French block airlift of British troops to Basra

French block airlift of British troops to Basra 16.09.2003 [06:41]


The French government has told an airline that it is not to ferry
British troops to Basra, a ban that will be seen as reflecting Paris's
opposition to the occupation of Iraq.

Corsair, which has been chartered numerous times to transport UK
forces around the world, pulled out of a contract to fly
reinforcements to Basra at the weekend.

About 1,400 more troops are being sent to Basra as part of an attempt
to prevent the "strategic failure" predicted by Jack Straw, the
Foreign Secretary, with a similar number expected to be announced
within weeks.

A Corsair Airbus A330 was chartered to fly troops of the Royal Green
Jackets from Brize Norton, Oxon, but at the last moment the French
transport ministry grounded the aircraft citing safety concerns.

Transport ministry officials were reported yesterday as saying the
move had nothing to do with safety but was a result of the
intervention of the foreign ministry.

The foreign ministry denied the report, saying there was "no political
motive". But British defence officials appeared to confirm that the
ban was political and not technical.

"We have used them time and time again to fly troops into trouble
spots," one said. "They have been everywhere for us. We always thought
they were pretty robust."

A Corsair spokesman said most of the flights undertaken for the MoD
took troops to training exercises. For security and insurance reasons
they rarely flew to war zones.

"We did fly to Pristina during the Kosovo crisis, but only once it had
been cleared for civil aviation."

Basra is already open to civilian aircraft.



Source: Telegraph.co.uk, UK

"Michael Petukhov" wrote in message
m...
French block airlift of British troops to Basra 16.09.2003 [06:41]


Sooner or later there will need to be some serious payback for France and
Germany.


The French government has told an airline that it is not to ferry
British troops to Basra, a ban that will be seen as reflecting Paris's
opposition to the occupation of Iraq.

Corsair, which has been chartered numerous times to transport UK
forces around the world, pulled out of a contract to fly
reinforcements to Basra at the weekend.

About 1,400 more troops are being sent to Basra as part of an attempt
to prevent the "strategic failure" predicted by Jack Straw, the
Foreign Secretary, with a similar number expected to be announced
within weeks.

A Corsair Airbus A330 was chartered to fly troops of the Royal Green
Jackets from Brize Norton, Oxon, but at the last moment the French
transport ministry grounded the aircraft citing safety concerns.

Transport ministry officials were reported yesterday as saying the
move had nothing to do with safety but was a result of the
intervention of the foreign ministry.

The foreign ministry denied the report, saying there was "no political
motive". But British defence officials appeared to confirm that the
ban was political and not technical.

"We have used them time and time again to fly troops into trouble
spots," one said. "They have been everywhere for us. We always thought
they were pretty robust."

A Corsair spokesman said most of the flights undertaken for the MoD
took troops to training exercises. For security and insurance reasons
they rarely flew to war zones.

"We did fly to Pristina during the Kosovo crisis, but only once it had
been cleared for civil aviation."

Basra is already open to civilian aircraft.



Source: Telegraph.co.uk, UK

YES, But US and Brits and others are yet paying a high toll for their
stuborness

"Christians for Cheeseburgers." a écrit dans le
message de news: ...

"Michael Petukhov" wrote in message
m...
French block airlift of British troops to Basra 16.09.2003 [06:41]


Sooner or later there will need to be some serious payback for France and
Germany.


The French government has told an airline that it is not to ferry
British troops to Basra, a ban that will be seen as reflecting Paris's
opposition to the occupation of Iraq.

Corsair, which has been chartered numerous times to transport UK
forces around the world, pulled out of a contract to fly
reinforcements to Basra at the weekend.

About 1,400 more troops are being sent to Basra as part of an attempt
to prevent the "strategic failure" predicted by Jack Straw, the
Foreign Secretary, with a similar number expected to be announced
within weeks.

A Corsair Airbus A330 was chartered to fly troops of the Royal Green
Jackets from Brize Norton, Oxon, but at the last moment the French
transport ministry grounded the aircraft citing safety concerns.

Transport ministry officials were reported yesterday as saying the
move had nothing to do with safety but was a result of the
intervention of the foreign ministry.

The foreign ministry denied the report, saying there was "no political
motive". But British defence officials appeared to confirm that the
ban was political and not technical.

"We have used them time and time again to fly troops into trouble
spots," one said. "They have been everywhere for us. We always thought
they were pretty robust."

A Corsair spokesman said most of the flights undertaken for the MoD
took troops to training exercises. For security and insurance reasons
they rarely flew to war zones.

