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Relevant at both, not quite the same. But I suspect I shall vanish, to the joy of most here, for a while.
Mark
Ottawa
Mark
Ottawa
British Military Current Events
- Thread starter daftandbarmy
- Start date
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Awkward... for Germany mostly
The car called Provo: New Kia model set to take on the Mini under fire for its IRA-linked controversial name
Critics say Provo echoes name by which the Provisional IRA was known
Korean car-maker said the name was chosen at its offices in Frankfurt
Kia spokesman said there was 'absolutely no intention' to cause offence
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2287601/The-car-called-Provo-New-Kia-model-set-Mini-controversial-name.html#ixzz2MdG87aCp
The car called Provo: New Kia model set to take on the Mini under fire for its IRA-linked controversial name
Critics say Provo echoes name by which the Provisional IRA was known
Korean car-maker said the name was chosen at its offices in Frankfurt
Kia spokesman said there was 'absolutely no intention' to cause offence
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2287601/The-car-called-Provo-New-Kia-model-set-Mini-controversial-name.html#ixzz2MdG87aCp
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
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1986 called, they want their headlines back:
Hundreds of people evacuated from their homes after police foil planned terror attack in Northern Ireland
Police intercepted van carrying at four mortars in Londonderry
Part of roof of van cut back as part of plans to bomb a police station
Sparked huge security operation in Letterkenny Road area
Around 100 properties evacuated as bomb disposal experts called in
Two men, aged 35 and 37 arrested following discovery
Third man, 37, arrested today after search of property in the city, PSNI say
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287702/Londonderry-bomb-alert-Hundreds-evacuated-homes-police-foil-terror-plot-Northern-Ireland.html#ixzz2MdOnImt9
Hundreds of people evacuated from their homes after police foil planned terror attack in Northern Ireland
Police intercepted van carrying at four mortars in Londonderry
Part of roof of van cut back as part of plans to bomb a police station
Sparked huge security operation in Letterkenny Road area
Around 100 properties evacuated as bomb disposal experts called in
Two men, aged 35 and 37 arrested following discovery
Third man, 37, arrested today after search of property in the city, PSNI say
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287702/Londonderry-bomb-alert-Hundreds-evacuated-homes-police-foil-terror-plot-Northern-Ireland.html#ixzz2MdOnImt9
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Tanks alot:
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
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- Points
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SAS sniper jailed for illegally possessing a handgun he brought back from Iraq has conviction quashed at the High Court
•Danny Nightingale sentenced to 18 months by military court in November
•Appeal judges cut term to 12 months weeks later and ordered his release
•Today argued that he was placed under 'undue pressure' to plead guilty
•Spoke of his relief after judges quashed conviction and ordered a retrial
•'Without my family, legal team, the Press, we wouldn't be where we are'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2292643/SAS-sniper-freed-military-prison-arrives-High-Court-bid-overturn-conviction-illegally-possessing-handgun.html
•Danny Nightingale sentenced to 18 months by military court in November
•Appeal judges cut term to 12 months weeks later and ordered his release
•Today argued that he was placed under 'undue pressure' to plead guilty
•Spoke of his relief after judges quashed conviction and ordered a retrial
•'Without my family, legal team, the Press, we wouldn't be where we are'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2292643/SAS-sniper-freed-military-prison-arrives-High-Court-bid-overturn-conviction-illegally-possessing-handgun.html
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Finally.... back to the future. Us next please!
SAS to use bigger bullets to kill enemy outright after claiming 'shoot-to-wound' policy put their lives at risk
• Bullets upgrade recommended in top-secret report on SAS operations
• Authors describe clashes with Taliban who ignore bullet wounds and carry on shooting
The SAS are being issued with new ammunition designed to kill the enemy outright after they condemned a ‘shoot-to-wound’ policy that put their lives at risk.
The elite troops will now use bigger, heavier rounds to overcome Islamic insurgents who are determined to fight to the death.
The bullets upgrade – and a new range of rifles designed to fire them – were recommended in a top-secret report on SAS operations in Afghanistan. It called for a return to a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy and for heavier rounds to be issued to troops. The report’s authors described bloody clashes with Taliban jihadists who managed to ignore their bullet wounds and carry on shooting.
The rounds currently issued as standard to SAS troops for their rifles are 5.56 mm calibre. In future, the troopers will be given 7.62 mm rounds – which are almost twice as heavy and designed to kill with a single shot.
Last night, a regiment insider said: ‘The shoot-to-wound policy was based on the assumption that once he was wounded an enemy combatant would stop fighting, and so would his comrades to give him first aid.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294631/SAS-use-bigger-bullets-kill-enemy-outright-claiming-shoot-wound-policy-lives-risk.html#ixzz2O06e11Os
SAS to use bigger bullets to kill enemy outright after claiming 'shoot-to-wound' policy put their lives at risk
• Bullets upgrade recommended in top-secret report on SAS operations
• Authors describe clashes with Taliban who ignore bullet wounds and carry on shooting
The SAS are being issued with new ammunition designed to kill the enemy outright after they condemned a ‘shoot-to-wound’ policy that put their lives at risk.
The elite troops will now use bigger, heavier rounds to overcome Islamic insurgents who are determined to fight to the death.
The bullets upgrade – and a new range of rifles designed to fire them – were recommended in a top-secret report on SAS operations in Afghanistan. It called for a return to a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy and for heavier rounds to be issued to troops. The report’s authors described bloody clashes with Taliban jihadists who managed to ignore their bullet wounds and carry on shooting.
The rounds currently issued as standard to SAS troops for their rifles are 5.56 mm calibre. In future, the troopers will be given 7.62 mm rounds – which are almost twice as heavy and designed to kill with a single shot.
Last night, a regiment insider said: ‘The shoot-to-wound policy was based on the assumption that once he was wounded an enemy combatant would stop fighting, and so would his comrades to give him first aid.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294631/SAS-use-bigger-bullets-kill-enemy-outright-claiming-shoot-wound-policy-lives-risk.html#ixzz2O06e11Os
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Badges,,,,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2297244/Salute-heroine-Army-girl-given-gallantry-award-risked-life-dying-comrade-patrol.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2297244/Salute-heroine-Army-girl-given-gallantry-award-risked-life-dying-comrade-patrol.html
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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The RHQ PARA official response to the story in The Mail on Sunday on 10 March 2013 regarding a reduction in parachute training.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2290896/Army-chiefs-fury-Paras-lose-parachutes-New-cutbacks-mean-recruits-longer-trained-jump.html
A story in The Mail on Sunday on 10th March 2013 claimed that The Parachute Regiment has been forced to reduce the amount of parachute training it provides its personnel.
