Sixty Joyless De-Britished Uncrowned Commonpoor Years (1949-2009)

Elizabeth II Vice-Regal Saint: Remembering Paul Comtois (1895–1966), Lt.-Governor of Québec
Britannic Inheritance: Britain's proud legacy. What legacy will America leave?
English Debate: Daniel Hannan revels in making mince meat of Gordon Brown
Crazy Canucks: British MP banned from Canada on national security grounds
Happy St. Patrick's: Will Ireland ever return to the Commonwealth?
Voyage Through the Commonwealth: World cruise around the faded bits of pink.
No Queen for the Green: The Green Party of Canada votes to dispense with monarchy.
"Sir Edward Kennedy": The Queen has awarded the senator an honorary Knighthood.
President Obama: Hates Britain, but is keen to meet the Queen?
The Princess Royal: Princess Anne "outstanding" in Australia.
H.M.S. Victory: In 1744, 1000 sailors went down with a cargo of gold.
Queen's Commonwealth: Britain is letting the Commonwealth die.
Justice Kirby: His support for monarchy almost lost him appointment to High Court
Royal Military Academy: Sandhurst abolishes the Apostles' Creed.
Air Marshal Alec Maisner, R.I.P. Half Polish, half German and 100% British.
Cherie Blair: Not a vain, self regarding, shallow thinking viper after all.
Harry Potter: Celebrated rich kid thinks the Royals should not be celebrated
The Royal Jelly: A new king has been coronated, and his subjects are in a merry mood
Victoria Cross: Australian TROOPER MARK DONALDSON awarded the VC
Godless Buses: Royal Navy veteran, Ron Heather, refuses to drive his bus
Labour's Class War: To expunge those with the slightest pretensions to gentility
100 Top English Novels of All Time: The Essential Fictional Library
BIG BEN: Celebrating 150 Years of the Clock Tower

Monday 25 December 2006

British troops break up Iraqi death squad, rescue hostages

The BBC has reported that over 1,000 British troops were involved in a morning raid, backed up by tanks, to break up a death squad ring in Baghdad and arrested seven Iraqi police officers suspected of corruption. Their target was the Serious Crime Unit which British forces in Basra say was being used as a cover for death squads and criminal activities which they controlled; rather than solving serious crimes, the unit was carrying them out such as the killing of 17 police academy employees six weeks ago.
Was surprised to see them involved in the American area of operation which would indication a great level of cooperation between the allies, and adds to the praise Her Majesty gave during her message to the Armed Forces this week. I was especially impressed with the photo here used by Alaska Report (news and information since 1999) to show the troops, although it does seem rather dated...
UPDATE: According to the New York Times, the British forces manged to rescue 127 prisoners from almost certain execution who were held in “appalling” conditions as they were crowded into a 30 foot by 40 foot cell with two open toilets, two sinks and just a few blankets spread over the concrete floor. "A significant number showed signs of torture. Some had crushed hands and feet, while others had cigarette and electrical burns and a significant number had gunshot wounds to their legs and knees."

2 comments:

Keir said...

I can't find any other items that mention Baghdad being the site for British justice, only Basra. What I did find particularly inspiring was Maj. Charles Burbidge countering the claim that the Iraqis were not warned beforehand and this was a unilateral move on the part of the British occupiers: the Iraqi PM "made a very clear indication that he wanted the serious crimes unit to be disbanded."
So they blew the entire building up! That's being thorough!

Tommy said...

Well done lads

http://england-is-cool.blogspot.com/