de F-35 B, cifra finala urmand a fi decisa ulterior. Probabil 36 le va lua Royal Navy. Vor fi 160 Eurofighter Typhoon, 8 C-17 Globemaster, 22 Airbus A-400M de transport, iar flota de VC 10 si Tristars pentru realimentare in aer va fi inlocuita de 11 Airbus A330 MRTT. Numarul elicopterelor CH-47 va creste cu 22 pana la 70. Nimrod R1 vor fi inlocuite pentru signalls interlligence de 3 Boeing RC-135 River Joint. In materie de UAV, britanicii dezvolta cu francezii BAE Systems/Dassault Telemos, BAE dezvolta Taranis si au MQ-9 Reaper.
Cu toate acestea, exista numeroase voci critice fata de actuala politica a MoD. Se crede ca armata va fi prea mica pentru a mai face fata misiunilor sale. Seful Statului Major al Apararii, generalul David Richards (si nu doar el) s-a plans recent ca numarul de nave este prea mic pt ca Royal Navy sa mai asigure o forta de acoperire globala. In timpul conflictului din Libia, fostul sef al Air Command, maresalul-sef al aerului Simon Bryant a declarat ca atat echipamentul cat si personalul au fost suprasolicitate. David Cameron i-a inchis gura spunandu-le sefilor celor trei categorii de forte sa nu mai critice misiunea din Libia. Drept urmare, ei si-au pierdut locul in Defence Board, din care doar Seful Statului Major al Apararii mai face parte.
Ministrul Apararii din cadrul 'cabinetului din umbra' laburist, Jim Murphy, a cerut guvernului sa revada SDSR motivand ca, atunci cand s-a decis reducerea armatei la doar 82,000 de militari full-time, nu s-au luat in calcul actualele evolutii din Africa. Murphy (si nu doar el) considera exagerat de optimista prognoza privind recrutarea pana in 2018 a 30,000 de rezervisti si mentinerea acestui nivel.
Poate ca, fiind eu un outsider, nu am o perceptie corecta: daca se adevereste ceea ce scrie in articolul asta (cifrele sunt enuntate cu o prea mare precizie sa nu fie adevarate, iar in general, ceea ce a scris Daily Telegraph s-a confirmat ulterior), atunci exista pericolul ca UKSF sa devina o forta de mana a doua. Nu ma bazez in ceea ce afirm doar pe masura pe care se pare ca MoD vrea sa o ia acum.
Special forces face big cuts in support network The support network for Britain’s special forces is facing major cutbacks with around 600 posts earmarked to be lost in a reorganisation to coincide with the military pull-out from Afghanistan.
By Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor
6:58PM GMT 02 Feb 2013
Sources told The Sunday Telegraph that the controversial move could become necessary because the campaign had seen a build-up of support and logistics to enable elite squads to carry out their operations which would no longer be necessary.
The proposals, drawn up at the Ministry of Defence, do not affect the fighting troops of the Special Air Service or the Special Boat Service.
However 156 posts are expected to be lost from the Special Forces Support Group, which provides infantry and specialised support to SAS and SBS operations. The rest of the 600 posts are from units providing vehicles, signals, logistics and intelligence — the key “enablers” which allow elite troops to operate.
The plans come in the wake of last week’s confusion over the Coalition’s plans for future overall spending on defence.
David Cameron suggested that totals would be increased “year on year” from 2015, following the next Whitehall spending review. But Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, later said the increase would apply only to equipment.
Mr Hammond today opens up a new rift with the Liberal Democrats over the future of Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent. He uses an article in The Sunday Telegraph to back a like-for-like replacement of the current Trident submarine system as “the best option for Britain”.
He warns that alternative systems being studied by the Liberal Democrats would carry “enormous financial, technical and strategic risk” — and could even risk triggering a nuclear war.
Sources said the cuts proposed to special forces support were “an option being considered by the military” because certain roles would not be needed after the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, scheduled to take place by the end of 2014.
The Government never comments officially on the special forces, whose total numbers are thought to be about 2,000. In the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, special forces were spared cutbacks which overall saw the defence budget fall by around 7.7 per cent to around £33.5billion a year between 2010-11 and 2014-2015.
Some military figures are unhappy about the latest plan. One said the decisions in the SDSR would be “completely undermined” if it was implemented and added: “This is absolutely bonkers — it will institutionalise overstretch within the UK’s special forces at a time when they have been operating, and need to continue to operate, at a high tempo.”
Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, said: “These very specialised, high-end forces, which the UK now needs more than ever, are being made redundant at the same time as ministers hail their importance. Prime ministerial promises to support defence seem even more worthless.”
Mr Hammond, meanwhile, backs moves to keep a continuous nuclear deterrent at sea. It offers Britain more “freedom of manoeuvre” in a crisis, while the Trident missile system provides “range” and “endurance”, he argues.
Replacing Trident would cost around five to six per cent of the annual defence budget, which would be “affordable” and would enhance links with the US, which uses the same system, according to Mr Hammond.
His comments come days after Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem Treasury Chief Secretary, said a direct replacement for Trident was “not financially realistic”. Mr Alexander took charge last year of the Government’s review into alternatives to a like-for-like Trident replacement. The review was obtained by the Liberal Democrats as part of the Coalition Agreement shortly after the 2010 general election.
The agreement allowed the Lib Dems to “make the case for alternatives”, although it committed the Government to “maintain Britain’s nuclear deterrent”.
Mr Hammond, backed by a large majority of Tories, wants a direct replacement for the current Vanguard submarines, which are expected to be decommissioned in the late 2020s. Their Trident II D-5 missiles are expected to remain in service until 2042.
The Government is spending £1.4billion on initial design work for replacement submarines — a clear signal that a like-for-like system will go ahead. But the final decision is not due until 2016, after the next general election.
Last month, Mr Alexander said MPs from all parties, as well as senior military officers, should accept there were “credible and compelling alternatives” to continuous at-sea deterrence and the Treasury did not have a “magic pot of money” to pay for a new generation of submarines.
Mr Hammond’s article reflects a concern among senior Tories that the Lib Dems are trying to “move the goalposts” in an attempt to redefine what is needed and to pave the way for a part-time deterrent when the review of alternatives makes its final recommendations.
A replacement system based on cruise missiles, understood to be one of the alternatives favoured by the Lib Dems, as well as some senior military figures, would mean designing new warheads and missiles from scratch, Mr Hammond argues.
He writes: “A deterrent only deters if it is credible and available. All the evidence points to a continuous-at-sea presence, based on Trident, as the most cost-effective route to deliver the deterrent effect.
“A cruise-based deterrent would carry significant risk of miscalculation and unintended escalation. At the point of firing, other states could have no way of knowing whether we had launched a conventional cruise missile or one with a nuclear warhead. Such uncertainty could risk triggering a nuclear war at a time of tension.
“So, the cruise option would carry enormous financial, technical and strategic risk.
“Trident remains the best option for Britain.”
Au mai fost, de-a lungul anilor, indicii in acest sens: demisiile succesive a doi comandanti ai 22 SAS (Richard Williams 2005-2007) si cel care a condus unitatea intre 2008-2010, amandoi catalogati drept cei mai straluciti reprezentanti ai promotiei lor de ofiteri, cu sanse (asta in cazul in care lucrurile ar fi functionat normal) de a ajunge la 3 sau 4 stele. Cauzele au fost fie independenta in conceptie si actiune a primului si reducerea fondurilor pentru armata si lipsa de echipamente in cazul celui de-al doilea. Adaug aici demisia brigadierului Ed Butler, fost comandant 22 SAS (2000-2002) din aceleasi motive.
Apoi, remarca unui fost ofiter soldat SAS care spunea despre Delta ca este in anumite privinte superioara faimosului regiment britanic datorita mijloacelor de comunicatii si transport de care unitatea americana dispune. Operatori Delta si-au marturisit admiratia fata de colegii britanici dar au spus si ca, nu de putine ori, i-au ajutat cu echipament de care acestia duceau lipsa.
Episodul neplacut in care a fost implicat sergentul Danny Nightingale arata iar ca ambianta in care se misca UKSF nu este deloc una de natura sa le imprime optimism si incredere in rolul pe care il joaca.
Reducerea armatei terestre de la 102.000 la 82.000 de oameni, in care este inclusa si disparitia a 5 batalioane de infanterie va creea dificultati in gasirea de noi membri ai regimentului care sa ii inlocuiasca pe cei care pleaca. Perceptia in mare parte negativa pe care segmente largi ale societatii britanice o au fata de militari (mergand pana la recomandarea MoD ca militarii sa nu poarte uniforma in afara unitatilor lor) descurajeaza inrolarile si afecteaza moralul militarilor. Scazand numarul inrolarilor, bazinul de recruti pentru UKSF scade si deja exista o reducere vizibila a celor care doresc sa ajunga membri ai acestor unitati specializate. Reducerile din viitor vor face ca acest numar sa fie si mai mic.