Response
Due to ongoing campaigning in Afghanistan and in line with Defence Strategic Direction 2012 the contingency response task against 16 Air Assault Brigade has been reduced from delivery of a PARA Bn Gp to delivery of a PARA Coy Gp. The assertion that “only 80 Paratroopers will be trained at any time to parachute” is not true.
There are 1,778 qualified and in date parachutists across 16 Air Assault Brigade and each of the Parachute Battalions have more than 360 in date parachute trained personnel able to carry out the Company Group contingency task. With continuous campaigning in Afghanistan reducing aircraft availability and the multiple deployments of 16 Air Assault Brigade on Op HERRICK, it has been difficult to meet the full demand across Defence for parachuting.
Under Army 2020 16 Air Assault Brigade is now the lead Reactive Force in the Army and, freed from campaigning, is steadily growing capability towards the Airborne Task Force BG despite the TAC AT fleet remaining heavily committed to Afghanistan. There is no lack of parachutes to deliver the Coy Gp requirement. There are no plans to remove this capability from the British Army. Once there is sufficient RAF resource to allow it, the aspiration is to return to a PARA Bn Gp capability.
Parachuting has not formed part of basic training since 1998 and the period of time between recruits graduating and going on to parachute school has always depended on course availability, operational considerations and resultant priorities. All recruits completing training at Catterick are posted to a Parachute Battalion where they are then loaded onto the Basic Parachute Course. The number of jumps required to qualify as a parachutist on the Basic Parachute Course has been reduced to 5.
Once qualified the number of jumps to retain parachute pay has been reduced from 2x jumps a year to 1x jump every two years to retain Parachute Pay. Due to lack of resources there is a backlog of both ab initio and continuation jumping but parachute training has not stopped and there are no plans for parachute training to stop. However since returning from their last HERRICK tour 16 Air Assault Brigade has conducted more parachuting over the last 12-18 months than in any similar period since 2008.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2290896/Army-chiefs-fury-Paras-lose-parachutes-New-cutbacks-mean-recruits-longer-trained-jump.html
A story in The Mail on Sunday on 10th March 2013 claimed that The Parachute Regiment has been forced to reduce the amount of parachute training it provides its personnel.
Response
Due to ongoing campaigning in Afghanistan and in line with Defence Strategic Direction 2012 the contingency response task against 16 Air Assault Brigade has been reduced from delivery of a PARA Bn Gp to delivery of a PARA Coy Gp. The assertion that “only 80 Paratroopers will be trained at any time to parachute” is not true.
There are 1,778 qualified and in date parachutists across 16 Air Assault Brigade and each of the Parachute Battalions have more than 360 in date parachute trained personnel able to carry out the Company Group contingency task. With continuous campaigning in Afghanistan reducing aircraft availability and the multiple deployments of 16 Air Assault Brigade on Op HERRICK, it has been difficult to meet the full demand across Defence for parachuting.
Under Army 2020 16 Air Assault Brigade is now the lead Reactive Force in the Army and, freed from campaigning, is steadily growing capability towards the Airborne Task Force BG despite the TAC AT fleet remaining heavily committed to Afghanistan. There is no lack of parachutes to deliver the Coy Gp requirement. There are no plans to remove this capability from the British Army. Once there is sufficient RAF resource to allow it, the aspiration is to return to a PARA Bn Gp capability.
Parachuting has not formed part of basic training since 1998 and the period of time between recruits graduating and going on to parachute school has always depended on course availability, operational considerations and resultant priorities. All recruits completing training at Catterick are posted to a Parachute Battalion where they are then loaded onto the Basic Parachute Course. The number of jumps required to qualify as a parachutist on the Basic Parachute Course has been reduced to 5.
Once qualified the number of jumps to retain parachute pay has been reduced from 2x jumps a year to 1x jump every two years to retain Parachute Pay. Due to lack of resources there is a backlog of both ab initio and continuation jumping but parachute training has not stopped and there are no plans for parachute training to stop. However since returning from their last HERRICK tour 16 Air Assault Brigade has conducted more parachuting over the last 12-18 months than in any similar period since 2008.
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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A total of 118 members of the Armed Forces have received honours and awards in the Operational Honours List dated today, 22 March 2013.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/operational-honours-and-awards-list-22-march-2013
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/operational-honours-and-awards-list-22-march-2013
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
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- Points
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Haunted by Helmand
By Toby Harnden, author of Dead Men Risen
'The Lost Platoon' is the story of two dozen or so men from the Welsh Guards who, in 2009, found themselves in an Afghan fort deep in the Helmand badlands cut off from their comrades, with inadequate equipment and uncertainty about their mission.
It is a tale of war, leadership and death but also, remarkably, of love - for each other and, at one level, of war - that centres around a single day when the platoon was ambushed by the Taliban.
'You love each other basically,' says Lance Sergeant Leon Peek, describing the bond he and his comrades shared. Peek had to lead the platoon back to the fort, surrounded and under fire, when its commander Lieutenant Mark Evison was mortally wounded.
'I love that weapon,' says Guardsman Stuart Gizzie, who was shot in both legs, talking about his rifle. Later on, he adds: 'I loved the f---ing feeling I did, I just loved getting shot at, obviously not in that way but the feeling, the adrenaline rush.'
I first met Peek in Helmand in 2009 shortly after the incident. I visited him again in Aldershot and in his home town of Tonyrefail in the Rhonda Valley while researching my book 'Dead Men Risen'. When the book won the Orwell Prize in May this year, he was my guest at the ceremony in London - he had been demoted to lance corporal for fighting and was about to be discharged from the Army due to PTSD.
Peek, Evison and 7 Platoon take up two chapters in 'Dead Men Risen' and I have lived with their story for more than three years.
But the jerky video footage, shot by the soldiers themselves with 'helmet cam' devices, juxtaposed with their reflections on that day while sitting in their homes, makes 'The Lost Platoon' a documentary of such raw power that it moved me to tears and set my mind racing with fresh questions about how and why.
Framing the film is the achingly poignant and perceptive diary of Evison - a voice from the grave - read by actor Benedict Cumberbatch. 'The most frustrating thing is that they take us on, on their terms,' he writes soon after arriving at Haji Alem fort. It is 'almost impossible to identify the firing points' used by the Taliban and 'without that knowledge I cannot make decisions and am fairly useless'.
