MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Is this purely so politicians can get a hard on? Will they really make a Difference or just prolong the agony?
Are they driving Toyota's?
Shimano?
Nothing new there then.
Did they take their bikes? 😉
They'll have been there for months or more likely years already.
Never ceases to amaze me that people didn't think they were there already....
Is this purely so politicians can get a hard on?
Doubtful, the risks of a political disaster are too high
Will they really make a Difference or just prolong the agony?
No idea, hopefully they will make a difference
MCTD
Cos some of us hoped we learned from the Benghazi **** up and other recent catastrophes. Wasn't the deal that we had trainers in Jordan and they've just extended their remit 'slightly'?
Will be laser targeting for the air offensive as one objective. Would be amazed if there hadn't been eyes on the ground from America or GB for a few years.
Yes they make a big difference and as above will have been there months on reconnaisance and directing air strikes
Purely about willy waving. have they not learned yet? Interfering in the middle east creates problems it does not solve them.
Yeah right. We should just leave Assad to barrell bomb and gas Syrians as he sees fit ? Maybe we should have just let Sadam keep Kuwait ? Plus the longer we sat on the side fhe more other external nations and factors filled vacuum
NOnsense - remember we created this conflict and armed both sides.
Name one place in the middle east where the lives of ordinary people have been improved by our interference.
Been there for at least 3 years.
Bit late joining the party? It's been a proxy war for years between the Saudis and the Iranians with so many factions fighting each other - Russia supporting Assad, Iran supporting Shia militias and Hizbollah, the Saudis and Qataris somewhere in the middle and Daesh making enemies with everyone - throw NATO, Turkey and Kurds in there too. Problem is there's no common enemy - get rid of one and someone just moves into the power gap. Plus there's an awful lot of Balkan and Lebanese making a mint of supplying all of the factions with weaponry and others trying to make sure kit doesn't get into the wrong hands, which is probably what our SF guys are there to police.
'If you cause it you own it". Like it or lump it we have a responsibility to help even if it hurts those we send. The correct option was not to have been involved in the first place, it's to late now. Corbyn would never have got us into this situation.
Are they driving Toyota's?
Yes, apparently.
[url= http://www.army-technology.com/projects/althalab/ ]Al Thalab Long Range Patrol Vehicle[/url]
Wonder why the pictures are being released now
Obviously must have come from our new PM as a show of us taking the fight to ISIS, which we've being trying to do for years all across the region.
(Spotting for airstrikes doesn't always get the bad guys tho .. .
https://airwars.org/civcas-2016/ )
Either way Theresa May wants to send a message, whatever that is I'm sure the Jihadi recruiters on the UK will appreciate the help
(Or is it only ' fueling extremism ' when Russia does it?
We're helping the 'moderate rebels' ..
Good point MT
mattbee - Member
Been there for at least 3 years.
This ^^^^
When specific buildings and vehicles get targeted for drone and aircraft strikes, how do you suppose that happens? Magic?
They're only in one airbase in the south Woppit, they're not on the ground in Raqqa. But you can have your Die Hard/Arnie fantasies if it suits.
We're helping the 'moderate rebels' ..
Really no such thing.
It's a choice between assad and isis. Proper hobsons bollocks.
Corbyn would never have got us into this situation.
Whatever the mistakes of the past, we need to be actively engaging and destroying ISIS at every opportunity.
Edit
😆 which bit of Syria is Yemen in, Woppit?
Oh not just spotting
The images seem to show British forces securing the perimeter of the rebel base following an attack by Isis, according to the BBC.The soldiers can be seen carrying anti-tank missiles, sniper rifles and other heavy artillery.
MOD released this yesterday updating our airstrikes
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/update-air-strikes-against-daesh
Seems like May is trying to bank her Iron Lady credentials, early election planned?
Not sure May is wise to advertise our ongoing war in the Middle Easy myself
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Corbyn would never have got us into this situation.
Call it extreme if you like, but I propose we hit it hard and hit it fast with a major - and I mean major - leaflet campaign.
😆
Obvs the coalition have been taking tips from the 'Boys from The Dwarf'
Corbyn would be in Munich
I knew they where tough, but carrying heavy artillery that is hardcore.
Obvs the coalition have been taking tips from the 'Boys from The Dwarf'
I'm pretty sure Trump knows the punchline.
Thestabiliser - Member
They're only in one airbase in the south Woppit, they're not on the ground in Raqqa. But you can have your Die Hard/Arnie fantasies if it suits
[url= http://www.forces.tv/32778105 ]Seems the clumsy sarcasm is misplaced.[/url]
I'm pretty sure Westminster announced that we'd be doing so 2-3 years ago, it's just the first time there have been pictures. Sometimes they say "military advisers" I don't know why, but the never count special forces as ground troops.
It's not like we haven't been bombing Syria for 18 months or more.
Oh. Are you also subject to "Arnie" fantasies? Aren't WE a pair. 🙄
Woppit I would say you are unique.
The UK has one of the best mercenary hire services in the world.
Whenever you hear the phrase "military advisers sent to X country" on the news, it certainly doesn't mean they sent a couple of Colonels and a Drill Sergeant to train some local boys.