E o mare diferenta intre modul in care sunt perceputi de civili militarii in SUA, Canada, Australia si maniera in care sunt tratati de civili in UK. Acele stiri despre Military Covenant semnate de autoritatile locale si reprezentantii armatei din teritoriu par mai multe simple acte protocolare decat expresia unui sentiment popular.
Acum, ultima lovitura: reducerea personalului si chiar a mijloacelor auxiliare. Se stie prea bine, nu e nevoie sa precizez eu asta, ca unitati cu un caracter atat de special precum SAS, SBS si SRR, fara mijloacele de comunicatii, transport si logistica sunt simpli infanteristi si ca rata de succes in operatiuni poate scadea dramatic.
Iar calcule pe termen scurt pornind de la premiza ca daca operatiunile in Afganistan inceteaza nu mai e nevoie de asemenea capacitati e profund eronata. In primul rand, nu se stie niciodata ce iti rezerva viitorul. Apoi, in contextul international actual si in viitorul previzibil, rolul fortelor speciale ar putea creste. Prin pregatirea de care dispun, conjugata cu o logistica impecabila, ele pot duce la bun sfarsit actiuni cu maximum de randament si mijloace relativ reduse, scutind statul de cheltuielile si riscurile asociate unei operatiuni de anvergura.
Si acum, aceste masuri. Ca reduc pe cei din pozitiile auxilare e deja destul de rau. Insa se pare ca dispar peste 150 de posturi din SFSG. E mult. Nucleul il formeaza Batalionul 1 Parasutisti. O companie de puscasi din acest regiment are 90 de militari -sunt 3 companii de puscasi in fiecare batalion para (companiile lor sunt mai mici decat cele din celelalte regimente de infanterie). 156 de oameni inseamna aproape efectivul a 2 companii puscasi para. Banuiesc ca membrii SFSG sunt principalii candidati pt selectia in unitatile Tier 1. Daca dispar peste 150, ma gandesc cam ce va mai ramane pentru selectie.
Poate ca exagerez cand spun 'putere de mana a doua' Britanicii au fost printre pionieri in domeniul Special Forces. Dar asta eram acum cateva decenii. La sfarsitul anilor 70 doar cateva tari aveau unitatii specializate in contraterorism cat de cat mature sau bine definite: SAS (UK), Delta (SUA), GSG-9 (Germania), GIGN (Franta), Sayeret Matkal (Israel). In rest, nu existau sau in cateva tari asemenea unitati erau inca in stadiul incipient. Anii au trecut, iar unitati de gen similar din alte parti au aparut mai peste tot, au castigat experienta iar diferentele s-au redus. Asta mai ales ca, din ce am citit, la un moment dat orice experienta atinge un prag de plafonare. Nu poti progresa la infinit, avand in vedere capacitatile finite de care dispune omul, fie el chiar un militar foarte bine pregatit. Pana la urma, cam acelasi gen de experienta vor capata toti si cam aceleasi bareme de performanta urmeaza sa fie atinse. Apreciez ca in circa trei decenii, beneficiind de o experienta operationala suficient de bogata, de standarde ridicate de selectie si pregatire, de sprijin politic materializat in buna promovare si stimulare a oamenilor si in sprijnul logistic si tehnologic, o unitate de acest gen poate atinge cele mai inalte performante. In asemenea conditii, e greu de crezut ca 'locul I' mai poate fi mentinut de cineva cu usurinta, chiar daca are 'vechimea' cea mai mare in domeniu, dar nu a beneficiat de sprijin politic si material in egala masura.
Impresia mea s-a conturat de-a lungul timpului si am imaginea unei tendinte create printr-un efect cumulativ. Sunt primul care admite ca se poate insela. Nici macar nu pretind ca lucrurile pe care le sustin sunt corecte. Este doar o opinie si chiar astept sa fiu contrazis. Nu am scris acestea cu intentia de a emite un vedict, ci doar de a duce un rationament pana la capat, de a folosi cat pot de bine argumentele pe care le-am construit pe baza a ceea ce cunosc (sau cred ca as cunoaste, avand in vedere secretul bine pastrat in privinta unitatilor speciale) pentru a oferi un tablou plauzibil. La urma urmei, doresc sa invat ceva si cea mai buna cale este de a face asta e a de arata ceea ce stiu. Pe baza afirmatiilor mele, pot primi confirmari sau infirmari.
