Posted on 03/08/2003 10:56:22 PM PST by MattAMiller
TERRIFIED Iraqi soldiers have crossed the Kuwait border and tried to surrender to British forces - because they thought the war had already started.
The motley band of a dozen troops waved the white flag as British paratroopers tested their weapons during a routine exercise.
The stunned Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade were forced to tell the Iraqis they were not firing at them, and ordered them back to their home country telling them it was too early to surrender.
The drama unfolded last Monday as the Para batallion tested mortars and artillery weapons to make sure they were working properly.
The Iraqis found a way across the fortified border, which is sealed off with barbed-wire fencing, watchtowers and huge trenches.
A British Army source in Kuwait contacted me to explain how the extraordinary surrender bid unfolded. The source said: "The British guys on the front-line could not believe what was happening. They were on pre-war exercises when all of a sudden these Iraqis turned up out of nowhere, with their hands in the air, saying they wanted to surrender.
"They had heard firing and thought it was the start of the war.
"The Paras are a tough, battle-hardened lot but were moved by the plight of the Iraqis. There was nothing they could do other than send them back.
"They were a motley bunch and you could barely describe them as soldiers - they were poorly equipped and didn't even have proper boots. Their physical condition was dreadful and they had obviously not had a square meal for ages. No one has ever known a group of so-called soldiers surrender before a shot has been fired in anger."
Last night the Ministry of Defence officially denied the incident had taken place, but the story was corroborated by an intelligence source.
Meanwhile Saddam Hussein has ordered thousands of troops back to Baghdad as he turns the city into a fortress.
It is believed that two rings of steel are being established around Baghdad. The outer one consists of regular Iraqi army soldiers and the inner one is made up of Republican Guard fighters - thought to be the only troops that will put up fierce resistance.
Iraqi soldiers wave white flag of surrender
Saddam's troops try to give themselves up to Brits practicing war exercises
Posted: March 9, 2003
3:15 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Terrified Iraqi soldiers who thought the war had already started, crossed the Kuwait border and tried to surrender to British forces, according to a report in the London Sunday Mirror.
The drama unfolded last Monday, when a dozen troops waved the white flag as British paratroopers tested mortars and artillery weapons to make sure they were working. The Iraqis found a way across the fortified border, which is sealed off with barbed-wire fencing, watchtowers and huge trenches.
The stunned troops were forced to tell the Iraqis they weren't firing at them, and ordered them back to their home country, telling them it was too early to surrender.
"The British guys on the front-line could not believe what was happening. They were on pre-war exercises when all of a sudden these Iraqis turned up out of nowhere, with their hands in the air, saying they wanted to surrender.
"They had heard firing and thought it was the start of the war,'' a British Army source in Kuwait told the Mirror.
''The Paras are a tough, battle-hardened lot but were moved by the plight of the Iraqis. There was nothing they could do other than send them back. ''They were a motley bunch and you could barely describe them as soldiers they were poorly equipped and didn't even have proper boots. Their physical condition was dreadful and they had obviously not had a square meal for ages. No one has ever known a group of so-called soldiers surrender before a shot has been fired in anger,'' the source said.
Agree. The lowly conscripts in Desert Storm had fleas and were in miserable condition.
Funny how compassion works. Even as I pity these poor devils, the thought of Osama's people in similar conditions scuttling in caves warms my heart and makes me smile.
I think we are being consistent. Those poor Iraqi conscripts don't want to fight us and most likely will be genuinely happy when we terminate Saddam.
The al Qaeda types, however, are true believers of their hate-filled doctrine. The only way to deal with al Qaeda is to kill them.
No it is not believed, Mr. Hamilton is repeating Iraqi propaganda.
I don't think so. The French surrender when they have something they should fight for. These people were surrendering out of common sense.
My heart was instantly moved to compassion when I heard this on the news this morning. Those poor people in that country.
Let it be shouted from the housetops that the *safest* way to get out of Iraq is to join the Iraqi military and walk up to those preparing to invade.
BWAHaaaa!
This is all the intel we need.
My only comment is the Brits kinda blew it by not keeping them for debriefing and pschyo warfare - it would have been invaluable.
It will be a total slam dunk.
The few wild cards still on the table are the roaming Iraqi chem units and the drones who are expected to throw chems.
Overall - it's a rosy picture.
To hell with France and Germany.
Well, the French, maybe.
ROTFLMAO!!!!
That comment is of historical significance.
Apply it to all the anti-war demonstrators in the United States.
Check this out:
B. Saddamn, while insisting (and convincing France, Germany, and Belgium) he had no WMD, at the same time threatened the U.S. and Britian to destroy them (WITH THE SAME WMD HE CLAIMED NOT TO HAVE) if they attacked Iraq.
C. The United States and Britian agreed that Saddamn had not complied with U.N. resolution 1440, had WMD, then attacked and removed Saddamn from power to prevent him (or other terrorists) from using them.
D. After the U.S. and Britian attacked Iraq, vast stores of WMD, chemical, biological, and yes - even some nuclear - were uncovered by the prevailing U.S. and British forces.
E. Saddamn and his two sons were tried before a U.N. tribunal and unaimously found to be enemies of minkind perptetuating mass murders on their own people of magnitudes and ferociouceness not seen since Adolph Hitler's actions created the word "genocide." They were summarily hung for their crimes against humanity. Regrettably the knots where incorrectly tied and the distance of the drop was not sufficient to break their necks. They swung and kicked for almost thirty minutes before strangling to their infamous historical deaths.
F. The Democrats in the United States had their worst election returns in the 2004 elections in that party's history.
G. George W. Bush was elected president for a second term in 2004 by the largest landslide in U.S. history.
H. Ditto for Tony Blair.
I. Hillary Clinton was defeated for his (grin) bid for reelection in New York State.
J. Thanks to the "footdragging" tactics of France and Germany througout the entire world crisis, the United Nations was made to be a laughing stock of historical proportions and was deemed irrelevent and impotent and consequently vaporized into nothingness as did it's predecessor - The League of Nations.
Viva La France - French Military History in a Nutshell (Including *WAR ON TERRORISM*)
There is a security issue here though ..they could have been sucide bombers or spys
My heart goes out to the innocent .
Too early to surrender? ... According to French there is never too early to surrender.
Nah, they were probably directed to a safe spot where we can keep an eye on them and make sure they have food and water while they're waiting for the war to start. Right after the first strike, someone will yell over them "OK guys, you can come over now".
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