Just as ominous is his comment: 'There is a definite lack of steer from above as to how to play this one. I am yet to be given a definite mission and clarity as to my role out here.'
On 9 May Evison and his men set out from the fort to investigate dusty compounds being used by the Taliban. Almost immediately, however, things start to go wrong. The satellite radio won't work - it takes two weeks for spare antennae to be sent down - and the back-up Bowman radio keeps cutting out.
The result is that when Evison gets hit the platoon cannot call in mortars and Apache helicopters. Suddenly, the Taliban, with their AK-47s and tactics little changed from fighting the British in the Nineteenth Century, hold all the cards.
What follows is a desperate struggle to save Evison's life and to get back to the fort. This is war at its most chaotic and intense. The helmet cam footage records the bullets whizzing by, the soldiers swearing and struggling to understand what is happening.
It is believed that Evison is shot in the hand but it soon becomes clear his condition is much more serious. The radios cut out as Peek reports the casualty. The wrong helicopter gets sent and we are left with the haunting sound of Evison bleeding to death in a corner of the fort and his men desperately trying to help him and crying out for a helicopter as he tells them: 'I'm going down.'
It's still unclear why it took one hour and 23 minutes to get Evison, a charismatic officer adored by his men, back to Camp Bastion after he had been shot.
But while 'The Lost Platoon' does not deal with politics or grand strategy it subtly makes the viewer ask questions about why the platoon was there and what they were doing.
'I seem to be the only one here who believes that war might not be the answer to this particular problem,' Evison had written in his diary. 'We must work on relationships with the Afghans if we are to build a future for them.'
The only civilian we see in 'The Lost Platoon' is a dead one caught in the crossfire during a previous patrol. After that, there were no locals around to build relationships with.
The baby-faced Lance Corporal Luke Langley is seen at home in North Wales playing with his young daughter and saying: 'I've killed people. You wouldn't really think that to look at me but I have I've killed people and I've seen my mates get hurt and I've seen my mates die for this country and sometimes I do ask myself is it all worth it?' Langley is currently back in Helmand for a second tour.
Peek, a born fighter but now out of the Army, seems adrift and is having difficulties.
'Some nights I'm lucky to get an hour's sleep,' he says. 'Any bang I jump. Your body just goes hot. I used to start shaking, your stomach is turning. You feel angry. You have sort of flashbacks, you have nightmares. But it's not just nightmares of that place; it's like day to day.'
Watching the soldiers talking now, the most remarkable thing is their eyes. Some of them stare straight ahead, as if challenging the world on the other side of the camera to understand what they've been through. Others glance downwards or their eyes dart from side to side. Sometimes their eyes seem close to tears, sometimes almost empty of emotion.
The 'Our War' title of the series refers to the shared experience of the soldiers, viewed from their helmet-level perspective. But the war in Afghanistan is also collectively ours as a society.
The film asks implicitly why we sent these men to Helmand and whether, during this period of the war, we gave them the tools they needed.
Every bit as important though is another unspoken question: now they've done what we asked them - and more - how will we look after them as they grapple with the horrors they will have live with for the rest of their lives?
Toby's book, Dead Men Risen, won the 2012 Orwell Prize
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00vhs86/features/tobyharnden
By Toby Harnden, author of Dead Men Risen
'The Lost Platoon' is the story of two dozen or so men from the Welsh Guards who, in 2009, found themselves in an Afghan fort deep in the Helmand badlands cut off from their comrades, with inadequate equipment and uncertainty about their mission.
It is a tale of war, leadership and death but also, remarkably, of love - for each other and, at one level, of war - that centres around a single day when the platoon was ambushed by the Taliban.
'You love each other basically,' says Lance Sergeant Leon Peek, describing the bond he and his comrades shared. Peek had to lead the platoon back to the fort, surrounded and under fire, when its commander Lieutenant Mark Evison was mortally wounded.
'I love that weapon,' says Guardsman Stuart Gizzie, who was shot in both legs, talking about his rifle. Later on, he adds: 'I loved the f---ing feeling I did, I just loved getting shot at, obviously not in that way but the feeling, the adrenaline rush.'
I first met Peek in Helmand in 2009 shortly after the incident. I visited him again in Aldershot and in his home town of Tonyrefail in the Rhonda Valley while researching my book 'Dead Men Risen'. When the book won the Orwell Prize in May this year, he was my guest at the ceremony in London - he had been demoted to lance corporal for fighting and was about to be discharged from the Army due to PTSD.
Peek, Evison and 7 Platoon take up two chapters in 'Dead Men Risen' and I have lived with their story for more than three years.
But the jerky video footage, shot by the soldiers themselves with 'helmet cam' devices, juxtaposed with their reflections on that day while sitting in their homes, makes 'The Lost Platoon' a documentary of such raw power that it moved me to tears and set my mind racing with fresh questions about how and why.
Framing the film is the achingly poignant and perceptive diary of Evison - a voice from the grave - read by actor Benedict Cumberbatch. 'The most frustrating thing is that they take us on, on their terms,' he writes soon after arriving at Haji Alem fort. It is 'almost impossible to identify the firing points' used by the Taliban and 'without that knowledge I cannot make decisions and am fairly useless'.
Just as ominous is his comment: 'There is a definite lack of steer from above as to how to play this one. I am yet to be given a definite mission and clarity as to my role out here.'
On 9 May Evison and his men set out from the fort to investigate dusty compounds being used by the Taliban. Almost immediately, however, things start to go wrong. The satellite radio won't work - it takes two weeks for spare antennae to be sent down - and the back-up Bowman radio keeps cutting out.
The result is that when Evison gets hit the platoon cannot call in mortars and Apache helicopters. Suddenly, the Taliban, with their AK-47s and tactics little changed from fighting the British in the Nineteenth Century, hold all the cards.
What follows is a desperate struggle to save Evison's life and to get back to the fort. This is war at its most chaotic and intense. The helmet cam footage records the bullets whizzing by, the soldiers swearing and struggling to understand what is happening.
It is believed that Evison is shot in the hand but it soon becomes clear his condition is much more serious. The radios cut out as Peek reports the casualty. The wrong helicopter gets sent and we are left with the haunting sound of Evison bleeding to death in a corner of the fort and his men desperately trying to help him and crying out for a helicopter as he tells them: 'I'm going down.'
