Army's Top General Attacks Kember For Failing To Thank SAS Rescue Team

London Times ^ | Nick Meo, Michael Evans & Daniel McGrory

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Freed hostage will arrive home today amid growing concern, report our correspondents
 
Norman Kember, the freed peace activist, will arrive back in Britain today amid growing controversy over his failure publicly to thank the military forces who rescued him.

 

Neither Professor Kember nor the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) organisation for whom he worked have acknowledged the work of the soldiers who rescued him and two Canadian hostages on Thursday, or of the teams of military and intelligence officials who spent months trying to track them down.

 

General Sir Mike Jackson, the head of the British Army, expressed the unhappiness of the military last night when he told Channel 4 News that he was “saddened that there doesn’t seem to have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives to save those lives”.

 

Before flying out of Baghdad on an RAF aircraft yesterday, Professor Kember and his two fellow hostages released a brief statement that said nothing about the rescue force. It read simply: “We are deeply grateful for all those who prayed for our release. We don’t have words to describe our feelings, our joy and gratitude. Our heads are swirling; when we are ready, we will speak to the media.”

 

It was the third set of comments Professor Kember had relayed to the media that failed to mention his rescuers. A lengthy statement released by CPT after the hostages’ rescue on Thursday not only failed to thank their rescuers, but called on coalition forces to withdraw from Iraq.

 

The only oblique acknowledgement came from Professor Kember’s wife, Pat. In a statement released through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office last night, she thanked “all those who have helped secure his release”. But she, too, made no mention of the British-led unit that freed her husband in western Baghdad. She praised “government agencies and my family liaison officers”, but did not directly refer to the soldiers who stormed the kidnappers’ hideout in darkness.

 

CPT has always made it clear that its members did not want force to be used to rescue them if they were kidnapped or held hostage.

 

But, in the event, the coalition devoted huge resources to securing their release. The SAS, special forces from the US and Canada and military intelligence officers spent months trying to locate them.

 

A force consisting of SAS troopers backed up by about 50 paratroops and Marines spearheaded the task force that rescued them. US and Iraqi troops were also involved in the mission. Relaxed and rested after his 36-hour stay at the fortified British Embassy in Baghdad, Professor Kember was flown out of the green zone by military helicopter yesterday to begin his journey home. He then boarded an RAF military transport at Baghdad airport for the short flight to neighbouring Kuwait. From there he was being flown home.

 

Maxine Nash, of CPT in Baghdad, said that the organisation had not paid for his flight back to Britain. She said: “He elected to go through the Embassy, they arranged it. We did offer to pay for commercial flights for everyone but that can be difficult because it means driving through dangerous areas.”

 

She admitted that the pacifist hostages had mixed feelings about being rescued by the military. She said: “Our mandate is violence reduction so this was a tough call. Before they were kidnapped both Tom and Jim had said they didn’t want to be rescued.” Ms Nash said that the group was now considering leaving Baghdad. “After what has happened we’re going to spend some time thinking about what to do.”

 

Last night British diplomats in Iraq tried to sidestep the row over the apparently ungracious behaviour of the peace activists. Diplomatic sources let it be known that the three men did agree to face further questioning yesterday from intelligence agents trying to hunt down the group who held them for 118 days.

 

An intelligence source said: “They gave what help they could. They recognise that there are other hostages, including Westerners, still in captivity who we believe were taken by the same group.”

 

The source added that Professor Kember had “privately expressed his thanks to his rescuers” though he did not meet them. The activists explained that they could not be of much help with descriptions of their captors as the group kept their faces covered.

 

The three men revealed how, shortly before the SAS burst their way into their prison before dawn on Wednesday, their captors suddenly moved them to a downstairs room.

 

They were tied up and bound together. The hostages heard their captives leaving. British officials insisted that there had been no deal to free the trio.

 

They said that interrogators told the gang member they arrested this week that he must reveal the location of the hostages or face 30 years in jail.

 

RESCUE FIGURES

 

The hunt for Norman Kember and his fellow hostages involved

 

250 men from the Task Force Black US/British/Australian counter-kidnap unit

 

100 men from Task Force Maroon, the Paras and Royal Marines backing special forces

 

15 men in helicopter crews

 

AND tens of thousands of pounds spent on helicopter and transport aircraft flights
 
 
 
 
 

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Those idiot "peace activist" ingrates!!!

[Interesting Times]

Throw 'em back.

[Robe]

Let the bastards rot the next time...

[gondramB]

It was probably worth it to make the point that we don't tolerate kidnapping Westerners... but damned if these people themselves seem worth any effort at all.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Link to a related FR posting:

THE SNUB: No mention of coalition forces in press release by peace activist group...

[Sir Gawain]

This will turn more people against them. I'm glad they're doing this.

[Billthedrill]

Send their frickin' heads back to CPT in dry ice. I'll pony up for postage.

[Flavius]

hey "peace activists"

[keithtoo]

Their Christianity specifically forbids thanking people you disagree with.

As with Christ's admonition "Blessed are the Peaceniks, for they shall act like spoiled bitches" [/sarc]

[Zman516]

250 men from the Task Force Black US/British/Australian counter-kidnap unit 100 men from Task Force Maroon, the Paras and Royal Marines backing special forces 15 men in helicopter crews AND tens of thousands of pounds spent on helicopter and transport aircraft flights

I hope they send Mr. Kember the bill for this.

[dhs12345]

That has to be going through their minds.

If not, then they are nuttier than I thought and will certainly get kidnapped again.

[demsux]

Send em a freakin' bill.

[kromike]

The way I see it, if one has to go out of their way to wrangle a simple "Thank-you" out of these alleged pacifists, then the "Thank-you" is utterly meaningless.

These pacifists are so trapped by the illogic of their irrationality, I would suggest next time rescue squads locate hostages, turn the video cameras on, and clearly ask each hostage if he/she wishes to be rescued. For each "no", the rescue squad will leave behind a note for the terrorists, explaining that CPT will be along shortly to "collect" them.

This way, only hostages with a clear desire to live will be rescued.

[jazusamo]

You make an excellent point. It shows the world what scum they are.

[Robe]

Why does these guys remind me of this:

Mr. Witt sir... be quiet now will you, there's a good gentleman, you'll upset the lads.

[justshutupandtakeit]

I hope the only reason this occurred was because it gave the military a chance to kill these criminal scumbags who are kidnapped people. As for as how much I am concerned about the lives of the lilylivered aholes who are impeding our efforts well....

[SFC Chromey]

Should have taunted them while they were still tied up. The funny part is that both sides don't want them!

[fizziwig]

They are not peace activists. They are appeasement activists. Its that simple. Their actions don't reduce violence....they increase violence...they cause or aggravate war....they create untold suffering for innocenet people make life easy for evil.

They are disgusting in every sense of the word.

[thoughtomator]

It might be even more valuable to make the point that we don't give a crap about traitorous Westerners who naively make themselves easy marks for hostage-takers.