- The apparent mixed messages from military leaders and
politicians over the progress of the war against terrorism seem to have
unsettled the ranks.
-
- On board HMS Illustrious yesterday, a petty officer
questioned
the role of politicians. "It was an atrocity on September 11 but I
think the Government is two-faced, Jonathan Davey said. The 40-year-old
father-of-two from Swindon said he was uneasy about the war.
-
- "We've had terrorism back home for years but it's
only now the Americans have been affected that we're in a war.
-
- His comments to a news agency "highly unusual from
a serving member of the Forces in time of conflict" echoed the
uncertainty
among some of the aircraft carrier's crew.
-
- The ship is being is being reassigned as a
helicopter/commando
platform for Royal Marine Commandos and the 1,000-strong crew have just
been told they will not be home before March.
-
- Senior officers have also appeared at odds with their
political masters over both the role of British Forces and the speed of
the campaign. Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, yesterday had to reject
claims that mixed messages were being sent out about the readiness of the
Marines for action in Afghanistan.
-
- The Defence Secretary denied that the words of Brigadier
Roger Lane, commanding officer of 3 Commando Brigade, that further
preparations
were needed, meant that the force was not "immediately ready. The
Brigadier had said: "I would want to make sure the force is prepared
before it is committed to operations. We don't want to be too hasty. We
need to be right.
-
- Mr Hoon told the Commons that the remarks had been
"deliberately
taken out of context in a most unhelpful way". He added: "What
he was expressing was the importance for any military operation of having
members of the Armed Forces prepared for that specific
operation."
-
- Mr Hoon said it was unhelpful for differences of view
on the war in Afghanistan to be subjected to microscopic examination. The
Defence Secretary insisted that the Marines were in the "very highest
state of readiness."
-
- Rear-Admiral James Burnell-Nugent, Commander British
Maritime Forces and in charge of the 24 ships taking part in the
tri-Service
exercise with the Omani forces, said much needed to be done before the
Marines could be sent into Afghanistan.
-
- He said no clear mission has yet been devised and
warships
needed to be reconfigured. "We have to tackle this sort of situation
one task or one mission at a time, he said.
-
- Admiral Burnell-Nugent said he spoke by telephone once
a week to the commanders of the US carrier battle groups in the Gulf
region,
USS Carl Vinsen and USS Theodore Roosevelt, whose strike aircraft have
been involved in bombing Taleban military targets in Afghanistan.
-
- He said that was a routine matter to ensure that none
of the ships crashed into each other in the busy Gulf waterway and Arabian
Sea. There were no moves at present, he said, to link up with the other
US carrier, USS Kitty Hawk, also acting as a platform for specialist
operations.
-
-
-
Link
-
-
- MainPage
http://www.rense.com
-
-
-
- This
Site Served by TheHostPros
|