It's still unclear why it took one hour and 23 minutes to get Evison, a charismatic officer adored by his men, back to Camp Bastion after he had been shot.
But while 'The Lost Platoon' does not deal with politics or grand strategy it subtly makes the viewer ask questions about why the platoon was there and what they were doing.
'I seem to be the only one here who believes that war might not be the answer to this particular problem,' Evison had written in his diary. 'We must work on relationships with the Afghans if we are to build a future for them.'
The only civilian we see in 'The Lost Platoon' is a dead one caught in the crossfire during a previous patrol. After that, there were no locals around to build relationships with.
The baby-faced Lance Corporal Luke Langley is seen at home in North Wales playing with his young daughter and saying: 'I've killed people. You wouldn't really think that to look at me but I have I've killed people and I've seen my mates get hurt and I've seen my mates die for this country and sometimes I do ask myself is it all worth it?' Langley is currently back in Helmand for a second tour.
Peek, a born fighter but now out of the Army, seems adrift and is having difficulties.
'Some nights I'm lucky to get an hour's sleep,' he says. 'Any bang I jump. Your body just goes hot. I used to start shaking, your stomach is turning. You feel angry. You have sort of flashbacks, you have nightmares. But it's not just nightmares of that place; it's like day to day.'
Watching the soldiers talking now, the most remarkable thing is their eyes. Some of them stare straight ahead, as if challenging the world on the other side of the camera to understand what they've been through. Others glance downwards or their eyes dart from side to side. Sometimes their eyes seem close to tears, sometimes almost empty of emotion.
The 'Our War' title of the series refers to the shared experience of the soldiers, viewed from their helmet-level perspective. But the war in Afghanistan is also collectively ours as a society.
The film asks implicitly why we sent these men to Helmand and whether, during this period of the war, we gave them the tools they needed.
Every bit as important though is another unspoken question: now they've done what we asked them - and more - how will we look after them as they grapple with the horrors they will have live with for the rest of their lives?
Toby's book, Dead Men Risen, won the 2012 Orwell Prize
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00vhs86/features/tobyharnden
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 29,363
- Points
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Prince William search and rescue helicopter teams privatised as contract is handed to U.S. in £1.6bn dealU.S. private firm Bristow Group will take over helicopter rescue service
Announcement marks the end of 70 years of RAF and Navy rescues
Famous Sea King helicopter will be replaced by newer models
Sell-off: Rescue helicopter services, such as those flown by Prince William, will now be operated by a private American company
A U.S. firm was today handed the contract for Britain’s helicopter search and rescue operations.
The award of the £1.6billion contract to Texas-based Bristow Group marks the end of 70 years of search and rescue operations by the Royal Navy, the RAF and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency.
Armed forces pilots such as Prince William, who works at the RAF search and rescue base on Anglesey, will be replaced by civilian contractors over the next few years.
The deal, which runs from 2015 to 2026, will also mean the end of the much-loved Sea King helicopter, famous for its yellow RAF or red Navy coat.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2299164/Prince-Williams-search-rescue-chopper-teams-snapped-U-S-1-6bn-deal.html#ixzz2Of1xBWS5
Announcement marks the end of 70 years of RAF and Navy rescues
Famous Sea King helicopter will be replaced by newer models
Sell-off: Rescue helicopter services, such as those flown by Prince William, will now be operated by a private American company
A U.S. firm was today handed the contract for Britain’s helicopter search and rescue operations.
The award of the £1.6billion contract to Texas-based Bristow Group marks the end of 70 years of search and rescue operations by the Royal Navy, the RAF and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency.
Armed forces pilots such as Prince William, who works at the RAF search and rescue base on Anglesey, will be replaced by civilian contractors over the next few years.
The deal, which runs from 2015 to 2026, will also mean the end of the much-loved Sea King helicopter, famous for its yellow RAF or red Navy coat.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2299164/Prince-Williams-search-rescue-chopper-teams-snapped-U-S-1-6bn-deal.html#ixzz2Of1xBWS5
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
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New Director General appointed:
https://www.mi5.gov.uk/home/news/news-by-category/announcements/appointment-
of-the-new-director-general-of-the-security-service.html
The current Deputy Director of the Security Service (MI5), Andrew Parker, has been appointed as successor to Sir Jonathan Evans, Home Secretary Theresa May announced today, with the agreement of the Prime Minister.
Mr. Parker has worked for the Security Service for more than 30 years and has been in his current role since 2007. He will take over from Sir Jonathan when he retires in April.
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, said:
"I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Parker as the new DG of the Security Service, a role to which he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge. Under his leadership the Service will continue to stay ahead of global and domestic threats to our national security and further develop its reputation as one of the world's most effective security agencies.
"I also pay tribute to the work of Sir Jonathan Evans, who has led the Service through challenging times of change and unrest, including in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings. His tireless work also helped ensure the delivery of a safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games last year."
The Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, said:
"I am delighted Andrew has been appointed as Director General of the Security Service, having been Deputy Director General since 2007. He brings his deep knowledge and experience of all aspects of the Service and its operations to this role and will be a great leader of the Service, working collaboratively with its partners. I look forward to working with him in his new role. I would also like to pay tribute to the outstanding way in which Jonathan Evans has led the Service since 2007 and I wish him all the very best for the future."
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Parker said:
"It is a great honour to be appointed Director General of MI5. I am extremely proud of the extraordinary work that the men and women of MI5 do to keep the country safe in challenging circumstances. I look forward to leading the Service through its next chapter."
He will take up his post on Monday 22 April 2013.
Biography
Andrew Parker is a career MI5 officer with some 30 years of professional experience in a wide range of national security and intelligence work, including in the fields of Middle East terrorism, counter espionage, Northern Ireland terrorism, serious and organised crime, protective security, policy and strategic planning. He also completed a liaison posting in the United States in 1991.
He spent three years on secondment to HM Customs & Excise as Director Intelligence before returning to the Service in 2002 to join the Board as Director for Northern Ireland terrorism, Protective Security & Serious Crime. He was appointed Director International Terrorism in February 2005.
Andrew led the Service's response to the 2005 terrorist attacks in London overseeing the significant expansion in counter terrorism capability and the development of the Service's regional network. In 2006, his teams played the lead role in the disruption of Al Qaida's attempt to attack multiple airliners with bombs hidden in drinks bottles.
Andrew was appointed Deputy Director General of the Security Service in April 2007. As such, Andrew has been responsible for leading all the Service's investigative and operational work.