What sickens me is that we're hiring out to many of the same Theocratic Islamist countries who fund global terror, while claiming to simultaneously fight that terror.
Orwellian doublespeak at its worst.
Really?
Sarcasm aside, there has been mission creep from day 1.
Very poor.
Two thoughts on this: -
1) Have the UK forces been sanctioned by Syria's government to operate within its borders? No. These UK forces activities [url= https://www.rt.com/op-edge/323396-unsc-isis-syria-us/ ]breach international law[/url] (as too are all western aerial campaigns / interventions, BTW, with the exception of the Russian campaign).
I'm not against UK intervention / military presence, but any action [b]must[/b] be done in accordance with international law and at the very least with the authorisation of the legitimately elected government of Syria.
2) Which flavour 'moderates' are UK forces assisting? The moderates that 'only' [url= https://consortiumnews.com/2016/07/21/us-backed-syrian-moderates-behead-12-year-old/ ]chop[/url] the head of sick kids, or the other moderates who [url= http://www.salon.com/2016/07/11/u_s_backed_syrian_rebels_committing_war_crimes_torture_abductions_imposing_harsh_sharia_law_report/ ]commit[/url] war crimes? There is no such thing as a [url= http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/03/there-are-no-moderate-syrian-rebels/ ]'moderate'[/url] rebel.
BTW: -
jambalaya - MemberYeah right. We should just leave Assad to barrell [sic] bomb and gas Syrians as he sees fit ?
Yes, because barrel bombs ([url= http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/09/30/obamas-ludicrous-barrel-bomb-theme ]the go-to buzzword for Syria[/url]) - even if there is evidence they were ever used BTW - are a far worse way to die than the sophisticated U.S.-made bombs which arrive with little or no warning, killing thousands.
Also, the sarin attack is not a [url= https://consortiumnews.com/2016/03/10/neocons-red-faced-over-red-line/ ]"slam dunk"[/url].
jambalaya - MemberYes they [UK presence in Syria, presumably] make a big difference
Indeed, it's nearly made as big a difference as recent [url= https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/16/us-military-syrian-isis-fighters ]US efforts[/url]
(BTW, not picking on you here jamby).
I'm just utterly staggered at the hypocrisy of it, and this is happening all across the region where the west (and everyones favourite sponsor of terror, [url= http://www.salon.com/2016/01/06/saudi_arabia_funds_and_exports_islamic_extremism_the_truth_behind_the_toxic_u_s_relationship_with_the_theocratic_nation/ ]Saudi Arabia[/url]) has become involved (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Sudan - [url= http://www.globalresearch.ca/we-re-going-to-take-out-7-countries-in-5-years-iraq-syria-lebanon-libya-somalia-sudan-iran/5166 ]where next?[/url]. And don't get me started on Ukraine.
Why aren't we (not STW, but the royal [i]we[/i]) talking about this more? 🙁 Bread and circuses, innit?
Yes, because barrel bombs (the go-to buzzword for Syria) - [b]even if there is evidence they were ever used BTW[/b] - are a far worse way to die than the sophisticated U.S.-made bombs which arrive with little or no warning, killing thousands.
Perhaps there's doubt about Pol Pot's killing fields and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia as well,
The thing with barrel bombs is that they carry no identifiable detonator components, chemical composition or serial numbers that can pin them down to a government source.
Funny, that...
Your whataboutery misses my point.
Assad might very well have used barrel bombs - undoubtedly against the myriad of foreign-funded and supported 'rebels' - killing innocent civilians in the process, but my point is the utter hypocrisy of this obsession with these crude bombs as being demonstrably worse (and if used in any significant numbers there would be by now [i]some[/i] verifiable and independent evidence, see the sarin link for convenient evidence-free blaming) than the [b]thousands[/b] who HAVE been killed by US-supplied ordnance, with people continuing to be killed every day across the entire region.
But of course, it doesn't count when the US does it; they're the good guys.
Speaking of which, in the last few hours alone we [url= http://www.thenewatlas.org/2016/08/has-cias-plot-to-covertly-kill-russians.html ]have[/url] the ex head of the CIA openly suggesting the US "covertly" kill Russians and Iranians through armed proxies (a sexier way of saying 'rebels'), [b]and[/b] how the US government [url= http://tinyurl.com/zfc37uu ]perverted the course of justice[/url] to avoid war crimes prosecutions.
But I'm veering strongly OT, and it's late.
I am always surprised when I discover how many special forces tactical experts and law of armed conflict lawyers are lurking in this forum.
I am always surprised when I discover how many special forces tactical experts and law of armed conflict lawyers are lurking in this forum.
Did I ever tell you about the time that Woppit and I spent six days hunkered down in a rat-infested barrel in [i][classified - I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you][/i] eating our own toe nail clippings and licking sweat off each other's eyebrows while we waiting to call in a tactical nuclear strike on[i] [classified, but you'd know the name instantly][/i] which was called off at the last moment when the target changed destination at the last minute to watch the Wimbledon women's singles finals instead back in[i] [classified][/i]?
Don't assume that we're all deranged fantasists with delusions of inside knowledge. Some of us really do know what we're talking about... 🙂