New RAF " Get you home"
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New RAF " Get you home"
RAF “Get you home” improved service
Forget the warrants - To qualify
Have a non Anglo Saxon name
Go to a middle east country to sign up as a terrorist
Get arrested and sent to a holding area somewhere remote probably near Cuba for a couple of years
Wait for the PC brigade to lobby the government for your release
Get flown home on a C17 at taxpayers expense to a rousing media and family reception somewhere near London
Sorted!!
Meanwhile our lads coming back from the Gulf have to get a bus home - even to the far north!
Forget the warrants - To qualify
Have a non Anglo Saxon name
Go to a middle east country to sign up as a terrorist
Get arrested and sent to a holding area somewhere remote probably near Cuba for a couple of years
Wait for the PC brigade to lobby the government for your release
Get flown home on a C17 at taxpayers expense to a rousing media and family reception somewhere near London
Sorted!!
Meanwhile our lads coming back from the Gulf have to get a bus home - even to the far north!
Nothing changes!
Cyprus Summer '74
Locals and tourists/holiday-makers evacuated by VC10.
Service families, including heavily pregnant wives and young children ...... by C130. (And to be fair, the Herc crews themselves were magnificent).
Cyprus Summer '74
Locals and tourists/holiday-makers evacuated by VC10.
Service families, including heavily pregnant wives and young children ...... by C130. (And to be fair, the Herc crews themselves were magnificent).
Join Date: Jan 2004
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You have forgotten that these people are actually innocent and were captured after some higher calling whisked them away from Tipton and into a battle zone where religious studies were taking place!! Oh what a strange coincidence.
Of course it makes better PR for el presidente Blair to bring them back to Blighty in a blaze of publicity than it does to bring us back that way.
What does my opinion matter anyway as I am a white, married, tax paying, law abiding citizen and therefore have less rights than others in this wonderful Labour land of ours.
Of course it makes better PR for el presidente Blair to bring them back to Blighty in a blaze of publicity than it does to bring us back that way.
What does my opinion matter anyway as I am a white, married, tax paying, law abiding citizen and therefore have less rights than others in this wonderful Labour land of ours.
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Unfortunately as much as I do not like the guy my sources tell me that he does not want them back. But the attorney general is quoting the Brit Constitution and wants them back. F*****g w****r. A lot of the the labour MPs are not putting any weight to stop them coming back and no one has the courage to tell him to stick it.
Since when did this Govt respect the law? Blair is apparently on his own on this one.
But hey the journey cost £64000 and we are getting a billion cut next year. See where their priorities are.
By the way I went to get aircrew socks today. Only size available are 5 or 13. Glad to see that after the fiasco Hoon is still working hard to provide us with our kit. Basics, man, basics!!!
Since when did this Govt respect the law? Blair is apparently on his own on this one.
But hey the journey cost £64000 and we are getting a billion cut next year. See where their priorities are.
By the way I went to get aircrew socks today. Only size available are 5 or 13. Glad to see that after the fiasco Hoon is still working hard to provide us with our kit. Basics, man, basics!!!
Somebody just go to the media - its a great easy angle:
"Our Boys left waiting for propeller flight home from Gulf whilst Guantanamo Bay terror suspects use brand new RAF jets"
The Mail will go stiff in the crotch if you can somehow weave Diana into it...
Cheers
WWW
"Our Boys left waiting for propeller flight home from Gulf whilst Guantanamo Bay terror suspects use brand new RAF jets"
The Mail will go stiff in the crotch if you can somehow weave Diana into it...
Cheers
WWW
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Where did the figure, £64000, come from? Its looks like an exageration to me.
Anyway, the decision to repatriate these British "citizens" cum passport holders is probably the best way to deal with them. They are entitled to their day in court and doubtless they have a story to tell. If they are guilty of actively supporting armed action against our boys then I would like to see it properly brought out in evidence so that this controversal event can be put to bed once and for all.