Un raid efectuat de SAS cu doar doua zile inaintea declansarii ofensivei din Irak din 2003:
Revealed:The SAS secret mission to kill in Iraq BEFORE MPs voted to invade
The SAS were already fighting in Iraq on the eve of the Commons vote Soldiers were there to prevent a chemical weapons attack on Israel
By Mark Nicol
PUBLISHED: 22:05 GMT, 23 February 2013 | UPDATED: 23:59 GMT, 23 February 2013
The SAS were involved in fierce fighting inside Iraq the day before the crucial Commons vote in 2003 that approved military action against Saddam Hussein’s regime, The Mail on Sunday can reveal today.
As the tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War approaches, we have uncovered a trove of documents about the secret mission, including accounts of senior Special Forces personnel.
Told here for the first time, this is the story of Operation Row, one of the most controversial missions in SAS history.
To preserve the anonymity of surviving SAS soldiers, their names have been changed.
At a classified location in the Arabian Gulf, a thunder of rotor blades shatters the silence of the desert night.
Squads of heavily armed Special Air Service soldiers, their faces shrouded by scarves, sprint through a sandstorm whipped up by the waiting fleet of helicopters.
Their boots clatter against the metal tailgates as the hand-picked men from the SAS’s D Squadron scramble inside the six Chinook CH-47 transporters and strap themselves into seats that fold down from the helicopters’ walls.
Seconds remain before the launch of their top-secret mission. Late on the night of March 17, 2003, and 24 hours before MPs are due to vote on the Iraq War, these soldiers are under orders to infiltrate the country and deliver a stunning blow to Saddam Hussein’s most elite troops.
The SAS’s destination is Al Qa’im, a town where, according to intelligence reports, Saddam Hussein’s forces are poised to fire chemical weapons towards Israel.
The SAS’s mission is to prevent an attack on the Jewish state.
British special forces in Baghdad after the mission
An SAS officer describes the plans for Op Row: ‘D Squadron would be flying in 6x CH-47s in 3x waves, 120kms over the border. We were then to head from the LZ [Landing Zone] to Al Qa’im, a township of 100,000 people, 2x Regts of the fearsomely proud Republican Guards and a Marine battalion.
‘It was a location where missiles had been fired at Israel in the past and a site of strategic importance for WMD material. D Sqn comprised 60 men.’
Inside one of the Chinooks, radio specialist Captain Jim Watkins breathes in air thick with aviation fuel fumes. He can still taste the port he downed moments before running aboard.
In spite of this toast, the officer remains anxious. He is missing his girlfriend, whom he hasn’t seen or spoken to since Christmas. Watkins and his SAS colleagues have spent the previous three months confined in secret bases in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Parliament might not have approved the mission but Watkins and his comrades have written their ‘death letters’ – to be read by their loved ones in case the operation goes tragically wrong. Watkins later wrote in his diary: ‘The reality of what we were about to do suddenly struck home and a number of emotions began to run through my mind.
‘Fear, anxiety and also nervousness on how I would perform but most of all I was consumed with excitement. While realising what lay ahead, it was incredibly difficult to write my last words.
I tried to write a message that both consoled my girlfriend and family, while adding a bit of humour and character to try to lighten the mood.’
Deafened by the roar of turbo-shaft engines, Watkins checks his Diemaco rifle and personal equipment, tightening straps for the thousandth time. Then he feels a terrific thrust as the Chinook climbs powerfully into the night sky.
Below, the steel-fenced confines of Al Jafr airbase in southern Jordan disappear into the darkness. Relieved the mission is finally under way, Watkins sends a radio message back to the SAS’s HQ. Instantly he feels a smack around his head.
‘Shut the **** up!’ screams Sergeant Joe Smith.
Confronted by this battle-hardened veteran, Watkins’s seniority counts for little. Chastened, the captain lowers the volume on his headphones.
Back at Al Jafr, a second wave of six Chinooks takes off. On board are more soldiers from the SAS’s D Squadron and their Land Rovers, nicknamed ‘Pinkies’. These open-top vehicles are armed with machine guns, rocket launchers and Stinger missiles.
