"Black Watch" receives Explosive Welcome ["gentlemen's agreement" kaput!]

[tommcintyre]

http://www.command-post.org/2_archives/016367.html

October 30, 2004
"Black Watch" receives Explosive Welcome
From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

A battle group of British soldiers will start patrolling a restive region south of Baghdad on Saturday after a mortar exploded in their new camp overnight, without causing any casualties, a spokesman said.
The Black Watch regiment, however, suffered its first casualties of the US requested mission to move in to Babil province from southern Iraq, with the death of a soldier in a vehicle accident on Friday that left three others wounded.
<…>
In a rude awakening on their first full night together in Babil, a mortar round crashed into the base without causing any casualties or damage, said Maj Mayo, noting that the sheer size of the camp and the small area the British troops occupied in it meant they had not been in any real danger.

The touring British troops also struck a roadside bomb during their long journey from Basra the previous day, which again caused no permanent harm, but slowed the progress of the convoy.
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<Before they went, Hoon claimed he had arranged a "gentlemen's agreement" with the militants:

"Hoon asks Iraqis not to shoot back: although British troops are to be sent to one of the most troubled areas of Iraq to support President Bush's bid to be re-elected American attacks on Falluja, a "gentleman's agreement" has been struck with Iraqi militants not to shoot at British troops, unless it's "really, really necessary" "...they may fire in their general direction, so long as it is slightly to their side or over their heads. Attacking forces will also be obliged to shout, in either English or Arabic, "OK! We're coming in! So look out!" before launching an attack.">

http://www.independentmediasource.com/feature_archive.htm#102304#12

[mom cat]

1. LOL..And can we have doilies for our crumpets and tea while we.

have our lovely little play war?

[tommcintyre]

7. It is amazing how detached from reality these guys are getting

[ozymandius]

2. What folly.

A gentleman's agreement was reached between violent occupational forces (ostensibly relocated so that more violence may be perpetrated against other fellow countrymen by US forces) and militant Islamic resistance.

The British attempted to arrive at the same 'gentleman's agreement' during the American Revolution - not to target their officers.

[tommcintyre]

11. The "oppressors" are always shocked by the reaction

[NNN0LHI]

3. Gosh. Maybe they could all switch to paint ball guns?

Yea. Thats just the ticket.

Don

[DulceDecorum]

4. This sounds like

a Monty Python skit gone bad.

[trof]

5. Just what I thought.

[rugger]

10. Don't be dissing the Black Watch!

They're my favorite regiment.

They are the premier Uk military regiment.

[Gyre]

6. Blair and Hoon needs to strung up.

Maybe the brits will grow some collective 'nads after we kick the chimp back to texas, and just "do it".

Gyre

[w4rma]

8. I think the article about the "gentleman's agreement" was a parody.

I hope it was.

[Rose Siding]

9. No danger at all in those really big camps...

In fact, if Iraq were just a little bigger and our soldiers bunched up close together, no one would be getting killed at all!

snip>
In a rude awakening on their first full night together in Babil, a mortar round crashed into the base without causing any casualties or damage, said Maj Mayo, noting that the sheer size of the camp and the small area the British troops occupied in it meant they had not been in any real danger

[Az_lefty]

12. Walcome to Baghdad...........iraq sucks!

:scared:

[bvar22]

13. Really sad that such a fine, historical British Regiment...

...has been conned by the bush* administration into killing resistors to the American Invasion and Occupation of a Muslim nation. The British are being forced into killing the same people that bush* said he went to Iraq to liberate!