They have a lot of of questions coming their way. We, the British public and armed forces, are owed some answers and we would never have been given the opprtunity to get to the bottom of this as long as they remained overseas in someone else's custody.
Using an RAF plane to bring them back? If you see the sense in a military aircraft carrying some (possibly) very bad guys you cannot argue against employing the RAF. I believe a tristar is the only other jet we have that can fly the route in one flight. A C17 makes perfect sense. I doubt that they were given much freedom to move around the freight bay
Lets stop the complaining and just accept the reality of whats going on here.
Anyway, the decision to repatriate these British "citizens" cum passport holders is probably the best way to deal with them. They are entitled to their day in court and doubtless they have a story to tell. If they are guilty of actively supporting armed action against our boys then I would like to see it properly brought out in evidence so that this controversal event can be put to bed once and for all.
They have a lot of of questions coming their way. We, the British public and armed forces, are owed some answers and we would never have been given the opprtunity to get to the bottom of this as long as they remained overseas in someone else's custody.
Using an RAF plane to bring them back? If you see the sense in a military aircraft carrying some (possibly) very bad guys you cannot argue against employing the RAF. I believe a tristar is the only other jet we have that can fly the route in one flight. A C17 makes perfect sense. I doubt that they were given much freedom to move around the freight bay
Lets stop the complaining and just accept the reality of whats going on here.
Police at Brize?
Saw a large number of police at Brize yesterday lunchtime, assumed they were picking up the returnees from Guantanamo. But evening news said they landed at Northolt. So what was happening at Brize?
There's a faint but nasty whiff of kneejerk, reactionary prejudice here, and perhaps some racism too.
Now IF these guys are guilty of having gone out and fought against us, I'd be all for charging them with treason, or at least under existing anti-terror legislation. And if there's evidence, I have no doubt that they'll be found guilty. (President Tone wouldn't want to be seen to be letting them go, against the wishes of the Americans).
BUT
For the last two years they've been banged up in solitary (under conditions which would not pass muster in the UK penal system) without charge, without proper legal representation, and without contact with their families, and having undergone what the UN would regard as torture. They're either criminals, in which case charge them and apply due process against them, or their PoWs, in which case treat them as such. But the USA's farce at Gitmo won't do, especially not when British citizens are concerned, and until they've been found guilty they should be treated with the courtesy and dignity we'd extend to any innocent person, because that's what we do in the civilised world.
Now IF these guys are guilty of having gone out and fought against us, I'd be all for charging them with treason, or at least under existing anti-terror legislation. And if there's evidence, I have no doubt that they'll be found guilty. (President Tone wouldn't want to be seen to be letting them go, against the wishes of the Americans).
BUT
For the last two years they've been banged up in solitary (under conditions which would not pass muster in the UK penal system) without charge, without proper legal representation, and without contact with their families, and having undergone what the UN would regard as torture. They're either criminals, in which case charge them and apply due process against them, or their PoWs, in which case treat them as such. But the USA's farce at Gitmo won't do, especially not when British citizens are concerned, and until they've been found guilty they should be treated with the courtesy and dignity we'd extend to any innocent person, because that's what we do in the civilised world.
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Jacko'. Well said. Whilst they may have been up to no good that is no reason to suspend what should be every individuals right to equal and fair treatment by the law of the land. If they are guilty of terrorist related crimes then hopefully they will spend a long time as guests of HM - however, locking people away without any form of representation/contact with the outside world is inhumane and I feel a black mark against the US, and our Govt for not protesting against the treatment of British citizens in a more public manner.
I know if I got caught up in something dodgy whilst abroad I would like to think that the Govt would do its utmost to ensure that I was treated as fairly as possible and accorded due process etc.
I know if I got caught up in something dodgy whilst abroad I would like to think that the Govt would do its utmost to ensure that I was treated as fairly as possible and accorded due process etc.
