Posted on 03/06/2008 4:16:03 PM PST by jdm
Via JWF, first came Birmingham, then came Harrod’s, and now third time’s a charm.
Totally, completely, utterly unrelated to today’s Times Square bombing, I’m sure.
RAF personnel have been ordered not to wear their uniforms in public after incidents of verbal abuse on the streets…
The verbal attacks had come from a “cross-section” of the community, he added, and were believed to be linked to the RAF’s current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He stressed that the decision to prohibit uniforms in the city was a local one made by station commander Group Captain Atherton after she took advice from RAF police.
It ran counter to the general policy of allowing uniforms to be worn more widely, which followed the easing of tensions in Northern Ireland…
The uniform ban was imposed after Parviz Khan, from Birmingham, was jailed after he was recorded planning to kidnap and kill a British Army soldier.
That last part sounds conveniently tacked on to a broader-based problem. Could Harry’s service help with this problem, maybe? Or … will it actually exacerbate it?
Just let them carry their weapons as well.
My, oh, my, how our British cousins have fallen. As recently as the Falkland Islands War, this was unthinkable.
Never have so many owed so much to so few....and now this. (Sigh)
Time to KLEAN-OUT Englandnstan!
During the troubles, British service personel were also banned from wearing uniforms in public, because it made them an obvious target for Irish Republican terrorists. All things considered, it probably wouldn’t be a sensible idea for them to do now when they face a threat from Islamic terrorists.....
Doesn’t always help, as Cpls Derek Wood and David Howe found out to their cost on March 19, 1988 when they accidently ran into an IRA Funeral. Despite the fact they were armed, they were dragged from their cars, beaten half to death and then shot........
Great Britain’s brains must have retired with Margaret Thatcher. These are not good times for a once proud nation. May God save the Queen and may she choose her successor well.
May the royals take over the country and deal with treason in the old fashion way. Their present democracy has failed because of communist/socialist infiltration. And they will not be voted out even if they are. Prayers for our great cousins in Brittan. May the sun NEVER set on her!
Big bump!
I may have spotted the problem.
Tommy
by Rudyard Kipling
I went into a public-’ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-’alls,
But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”;
But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide,
The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
O it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.
Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul?”
But it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.
We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind”,
But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind,
There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind.
You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool — you bet that Tommy sees!
Time for some patriotic Brits to organize a campaign where folks publicly pledge to rush to the defense of any uniformed serviceman being harrassed. Get a slogan like “I’m Standing with Tommy” or something. Backing down and hiding is exactly the wrong approach and is terribly un-British.
Why are they not warning the public about what verbally abusing uniformed RAF members will get them?
Might be embarrassed to find how few would join. Things have changed.
I was in Hyde Park in the seventies. A "speaker" got up on a box (I don't know if was a soap box) and started to rant against the US. I was getting really upset with him but held off on comments. Before I could get engaged with him the crowd started questioning him and ridiculing his statements to the extent that he took his box and left.
I didn't realize until later that it was the forth of July. One of the locals I was talking with pointed it out when he found out that I was from "the colonies." I waited around for the fireworks display but they never started.
Actually the Muslim Council of Britain has publicly condemned the abuse, although it is not clear by press reports here, exactly who has been abusing.
Reading between the lines, it seems to be abuse from the usual white anti-war/anti-american hard-leftists in fact.
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