Black Watch soldiers felt used at Fallujah

[donsu]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=591998

Fallujah: The homecoming and the homeless

The Black Watch arrives back in Britain this morning ­ home in time for Christmas as Tony Blair had promised.

The regiment's five-week mission ­ the toughest British troops have faced since the invasion of Iraq 21 months ago ­ made possible the US assault on Fallujah, which now lies in ruins. Five Black Watch soldiers died, and no one doubts the dedication they brought to the task, particularly as the regiment knew it was facing the axe in a forthcoming review of the Army.

As they left Camp Dogwood for the last time yesterday, one officer spoke of the frustration among the 850-strong contingent when it was ordered north to support the American forces. He said: "The whole deployment was, of course, heavily politicised from the beginning. Some soldiers criticised Tony Blair by name. There was a feeling that we were being used, and that made it difficult to focus initially on our mission."

-snip-

Ahmed Rawi, a Red Cross spokesman, said yesterday: "No one knows how many families are inside the city." The Red Cross team ­ which entered without escort and left before curfew ­ met no residents, apart from engineers and technicians. The Red Cross reported that hundreds of dead bodies remain stacked inside a potato chip warehouse on the outskirts. Some of the bodies were too badly decomposed to be identified. Raw sewage runs through the streets.

-snip-

Against all this background, the officer from the Black Watch said as he prepared to leave: "Was it worth it? Of course, we have all got our private thoughts about this war. There was a lot of unease about being identified too much with the Americans and Fallujah ... you have to hope at the end that we did some good. Only time will tell."
----------------------------------

[Guarionex]

1. well...DUH!

"there was a feeling we were being used"...

note to the drones...YOU WERE!

[Stella_Artois]

3. Drones ?

The fact they have an accurate appreciation of the circumstances of their deployment lends itself to the conclusion that they are far from drones.

[ShaneGR]

2. The part about the security "precautions" in Fallujah....

Really damning. Though the situation we've gotten ourselves into there (Hardcore city cleansing) gives us no outs, we're screwed.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. It breaks my heart that the Black Watch is in Iraq -- just like the 101st

Airborne, and others. Why are these storied regiments in that place, serving the misguided schemes of GW Bush?

[dbt]

5. And WHAT made Tony Blair poodle up to bu$h the way he did?

If he truly is dumb enough to have fallen for that feces about weapons of mass destruction, he's got no business leading England.

:freak:
dbt

Edited to add: We Yanks have no room to talk about being led by a dumbass, but I did anyway.

[GATOR MONROE]

6. how bout our boy's at ...

UTAH SWORD JUNO....