Andrew, who is 50 years old, holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, and is married with two children. He enjoys the outdoors and is a keen ornithologist and wildlife photographer.
https://www.mi5.gov.uk/home/news/news-by-category/announcements/appointment-
of-the-new-director-general-of-the-security-service.html
The current Deputy Director of the Security Service (MI5), Andrew Parker, has been appointed as successor to Sir Jonathan Evans, Home Secretary Theresa May announced today, with the agreement of the Prime Minister.
Mr. Parker has worked for the Security Service for more than 30 years and has been in his current role since 2007. He will take over from Sir Jonathan when he retires in April.
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, said:
"I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Parker as the new DG of the Security Service, a role to which he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge. Under his leadership the Service will continue to stay ahead of global and domestic threats to our national security and further develop its reputation as one of the world's most effective security agencies.
"I also pay tribute to the work of Sir Jonathan Evans, who has led the Service through challenging times of change and unrest, including in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings. His tireless work also helped ensure the delivery of a safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games last year."
The Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, said:
"I am delighted Andrew has been appointed as Director General of the Security Service, having been Deputy Director General since 2007. He brings his deep knowledge and experience of all aspects of the Service and its operations to this role and will be a great leader of the Service, working collaboratively with its partners. I look forward to working with him in his new role. I would also like to pay tribute to the outstanding way in which Jonathan Evans has led the Service since 2007 and I wish him all the very best for the future."
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Parker said:
"It is a great honour to be appointed Director General of MI5. I am extremely proud of the extraordinary work that the men and women of MI5 do to keep the country safe in challenging circumstances. I look forward to leading the Service through its next chapter."
He will take up his post on Monday 22 April 2013.
Biography
Andrew Parker is a career MI5 officer with some 30 years of professional experience in a wide range of national security and intelligence work, including in the fields of Middle East terrorism, counter espionage, Northern Ireland terrorism, serious and organised crime, protective security, policy and strategic planning. He also completed a liaison posting in the United States in 1991.
He spent three years on secondment to HM Customs & Excise as Director Intelligence before returning to the Service in 2002 to join the Board as Director for Northern Ireland terrorism, Protective Security & Serious Crime. He was appointed Director International Terrorism in February 2005.
Andrew led the Service's response to the 2005 terrorist attacks in London overseeing the significant expansion in counter terrorism capability and the development of the Service's regional network. In 2006, his teams played the lead role in the disruption of Al Qaida's attempt to attack multiple airliners with bombs hidden in drinks bottles.
Andrew was appointed Deputy Director General of the Security Service in April 2007. As such, Andrew has been responsible for leading all the Service's investigative and operational work.
Andrew, who is 50 years old, holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, and is married with two children. He enjoys the outdoors and is a keen ornithologist and wildlife photographer.
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Camp Nama: British personnel reveal horrors of secret US base in Baghdad
Detainees captured by SAS and SBS squads subjected to human-rights abuses at detention centre, say British witnesses
British soldiers and airmen who helped to operate a secretive US detention facility in Baghdad that was at the centre of some of the most serious human rights abuses to occur in Iraq after the invasion have, for the first time, spoken about abuses they witnessed there.
Personnel from two RAF squadrons and one Army Air Corps squadron were given guard and transport duties at the secret prison, the Guardian has established.
And many of the detainees were brought to the facility by snatch squads formed from Special Air Service and Special Boat Service squadrons.
Codenamed Task Force 121, the joint US-UK special forces unit was at first deployed to detain individuals thought to have information about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Once it was realised that Saddam's regime had long since abandoned its WMD programme, TF 121 was re-tasked with tracking down people who might know where the deposed dictator and his loyalists might be, and then with catching al-Qaida leaders who sprang up in the country after the regime collapsed.
Suspects were brought to the secret prison at Baghdad International airport, known as Camp Nama, for questioning by US military and civilian interrogators. But the methods used were so brutal that they drew condemnation not only from a US human rights body but from a special investigator reporting to the Pentagon.
A British serviceman who served at Nama recalled: "I saw one man having his prosthetic leg being pulled off him, and being beaten about the head with it before he was thrown on to the truck."
On the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, a number of former members of TF 121 and its successor unit TF6-26 have come forward to describe the abuses they witnessed, and to state that they complained about the mistreatment of detainees.
The abuses they say they saw include:
• Iraqi prisoners being held for prolonged periods in cells the size of large dog kennels.
• Prisoners being subjected to electric shocks.
• Prisoners being routinely hooded.
• Inmates being taken into a sound-proofed shipping container for interrogation, and emerging in a state of physical distress.
It is unclear how many of their complaints were registered or passed up the chain of command. A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said a search of its records did not turn up "anything specific" about complaints from British personnel at Camp Nama, or anything that substantiated such complaints.
Nevertheless, the emergence of evidence of British involvement in the running of such a notorious detention facility appears to raise fresh questions about ministerial approval of operations that resulted in serious human rights abuses.
Geoff Hoon, defence secretary at the time, insisted he had no knowledge of Camp Nama. When it was pointed out to him that the British military had provided transport services and a guard force, and had helped to detain Nama's inmates, he replied: "I've never heard of the place."
The MoD, on the other hand, repeatedly failed to address questions about ministerial approval of British operations at Camp Nama. Nor would the department say whether ministers had been made aware of concerns about human rights abuses there.
However, one peculiarity of the way in which UK forces operated when bringing prisoners to Camp Nama suggests that ministers and senior MoD officials may have had reason to know those detainees were at risk of mistreatment. British soldiers were almost always accompanied by a lone American soldier, who was then recorded as having captured the prisoner. Members of the SAS and SBS were repeatedly briefed on the importance of this measure.
It was an arrangement that enabled the British government to side-step a Geneva convention clause that would have obliged it to demand the return of any prisoner transferred to the US once it became apparent that they were not being treated in accordance with the convention. And it consigned the prisoners to what some lawyers have described as a legal black hole.
Surrounded by row after row of wire fencing, guarded by either US Rangers or RAF personnel, and with an Abrams tank parked permanently at its main gate, to the outside observer Camp Nama seemed identical to scores of military bases that sprang up after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Once inside, however, it was clear that Nama was different.
Not that many people did enter the special forces prison. It was off limits to most members of the US and UK military, with even the officer commanding the US detention facility at Guantánamo being refused entry at one point. Inspectors from the International Committee of the Red Cross were never admitted through its gates.
