sorry pal. that was need to know, and above your pay grade...
Posted on 10/18/2008 6:44:55 PM PDT by PotatoHeadMick
I recall the first day of the second Gulf War clearly. It was the day I made a speech that quickly became very famous, and which has now been criticised by a former soldier as having left my men "fearful of the dangers that faced them". The Americans had attacked Iraq with, once again, no warning to us, their British allies. It was just like the last time: the first Gulf War, when the first we in the SAS knew of the beginning of the air war was when we saw it on CNN. This time, in March 2003, soldiers came running to my tent in our desert camp in Kuwait, where I was wading through paperwork. I was led to a tent where an oversized TV was screening the attacks on Baghdad. I was aware that they were watching me closely. I had been there - to war in Iraq, that is - almost exactly 12 years before.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
“The Americans had attacked Iraq with, once again, no warning to us, their British allies.”
Not to nit-pick or anything, but would a British Colonel necessarily have been briefed about US operational movements? He sounds a bit peeved that (yet again) he wasn’t personally briefed on the matter before things started to get hot. Can’t imagine that the UK high command wasn’t informed...
The Colonel tells the world what he thinks of himself
>I was led to a tent where an oversized TV was screening the attacks on Baghdad. I was aware that they were watching me closely.
There must be a reason to why THEY were watching him closely.
You know, after two centuries you would think the British would get over Paul Reveir’s advance warning of their attack? :-)
On March 17th, 2003, President Bush gave a 48 hour warning to the Husseins to surrender or be invaded. Bombing started on March 18th and the invasion followed on the 20th. For weeks leading up to this, all of the US allies (including the UK) were preparing for the invasion and the press were converging on Baghdad. So if the rest of the world knew the invasion was to start in 2 days, including me, then how did this British colonel not know?
The UK government is riddled with anti-Americans in high places. Telling them would have been to tip off Saddam, and then the Schwartzkopf maneuver, which saved so many lives, wouldn’t have worked, as it depended on surprise.
Ooops, wrong war, but the principle still holds. Surprise saved a lot of lives.
Labor is liberal and socialist and not a little communist over there. Tony could be trusted, but not anyone else in his government.
Exactly! The timing was known. There was a deadline. I remember having the TV on waiting for “shock and awe” to start... and I wasn’t disappointed.
sorry pal. that was need to know, and above your pay grade...
Probably because according to the article, "they" were his soldiers, and soldiers tend to watch their commanders closely in a situation like this.
What a load of koolaid crap.
No that Revere actually successfully made the ride...
Poor old Prescott.
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