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Force just one SAS tool in a battle of wits AUSTRALIA'S special forces considered aborting a 600km secret air mission into Iraq after a mechanical problem on one of the US Army Chinook helicopters forced it down. In what was one of the first incursions of the Iraq war, the Chinook was forced to set down after a dangerous air-to-air refuelling manoeuvre when a dust storm damaged the helicopter's refuelling probe. The chopper, flying into the duststorm at dangerously low levels to avoid detection, set down while soldiers inspected the probe. It was left to a young Australian SAS captain...

STOCKHOLM More than 50 years after its creation as a pan-Scandinavian airline, SAS said Wednesday it would split into three independent national units in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and a fourth entity that will handle intercontinental flights. "We have decided to split the company into three separate legal units, giving the branches in each country far more independence to make decisions without involving the other two," said Hans Ollongren, an SAS spokesman. Asked whether the split was a first step toward selling off parts of SAS, Ollongren admitted that such a move would be easier with more independent units, but...

UPDATED REPORT The veil of silence over planned SAS deployments has been partly lifted after the Government said 50 elite troops would be sent to Afghanistan. The announcement yesterday breaks with the Government's policy of strict secrecy which surrounded the Special Air Service deployment to Afghanistan in 2002 and which was sharply criticised by Opposition parties. The main SAS contingent will go for up to six months from April 1 and will be under the command of a New Zealand officer. It will specialise in planning and executing long-range reconnaissance and "direct action missions". Prime Minister Helen Clark said the...

American and British forces have launched a dramatic new effort to capture or kill Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. SAS detachments will join thousands of US troops - including a 'super-secret' special forces unit transferred from Iraq

SAS joins fresh bid to snare bin Laden Jason Burke, chief reporter Sunday February 29, 2004 The Observer (UK) American and British forces have launched a dramatic new effort to capture or kill Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. SAS detachments will join thousands of US troops - including a 'super-secret' special forces unit transferred from Iraq - and contingents of Afghan soldiers in a huge sweep of mountainous border areas where the terrorists are believed to be hiding. The push will be the biggest such operation for 18 months. Attempts to find the fugitives last...

WOMEN’S GROUPS SQUARE OFF ON MOTHER’S DAY OVER GUN RIGHTSFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Lakeway, Texas (February 23, 2004) – The Second Amendment Sisters (SAS) will be standing up for the right of women to defend themselves on Sunday, May 9, 2004, in Washington, D.C. The people’s God-given right to keep and bear arms, as articulated in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, is being assaulted on a daily basis by well-funded gun grabbing organizations. As announced in December, the SAS event is called Second Amendment Freedoms for Everyone Rally (S.A.F.E.R.). It should come as no surprise that the so-called “Million” Mom...

AUSTRALIAN SAS soldiers were the closest Coalition troops to Baghdad for several days early in the Iraq war and had to engage in running firefights with enemy forces who were actively hunting them down. A report released today reviewing Australia's military performance in Iraq details skirmishes between Iraqi and elite SAS troops in the days before the fall of Baghdad. SAS soldiers were involved in one of the first ground confrontations of the war, as troops negotiated Iraqi border posts in the first wave of the ground assault on the country. Later in the war they helped capture leading members...

Special forces quitting to cash in on Iraq CHRISTIAN JENNINGS BRITAIN’S elite special forces are facing an imminent crisis because record numbers of men are asking to leave their units early, lured by high wages on offer in a growing security industry in Iraq. Defence and special forces sources have told The Scotsman that such is the demand from private military companies in Britain and the United States who are operating in Iraq for former Special Air Service and Special Boat Service soldiers that, between May 2003 and December 2004, between 40 and 60 men are expected to have sought...

Nancy Errera, who has helped run her family's gun shop for many years, and has been insured by Safeco Insurance for several years, received this notice recently with a Non-renewal form letter. The non-renewal was on a form letter with no names, phone numbers, etc. and the reasons were inserted. Reasons: "Your ownership of a gunshop, lobbying activities regarding gun control, and involvement in organizing "shoots" represent an increased liability exposure." Nancy has this to say: Safeco is passing judgement on a subject about which they obviously know nothing. My ladies' shoots are for the purpose of teaching handgun safety...

Second Amendment Sisters, Inc. - Ladies Handgun Seminar This Saturday, January 31, 2004, Second Amendment Sisters (SAS) will hold a Ladies Handgun Seminar at Second Amendment Sports, 2523 Mohawk St., in Bakersfield, starting at 9 a.m. Forty women will learn the basics of gun safety and self-defense. Most of the women are novice shooters. The event is free and includes lunch. The morning session will consist of classroom instruction on safety and self-defense theory. After lunch, the women will head to the range to shoot, some for the very first time. Instructor will be Don Busse of "Martial Arms" (tactical...