While Abu Ghraib prison, just a few miles to the west, would achieve global notoriety after photographs emerged depicting abuses committed there, Camp Nama escaped attention for a simple reason: photography was banned. The only people who attempted to take pictures – a pair of US Navy Seals – were promptly arrested. All discussion of what happened there was forbidden.
Before establishing its prison at Nama, TF 121 had been known as Task Force 20, and had run a detention and interrogation facility at a remote location known as H1, in Iraq's western desert. At least one prisoner had died en route to H1, allegedly kicked to death aboard an RAF Chinook.
The British were always junior partners in TF 121. Their contingent was known as Task Force Black. US Delta Force troops made up Task Force Green and US Army Rangers Task Force Red. One half of Task Force Black comprised SAS and SBS troopers, based a short distance away at the government compound known as the Green Zone. They detained so-called high-value detainees, who were brought to Camp Nama. The other half were the air and ground crews of 7 Squadron and 47 Squadron of the RAF, and 657 Squadron of the Army Air Corps, who lived on the camp itself, operating helicopters used in detention operations and a Hercules transport aircraft.
"The Americans went out to bring in prisoners every night, and British special forces would go out once or twice a week, almost always with one American accompanying them," one British serviceman who served at Nama recalled earlier this month.
''The prisoners would be brought in by helicopter, usually one at a time, although I once saw five being led off a Chinook. They were taken into a large hangar to be bagged and tagged, a bag put over their heads and their hands plasticuffed behind their backs. Then they would be lifted or thrown on to the back of a pick-up truck and driven to the Joint Operations Centre."
The Joint Operations Centre, or JOC, was a single storey building a few hundred yards from the airport's main runway. Some of those who served at Nama believed it had formerly been used by Saddam's intelligence agencies.
The US and UK forces worked together so closely that they began to wear items of each others' uniforms. But while British personnel were permitted into the front of the JOC, few were allowed into the rear, where interrogations took place. This was the preserve of US military interrogators and CIA officers based at Camp Nama. "They included a number of women," said one British airman. "One had a ponytail and always wore two pistols, so we had to nickname her Lara Croft."
There were four interrogation cells at the rear of the JOC, known as the blue, red, black and soft rooms, as well as a medical screening area. The soft room contained sofas and rugs, and was a place where detainees could be shown some kindness. Harsh interrogations took place in the red and blue rooms, while the black room – described as windowless, with hooks in the ceiling, and where every surface was painted black – is said to be the cell where the worse abuses were perpetrated.
According to an investigation by Human Rights Watch, the New York-based NGO, detainees were subject to "beatings, exposure to extreme cold, threats of death, humiliation and various forms of psychological abuse or torture" at the JOC. The New York Times has reported that prisoners were beaten with rifle butts and had paintball guns fired at them for target practice.
Signs posted around Nama are said to have proclaimed the warning "No Blood, No Foul": if interrogators did not make a prisoner bleed, they would not face disciplinary action.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/01/camp-nama-iraq-human-rights-abuses
Detainees captured by SAS and SBS squads subjected to human-rights abuses at detention centre, say British witnesses
British soldiers and airmen who helped to operate a secretive US detention facility in Baghdad that was at the centre of some of the most serious human rights abuses to occur in Iraq after the invasion have, for the first time, spoken about abuses they witnessed there.
Personnel from two RAF squadrons and one Army Air Corps squadron were given guard and transport duties at the secret prison, the Guardian has established.
And many of the detainees were brought to the facility by snatch squads formed from Special Air Service and Special Boat Service squadrons.
Codenamed Task Force 121, the joint US-UK special forces unit was at first deployed to detain individuals thought to have information about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Once it was realised that Saddam's regime had long since abandoned its WMD programme, TF 121 was re-tasked with tracking down people who might know where the deposed dictator and his loyalists might be, and then with catching al-Qaida leaders who sprang up in the country after the regime collapsed.
Suspects were brought to the secret prison at Baghdad International airport, known as Camp Nama, for questioning by US military and civilian interrogators. But the methods used were so brutal that they drew condemnation not only from a US human rights body but from a special investigator reporting to the Pentagon.
A British serviceman who served at Nama recalled: "I saw one man having his prosthetic leg being pulled off him, and being beaten about the head with it before he was thrown on to the truck."
On the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, a number of former members of TF 121 and its successor unit TF6-26 have come forward to describe the abuses they witnessed, and to state that they complained about the mistreatment of detainees.
The abuses they say they saw include:
• Iraqi prisoners being held for prolonged periods in cells the size of large dog kennels.
• Prisoners being subjected to electric shocks.
• Prisoners being routinely hooded.
• Inmates being taken into a sound-proofed shipping container for interrogation, and emerging in a state of physical distress.
It is unclear how many of their complaints were registered or passed up the chain of command. A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said a search of its records did not turn up "anything specific" about complaints from British personnel at Camp Nama, or anything that substantiated such complaints.
Nevertheless, the emergence of evidence of British involvement in the running of such a notorious detention facility appears to raise fresh questions about ministerial approval of operations that resulted in serious human rights abuses.
Geoff Hoon, defence secretary at the time, insisted he had no knowledge of Camp Nama. When it was pointed out to him that the British military had provided transport services and a guard force, and had helped to detain Nama's inmates, he replied: "I've never heard of the place."
The MoD, on the other hand, repeatedly failed to address questions about ministerial approval of British operations at Camp Nama. Nor would the department say whether ministers had been made aware of concerns about human rights abuses there.
However, one peculiarity of the way in which UK forces operated when bringing prisoners to Camp Nama suggests that ministers and senior MoD officials may have had reason to know those detainees were at risk of mistreatment. British soldiers were almost always accompanied by a lone American soldier, who was then recorded as having captured the prisoner. Members of the SAS and SBS were repeatedly briefed on the importance of this measure.
It was an arrangement that enabled the British government to side-step a Geneva convention clause that would have obliged it to demand the return of any prisoner transferred to the US once it became apparent that they were not being treated in accordance with the convention. And it consigned the prisoners to what some lawyers have described as a legal black hole.
Surrounded by row after row of wire fencing, guarded by either US Rangers or RAF personnel, and with an Abrams tank parked permanently at its main gate, to the outside observer Camp Nama seemed identical to scores of military bases that sprang up after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Once inside, however, it was clear that Nama was different.
Not that many people did enter the special forces prison. It was off limits to most members of the US and UK military, with even the officer commanding the US detention facility at Guantánamo being refused entry at one point. Inspectors from the International Committee of the Red Cross were never admitted through its gates.