Shortly afterwards, the third wave of Chinooks follow the same flightpath. On the night of March 17 to 18, the passage into enemy airspace is smoothed by raids conducted by US Little Bird helicopters – lightweight, single-seater aircraft with a distinctive spherical cockpit.
As an SAS officer wrote: ‘It got darker and the Little Birds came back to refuel and rearm with [gun] barrels glowing white-hot. I knew that there was no turning back, Allied forces were now committed.’
The Chinooks land in Iraq’s western desert and Watkins disembarks. Shivering with cold, Watkins and his colleagues dig themselves into defensive positions. To his horror, Watkins sees a set of headlights approaching the SAS’s positions.
Urgently, the officer cocks his rifle and dives into the dust, his heart pounding. Fortunately, the cars pass without slowing down. Afterwards, while his more seasoned colleagues allowed themselves some shut-eye, Watkins remains too nervous to sleep.
He spends March 18 waiting for another batch of 60 soldiers, men selected from the SAS’s B Squadron, to arrive at the same location having driven from Al Jafr in Land Rovers. Back in Britain, Cabinet Ministers are now digesting Attorney General Lord Goldsmith’s judgment that military action against Iraq is legal – on the basis of Saddam Hussein’s non-compliance with United Nations resolutions.
On the evening of March 18, Tony Blair tells MPs that British troops can either ‘turn back or hold firm to the course we have set’. That evening the House of Commons passes a Government motion endorsing military action by 412 votes to 149.
That night, the soldiers of B Squadron complete their journey. In the early hours of March 19, Watkins and his colleagues approach Al Qa’im and probe the defences of the town’s water-treatment plant – a likely base for chemical weapons.
But the soldiers are spotted and the night sky lights up with Iraqi firepower. The SAS have driven into a hornet’s nest of enemy activity. In the ensuing battle, enemy rounds shatter the barrel of an SAS sniper’s Barrett .50 calibre rifle, sending shrapnel through his legs. Showing remarkable bravery, the sniper fights on.
The resistance from the Republican Guards is so intense that a Pinkie crew are forced to abandon their vehicle. Enemy rounds pepper the sand at their feet as they run for cover. With highly sensitive communications equipment and heavy weapons aboard the Pinkie, the Officer Commanding (OC) B Squadron decides to ‘deny’ (destroy) the Land Rover by rocket fire.
A direct hit is achieved but Watkins fears not all the radio kit has been damaged so he suggests that the OC withdraw his soldiers from the water treatment plant to a safe lying-up position where he can reprogramme the squadron’s radios.
With his soldiers winning the firefight against the Repub-lican Guards, the OC is understandably reluctant to retreat. Eventually he agrees.
Joint operations by B and D Squadrons resume the following day, March 19, which is known as ‘Air Day’ because it is when the Allied aerial bombardment of Iraq begins.
At 9.34pm on March 19, the US-led coalition launches its assault on Baghdad. At 10.16pm (US Eastern Standard Time), President Bush outlines the purpose of invading Iraq: ‘To free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.’
The documents now obtained by The Mail on Sunday establish that the SAS launched Op Row ‘two days before Air Day’.
On their second night in Iraq, SAS personnel witnessed the ‘shock and awe’ of the air strikes. An officer wrote: ‘The next night the air raids started and we sat in the desert watching what was a pretty impressive fireworks display.
‘16 Troop [part of D Sqn] had been up to the Syrian border to assess a barracks area and had performed a stand-off attack. 17 and 19 Troops [also part of D Sqn] had been to the MSR [Main Supply Route] to set up an ambush.
The day after the air raids we moved to the MSR west of the built-up area and set up a road block. In fact, we did this three days running. This seemed to aggravate the local militia.
‘We then ascertained through interpreters that a convoy consisting of about 20x Technicals [4x4s converted into weapons platforms] had been sent out to search for us.’
During a skirmish, SAS officer Captain James Stenner and Sergeant Smith find themselves outnumbered and outgunned. Yet they continue their assault, putting to good use the rocket launchers bolted aboard their Pinkies.
So high are the regiment’s expectations when it comes to bravery that it is widely accepted that it is harder for SAS personnel to win medals than it is for soldiers in regular units. But such is Stenner and Smith’s gallantry, they both receive the Military Cross. Tragically, Stenner, 30, the son of a celebrated former SAS soldier, is later killed in a road accident in Baghdad.
SAS attempts to reach the water treatment plant continue from March 20 but they meet stiff Iraqi resistance.