Medals for secret heroes of Iraq war 11Dec03 A DOZEN SAS soldiers have been secretly awarded medals and honours for their courage during 42 days behind enemy lines in the Iraq war. But the lack of public recognition for the elite army unit's latest medal haul has angered top brass and surprised the soldiers themselves. Past exploits of Special Air Service Regiment members, who cannot be identified, have been acknowledged in honours lists issued by Government House. Army personnel are unaware who banned publication of the latest medals but are upset the soldiers' bravery has not been recognised publicly. The...

“SAFER” in Washington, DC;Second Amendment Sisters Announce Mothers Day Pro-Gun Rights Rally Contact: Maria Heil, National Spokesperson, at 877-797-4857 (press only) or email: press@2asisters.org Web site: www.2asisters.org LAKEWAY, Texas, December 3, 2003--The Second Amendment Sisters (SAS) are proud to announce that they will be holding the SAFER, or Second Amendment Freedoms for Everyone Rally on Mother’s Day 2004. The SAFER event will be held on Sunday May 9, 2004 in Washington, DC, currently scheduled for Freedom Plaza from 11am until 3pm. The first SAS rally, which was named the “Armed Informed Mothers Rally & March”, was organized in direct response...

It is sad to have to tell you that long time freeper, and one of the founders of Second Amendment Sisters needs your prayers. .DBWZ's husband of just over a year suffered a massive stroke yesterday. He is a firearms trainer, and the stroke occurred while he was working at the range. He is presently in a coma, and his future looks pretty grim at this point.<Please remember them in your prayers.

November 13, 2003: British commandos (Army SAS and Navy SBS) have been reassigned to go after terrorists operating in Baghdad. The British commandos have long experience with this kind work, both in Northern Ireland and in the Persian Gulf. That latter experience, and the presence of many SAS members who can speak Arabic, is expected to help identify and destroy the Baath Party and al Qaeda organizations within Baghdad. In Northern Ireland, SAS operations prevented hundreds of terrorist operations. But you usually don't get credit for the attacks you stopped, and you don't want to talk about it anyway. The...

SBS HERO DIES IN AL QAEDA BATTLE Nov 5 2003 Target a 'hornet's nest' By Tom Newton Dunn, Defence Correspondent, And Nathan Yates A SPECIAL forces soldier was shot dead and four injured in a top secret mission in Iraq. Special Boat Service Corporal Ian Plank, 31, was gunned down in a battle with al-Qaeda terrorists. Four SAS soldiers were also wounded by guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden's terror network. Cpl Plank and his team attacked a rebel hideout in the desolate wastes in the north of Iraq on Friday night. Dozens of enemy fighters were killed in the...

I just saw the SAS on the "News at 10" on Fox 29. Very positive piece, actually I mean, very true piece. Showed the women and girls (a 14yr old) in a positive light. Told of how membership is at 10,000 and growing with the first college chapter starting soon, can't remember where. The Philadelphia chapter head, Penny Batchler(?)was very elequent and composed and she looked good too. In others words, she done good. Kudos to Fox 29 and Ms. Batchler.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS- Dear Fellow Second Amendment Supporters, I am happy to report that we have a new Board of Directors! Serving you as President is Dianne Sawyer. Your Vice-President is yours truly, Maria Heil. Deb Altrath has accepted Secretary duties, while Mari Thompson has become your Treasurer. There will be much streamlining going on, which will make our organization run like a "well-oiled machine". We are also proud to announce that SAS is supporting the nomination of Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. In her concurring opinion in Kasler v. Lockyer, Brown wrote that...

Female gun advocate straight shoots with students By Denise Albiston The founding fathers were the first feminists, they understood that the Second Amendment was about individual rights to defend themselves from those that would do them harm, said Janalee Tobais, president and founder of Women Against Gun Control (WAGC). WAGC is a national organization aimed at preserving the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Tobais spoke at the Taggart Student Center Auditorium on Thursday to support Utah State University's Students of the Second Amendment. "I have a message for the United Nations and any other person or organization that tries...

THE Sunday Times today is able to tell the full story of the incredible impact that 80 or so Australian soldiers from the Perth-based Special Air Service Regiment had on the war in Iraq. The newspaper's Iraqi war team correspondent Ian McPhedran and photographer John Feder were granted exclusive access to the SAS at its base in Perth to interview soldiers who fought for 42 days in Iraq. The SAS soldiers revealed how they captured the massive Iraqi "temple of doom" cement works 160km northwest of Baghdad, plus 40 prisoners, without firing a single shot. And for the first time...

The National Rifle Association has filed a brief in support of what backers are calling a potential landmark gun-rights case now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Sponsored primarily by KeepAndBearArms.com, or KABA, a pro-gun rights website and organization, the case challenges "the California semi-auto rifle ban on the basis of Second Amendment protection of our individual right to keep and bear arms," according to the group's website. M-16a2, banned in California. California lawmakers banned a number of rifles under the Assault Weapons Control Act in 1989, but a decade later, the state also restricted the sale, manufacture, or importation into...