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I have to agree with Jacko and P-XD. Presumably, the US transported these people to Guantanamo by military transport aircraft, so what's the big deal about our doing the same to bring them home? The decision to use a C17 was, I imagine, for operational reasons.
Last edited by Scud-U-Like; 10th Mar 2004 at 20:02.
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Purple XD- I think you would be in for a shock. Get arrested abroad and you are on your own. You will be lucky to get the honoury consul out to you. Living out here in Spain, you get to see a different system at work. (As the Leicester "boys" are finding out) Seems to be a lot of countries have weighed up individual rights against public order and decided that being able to defend yourself in your own home and being able to work down a public street at night are a good thing. Perhaps that is where the UK is going wrong? Or maybe the UK courts are too cluttered up awarding compensation to people tripping over paving slabs?
What annoys me is people having to scrounge lifts on any available transport to get back from deployment.
Whilst the Government decides that a C17 can be spared to bring back 5 people.
I find it hard to believe that it is beyond the wit of the powers that be to have found a more efficient way to get them back. Unless of course there was a C17 just passing by at the time.
The role of Transport in the RAF IMHO is to get British military people to where they need to be, then get them back again....on time..
Not as a government taxi service for all and sundry.
Whilst the Government decides that a C17 can be spared to bring back 5 people.
I find it hard to believe that it is beyond the wit of the powers that be to have found a more efficient way to get them back. Unless of course there was a C17 just passing by at the time.
The role of Transport in the RAF IMHO is to get British military people to where they need to be, then get them back again....on time..
Not as a government taxi service for all and sundry.
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Insty - what do you think we are? Military is an extension of political power. We ARE here to do what the politicians want us to do. It is actually that simple - whether it galls or not. We go to war for them, so picking up a couple of twonks is no great shakes. Complete waste of a good airframe, but one hopes the Foreign Office paid for this one.
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Jackonico
How can these people be treated as POWs? If they are POWs they were serving in foreign and not British armed forces. But they are British subjects. If they were captured they were by definition committing Treason. Off with their heads! And this has nothing to do with their ethnicity.
How can these people be treated as POWs? If they are POWs they were serving in foreign and not British armed forces. But they are British subjects. If they were captured they were by definition committing Treason. Off with their heads! And this has nothing to do with their ethnicity.
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£64000 is not an exageration, its the exact figure. Trust me I know.
However Hoon had to fight hard to get the money paid by the department who was "Chartering" the aircraft other than have MOD fork it out of its reducing budget.
The thing that I find shocking though is that the yanks were in no hurry to get rid of them. It was the attorney general and the wimps in the govt who put the pressure on.
I cannot see how we can justify pulling all the stops out for scum who fought against there own country and however when we are in Telic or anywhere else on det we have to either scrounge a lift or take the forever breaking fat albert. Eventhough a C-17 can do a positioning flight to pick people up. We are not that important to their eyes.
However Hoon had to fight hard to get the money paid by the department who was "Chartering" the aircraft other than have MOD fork it out of its reducing budget.
The thing that I find shocking though is that the yanks were in no hurry to get rid of them. It was the attorney general and the wimps in the govt who put the pressure on.
I cannot see how we can justify pulling all the stops out for scum who fought against there own country and however when we are in Telic or anywhere else on det we have to either scrounge a lift or take the forever breaking fat albert. Eventhough a C-17 can do a positioning flight to pick people up. We are not that important to their eyes.
WW
My point exactly! British military aircraft should first and foremost move British military personnel and their equipment (Natural disasters and such like excepted). When that job is done then perhaps other tasks should be permitted.
My opinions on the passengers of the a/c are not entirley pc (it's their actions) so I shall refrain from comment.
My point exactly! British military aircraft should first and foremost move British military personnel and their equipment (Natural disasters and such like excepted). When that job is done then perhaps other tasks should be permitted.
My opinions on the passengers of the a/c are not entirley pc (it's their actions) so I shall refrain from comment.