While Abu Ghraib prison, just a few miles to the west, would achieve global notoriety after photographs emerged depicting abuses committed there, Camp Nama escaped attention for a simple reason: photography was banned. The only people who attempted to take pictures – a pair of US Navy Seals – were promptly arrested. All discussion of what happened there was forbidden.
Before establishing its prison at Nama, TF 121 had been known as Task Force 20, and had run a detention and interrogation facility at a remote location known as H1, in Iraq's western desert. At least one prisoner had died en route to H1, allegedly kicked to death aboard an RAF Chinook.
The British were always junior partners in TF 121. Their contingent was known as Task Force Black. US Delta Force troops made up Task Force Green and US Army Rangers Task Force Red. One half of Task Force Black comprised SAS and SBS troopers, based a short distance away at the government compound known as the Green Zone. They detained so-called high-value detainees, who were brought to Camp Nama. The other half were the air and ground crews of 7 Squadron and 47 Squadron of the RAF, and 657 Squadron of the Army Air Corps, who lived on the camp itself, operating helicopters used in detention operations and a Hercules transport aircraft.
"The Americans went out to bring in prisoners every night, and British special forces would go out once or twice a week, almost always with one American accompanying them," one British serviceman who served at Nama recalled earlier this month.
''The prisoners would be brought in by helicopter, usually one at a time, although I once saw five being led off a Chinook. They were taken into a large hangar to be bagged and tagged, a bag put over their heads and their hands plasticuffed behind their backs. Then they would be lifted or thrown on to the back of a pick-up truck and driven to the Joint Operations Centre."
The Joint Operations Centre, or JOC, was a single storey building a few hundred yards from the airport's main runway. Some of those who served at Nama believed it had formerly been used by Saddam's intelligence agencies.
The US and UK forces worked together so closely that they began to wear items of each others' uniforms. But while British personnel were permitted into the front of the JOC, few were allowed into the rear, where interrogations took place. This was the preserve of US military interrogators and CIA officers based at Camp Nama. "They included a number of women," said one British airman. "One had a ponytail and always wore two pistols, so we had to nickname her Lara Croft."
There were four interrogation cells at the rear of the JOC, known as the blue, red, black and soft rooms, as well as a medical screening area. The soft room contained sofas and rugs, and was a place where detainees could be shown some kindness. Harsh interrogations took place in the red and blue rooms, while the black room – described as windowless, with hooks in the ceiling, and where every surface was painted black – is said to be the cell where the worse abuses were perpetrated.
According to an investigation by Human Rights Watch, the New York-based NGO, detainees were subject to "beatings, exposure to extreme cold, threats of death, humiliation and various forms of psychological abuse or torture" at the JOC. The New York Times has reported that prisoners were beaten with rifle butts and had paintball guns fired at them for target practice.
Signs posted around Nama are said to have proclaimed the warning "No Blood, No Foul": if interrogators did not make a prisoner bleed, they would not face disciplinary action.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/01/camp-nama-iraq-human-rights-abuses
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 29,363
- Points
- 1,160
I have destroyed this place about a dozen times, yet it still stands... curses! It sure looks different in the sunshine.
Halt! Who goes there? Er, members of the public: Ghost town abandoned since WWII that's now used for military training (except on Easter weekend)
Imber in Wiltshire, on Salisbury Plain, was evacuated in 1943
Village's Grade I-listed 13th century church is in full-working order
Normally used by Ministry of Defence for training but is open to public on Easter weekend
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2302415/Imber-Ghost-town-abandoned-WWII-thats-used-military-training-Easter-weekend.html#ixzz2PKdF8VjC
Halt! Who goes there? Er, members of the public: Ghost town abandoned since WWII that's now used for military training (except on Easter weekend)
Imber in Wiltshire, on Salisbury Plain, was evacuated in 1943
Village's Grade I-listed 13th century church is in full-working order
Normally used by Ministry of Defence for training but is open to public on Easter weekend
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2302415/Imber-Ghost-town-abandoned-WWII-thats-used-military-training-Easter-weekend.html#ixzz2PKdF8VjC
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 360
From April 2011:
;D
;D
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 29,363
- Points
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I served with Mark in 1 PARA. Excellent fellow, who could always be relied upon to use words like ‘apposite’ correctly!
Iraq war: Mark Etherington: postcolonial excitement soon replaced by crushing responsibility
A charming man in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office appointed me a provincial Governorate Coordinator in south-central Iraq in September 2003.
Alarmed by the word “coordinator” – dangerously redolent, I thought, of cruise-ship karaoke events – I asked whether the role wielded genuine power. He said yes, it probably did.
And so I arrived on October 5 in the city of Kut as the principal representative of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Wasit province, roughly 75 by 70 miles, with a 970,000 population and a 90 mile border with Iran.
The CPA offices were in an abandoned and heavily looted Baath party complex beside the Tigris. It appeared deserted. I opened the car door. The heat leapt up beside me like an animal.
A scouring desert wind propelled dust and cartwheeling plastic bottles past discarded ammunition cases, military ration boxes and a somnolent guard.
My arrival swelled our team to two — my US State Department deputy, Timm Timmons, a tough Texan, had been there alone for a month.
I realised that, as the province’s governor in all but name, I would have all the power anyone could want. A frisson of postcolonial excitement was rapidly supplanted by a sense of crushing responsibility.
Colin Powell’s famous dictum “you break it – you own it” felt acutely apposite as we – and thousands of others — began to wrestle with the challenges of running Iraq post-invasion.
These were significant: 165,000 troops was an inadequate force given the size of Iraq; and the political imperative for multinational representation had degraded operational capability.
The employment ban on the Baath party’s senior ranks had largely removed all Iraqis with civil administration experience. The army and police had ceased to exist as coherent groupings. The country’s governance and economic systems were meanwhile to be overhauled completely. While few of these considerations were particularly revelatory, they assumed a novel and arresting power to our team of two as we considered the ocean-going sweep of our responsibilities.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/9919530/Iraq-war-Mark-Etherington-postcolonial-excitement-soon-replaced-by-crushing-responsibility.html
Iraq war: Mark Etherington: postcolonial excitement soon replaced by crushing responsibility
A charming man in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office appointed me a provincial Governorate Coordinator in south-central Iraq in September 2003.
Alarmed by the word “coordinator” – dangerously redolent, I thought, of cruise-ship karaoke events – I asked whether the role wielded genuine power. He said yes, it probably did.