An officer wrote: ‘It was a very cold and windy night and the squadron was held up outside a Bedouin village while the lead element tried to find a path through.
‘Suddenly a huge missile flew 300ft above us and disappeared into the distance before exploding. As first light broke, a considerable enemy position was seen on top of a hill. The OC called in air support and an aircraft dropped its payload (2,500lb in total).’
After six weeks in the western desert, D Squadron redeployed to Baghdad.
From May 2003 to May 2009 – when the SAS finally left Iraq – the regiment fought a much-praised counter-insurgency operation against enemies such as Qaeda-Iraq (AQ-I).
US Commander General David Petraeus said of the SAS: ‘They have exceptional initiative, exceptional skill, exceptional courage and, I think, exceptional savvy.
‘I can’t say enough about how impressive they are in thinking on their feet.’
Interesant ce pozitie a luat liberal-democratul Sir Menzies Campbell cu privirer la raidul SAS si care a fost contraargumentul unui consilier militar:
'THIS SHOWS BLAIR WAS DETERMINED TO INVADE', SAYS TOP LIB DEM
Veteran MP Sir Menzies Campbell last night condemned Tony Blair over the early deployment of British Special Forces into Iraq.
Sir Menzies said the launch of the SAS mission before the parliamentary vote was proof Blair had already decided to back President Bush’s invasion plan.
Sir Menzies, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman in March 2003, said: ‘The public perception was that the debate and the vote on the 18th was necessary to give legitimacy to the Labour Government’s policy, led by Blair, to support military action against Saddam Hussein.
‘But if Special Forces were already deployed then that simply underlines the fact that Tony Blair was determined to go with President Bush in all and every circumstances.
‘It was generally thought that Blair had made one of the best speeches heard in the House of Commons for many years, but had MPs been aware of the use of the SAS there might have been many more Labour rebels.’
Sir Menzies was among 149 MPs, including all 53 Liberal Democrat members, who voted against military action. But his opposition to the SAS entering Iraq before the Commons had voted was dismissed last night by a former commander of British troops.
Colonel Richard Kemp of the Royal Anglian Regiment, who worked in Iraq as an observer for the Cabinet Office from 2003 to 2005, said it was often necessary for Special Forces to deploy without parliamentary authority.
He said: ‘By March 17 the Attorney General had decided that military action was legal, so the SAS weren’t doing anything wrong. The deployment of such Special Forces units has to be looked at differently to the regular Army.
'It would have been irresponsible of the Government to have pushed forward the big brigades of the British Army without the SAS having gone ahead and conducted preliminary missions such as Operation Row.’
Iata ca episodul relatat mai demult de Daily Telegraph cu privire la atacul irakienilor asupra unui escadron SBS in 2003 nu a fost poveste. Cred ca am scris despre el cu ceva ani in urma in topicul dedicat SAS sau BFOS. Cu cativa ani in urma acelasi incident a fost evocat, dar mai sumar si in cartea lui Mark Bowden, 'Task Force Black. The Explosive True Story of the SAS and the secret war in Iraq'. De remarcat este ca, de fapt, comandantul acelui escadron era un maior din SAS detasat (on secondment) in SBS.
'Zero Six Bravo'
27.02.2013
A new book is to soon be published that will shed light on a controversial UKSF mission that took place during the opening stage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. 'Zero Six Bravo' by Damien Lewis promises to tell the story of what really happened when a 60-strong SBS/SAS task force were ambushed by Iraqi forces, including a Fedayeen unit tasked with hunting down special forces.
Initial news reports indicating that a British special forces operation had run into trouble in the Northern Iraqi desert surfaced in early April 2003 (1). Several items of captured equipment, including a Land Rover and a Quad Bike were displayed on Iraqi TV. Later press reports painted the operation as a complete disaster, and branded the UKSF operators as cowards who ran from a fight(2). These claims were denied in later reports in which a brave fighting withdrawal against considerable odds was described. (3,4). 'Zero Six Bravo, aims to set the record straight with a detail account of the mission and, for the first time, allows the men involved to tell their side of the story.
'Zero Six Bravo' is published on the 14th Of March by Quercus. It can be pre-ordered from Amazon.co.uk by clicking here (kindle) and here (hardcover).
Damien Lewis has also written about the SBS involvement at the battle of Qala-I-Janghi (Bloody Heroes) and Operation Barras, the UKSF hostage rescue operation in Sierra Leone (Operation Certain Death). Both are highly recommended.
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