And so I arrived on October 5 in the city of Kut as the principal representative of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Wasit province, roughly 75 by 70 miles, with a 970,000 population and a 90 mile border with Iran.
The CPA offices were in an abandoned and heavily looted Baath party complex beside the Tigris. It appeared deserted. I opened the car door. The heat leapt up beside me like an animal.
A scouring desert wind propelled dust and cartwheeling plastic bottles past discarded ammunition cases, military ration boxes and a somnolent guard.
My arrival swelled our team to two — my US State Department deputy, Timm Timmons, a tough Texan, had been there alone for a month.
I realised that, as the province’s governor in all but name, I would have all the power anyone could want. A frisson of postcolonial excitement was rapidly supplanted by a sense of crushing responsibility.
Colin Powell’s famous dictum “you break it – you own it” felt acutely apposite as we – and thousands of others — began to wrestle with the challenges of running Iraq post-invasion.
These were significant: 165,000 troops was an inadequate force given the size of Iraq; and the political imperative for multinational representation had degraded operational capability.
The employment ban on the Baath party’s senior ranks had largely removed all Iraqis with civil administration experience. The army and police had ceased to exist as coherent groupings. The country’s governance and economic systems were meanwhile to be overhauled completely. While few of these considerations were particularly revelatory, they assumed a novel and arresting power to our team of two as we considered the ocean-going sweep of our responsibilities.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/9919530/Iraq-war-Mark-Etherington-postcolonial-excitement-soon-replaced-by-crushing-responsibility.html
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 29,363
- Points
- 1,160
IRA Assassin Rose Lynch Had Hit List Of Six
Continuity IRA hitwoman Rose Lynch had six targets but killed the wrong person amid a deadly feud between rival factions.
A blonde Continuity IRA assassin with a hit list of six members of a rival faction shot dead an innocent van driver in a case of mistaken identity.
Rose Lynch and her accomplice had wrongly linked David Darcy to the rival group and shot him as he tried to reverse his van out of the driveway of his west Dublin home.
When police in Ireland detained Lynch nearly a month later they found 25 rounds of 9mm ammunition in her handbag.
The hit list that the 50-year-old mother and her accomplice, a senior Continuity IRA member, were working from was drawn up after an internal split in the group.
It erupted into violence in the summer of 2011 and a deadly feud ensued.
Anti- terrorist officers told the Irish Independent they suspected members of the hit team and their associates feared their rivals would attempt to overthrow them and decided to attack first.
But as they got down to business, they incorrectly identified Mr Darcy as someone who had been involved in an earlier shooting.
They shot the father-of-two as he tried to make his way to work on November 28, 2011.
Lynch pleaded guilty to murder at the Special Criminal Court yesterday and is facing life imprisonment when she is sentenced later.
Her accomplice has not been charged in connection with the murder.
The two of them were described by police in evidence given in a court bail application as members of a CIRA "active service unit".
They were captured a month after the killing when police stopped a car travelling from Dublin to Limerick.
Police have stressed that Mr Darcy had no connection with either of the factions.
http://news.sky.com/story/1076216/ira-assassin-rose-lynch-had-hit-list-of-six
Continuity IRA hitwoman Rose Lynch had six targets but killed the wrong person amid a deadly feud between rival factions.
A blonde Continuity IRA assassin with a hit list of six members of a rival faction shot dead an innocent van driver in a case of mistaken identity.
Rose Lynch and her accomplice had wrongly linked David Darcy to the rival group and shot him as he tried to reverse his van out of the driveway of his west Dublin home.
When police in Ireland detained Lynch nearly a month later they found 25 rounds of 9mm ammunition in her handbag.
The hit list that the 50-year-old mother and her accomplice, a senior Continuity IRA member, were working from was drawn up after an internal split in the group.
It erupted into violence in the summer of 2011 and a deadly feud ensued.
Anti- terrorist officers told the Irish Independent they suspected members of the hit team and their associates feared their rivals would attempt to overthrow them and decided to attack first.
But as they got down to business, they incorrectly identified Mr Darcy as someone who had been involved in an earlier shooting.
They shot the father-of-two as he tried to make his way to work on November 28, 2011.
Lynch pleaded guilty to murder at the Special Criminal Court yesterday and is facing life imprisonment when she is sentenced later.
Her accomplice has not been charged in connection with the murder.
The two of them were described by police in evidence given in a court bail application as members of a CIRA "active service unit".
They were captured a month after the killing when police stopped a car travelling from Dublin to Limerick.
Police have stressed that Mr Darcy had no connection with either of the factions.
http://news.sky.com/story/1076216/ira-assassin-rose-lynch-had-hit-list-of-six
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
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Tory MPs prepare to attack Coalition over plan to reduce size of the Army
A newly-formed group of Tory backbenchers fighting cuts to the military have called a parliamentary debate on Tuesday in a bid to block the Ministry of Defence’s controversial plan. One sceptical MP said that anyone who thought the strategy would work must have "smoked a lot of dope".
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph last year, Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, said he wanted to double the size of the Territorial Army from 15,000 to 30,000 while reducing the regular army by 20,000 to 82,000.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10007593/Tory-MPs-prepare-to-attack-Coalition-over-plan-to-reduce-size-of-the-Army.html
A newly-formed group of Tory backbenchers fighting cuts to the military have called a parliamentary debate on Tuesday in a bid to block the Ministry of Defence’s controversial plan. One sceptical MP said that anyone who thought the strategy would work must have "smoked a lot of dope".
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph last year, Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, said he wanted to double the size of the Territorial Army from 15,000 to 30,000 while reducing the regular army by 20,000 to 82,000.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10007593/Tory-MPs-prepare-to-attack-Coalition-over-plan-to-reduce-size-of-the-Army.html
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
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- Points
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London Marathon 2013: Para who narrowly escaped death shoulders 40lbs for race
A former Parachute Regiment platoon commander who narrowly escaped death after being blown up during a hostage rescue is to run the London Marathon carrying the equivalent weight of the body armour and equipment which saved his life.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/london-marathon/10007748/London-Marathon-2013-Para-who-narrowly-escaped-death-shoulders-40lbs-for-race.html
A former Parachute Regiment platoon commander who narrowly escaped death after being blown up during a hostage rescue is to run the London Marathon carrying the equivalent weight of the body armour and equipment which saved his life.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/london-marathon/10007748/London-Marathon-2013-Para-who-narrowly-escaped-death-shoulders-40lbs-for-race.html
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