"We did fly to Pristina during the Kosovo crisis, but only once it had
been cleared for civil aviation."

Basra is already open to civilian aircraft.



Source: Telegraph.co.uk, UK

"NEMO ME IMPUNE" wrote in message ...
YES, But US and Brits and others are yet paying a high toll for their
stuborness

Much better to be a toll payer than a freeloader like France. When was
the last time France paid its own "tolls"? That would have been about
1918, right?

Brooks


"Christians for Cheeseburgers." a écrit dans le
message de news: ...

"Michael Petukhov" wrote in message
m...
French block airlift of British troops to Basra 16.09.2003 [06:41]


Sooner or later there will need to be some serious payback for France and
Germany.


The French government has told an airline that it is not to ferry
British troops to Basra, a ban that will be seen as reflecting Paris's
opposition to the occupation of Iraq.

Corsair, which has been chartered numerous times to transport UK
forces around the world, pulled out of a contract to fly
reinforcements to Basra at the weekend.

About 1,400 more troops are being sent to Basra as part of an attempt
to prevent the "strategic failure" predicted by Jack Straw, the
Foreign Secretary, with a similar number expected to be announced
within weeks.

A Corsair Airbus A330 was chartered to fly troops of the Royal Green
Jackets from Brize Norton, Oxon, but at the last moment the French
transport ministry grounded the aircraft citing safety concerns.

Transport ministry officials were reported yesterday as saying the
move had nothing to do with safety but was a result of the
intervention of the foreign ministry.

The foreign ministry denied the report, saying there was "no political
motive". But British defence officials appeared to confirm that the
ban was political and not technical.

"We have used them time and time again to fly troops into trouble
spots," one said. "They have been everywhere for us. We always thought
they were pretty robust."

A Corsair spokesman said most of the flights undertaken for the MoD
took troops to training exercises. For security and insurance reasons
they rarely flew to war zones.

"We did fly to Pristina during the Kosovo crisis, but only once it had
been cleared for civil aviation."

Basra is already open to civilian aircraft.



Source: Telegraph.co.uk, UK

"Christians for Cheeseburgers." wrote in message . net...
"Michael Petukhov" wrote in message
m...
French block airlift of British troops to Basra 16.09.2003 [06:41]


Sooner or later there will need to be some serious payback for France and
Germany.


Not while US forces in Iraq are still dying and the new election year
is looming ahead. President Bush has recently praised German forces
for their participation in Afghanistan and their evolving role in the
region.
Berlin for its part would be willing to send German troops to Iraq
should the US properly cede military and political control of that
nation over to the UN. The US could still have the biggest piece of
the peace dividend/restoration contracts... but Berlin wants a share
plus the reestablishment of its business contracts and monies owed.
Sounds fair enough to me. But then again, we live in the US and
consume an awful lot of gas. Iraq currently holds the second largest
oil reserves and when its industry and resources are properly
developed will surpass Saudi Arabia. For the US to relinquish control
of such a strategic asset now in the midst of unprecedented
international terrorism and national vunerability makes that proposal
unlikely.
Despite the rising death toll we will still probably arrogantly refuse
to budge until Bush's numbers start to seriously fall or another
conflict breaks out that requires calling up all the reserves.
US troops are already grumbling and we still have no exit strategy.
This can't go on forever with Bush merely asking Congress for
ever-increasing funds for a failed mission. We can't go it alone no
matter how powerful we are and we look foolish on the international
scene with the conspicuous absence of any WMD proof or link of Saddam
to 9/11. Simply waving a flag and invoking 9/11 memories won't last
forever. The US is still vunerable, our missions in Afghanistan and
Iraq are failures (no Osama, no Saddam, no WMDs, no restoration),
Saudi Arabia is not our friend and seeking nukes now, Iran is right
next door to our forces and has a nuclear weapons program, and the
DPRK situation remains unresolved... not to mention the Mideast
roadmap is in ruins.
So when do you propose payback on France and Germany? And why?
Shouldn't we be striking Syria, Iran, and the DPRK first? Shouldn't we
find Osama and Saddam? And shouldn't we stop meddling in Israel, allow
them to rid themselves of Yasser, and sit down with a real Palestinian
PM candidate willing to disarm Hamas and accept reasonable terms with
Israel that guarnatees them a state and Israel security?
I think you have your priorities mixed up.

Rob

(robert arndt) wrote in message . com...
"Christians for Cheeseburgers." wrote in message . net...
"Michael Petukhov" wrote in message
m...
French block airlift of British troops to Basra 16.09.2003 [06:41]


Sooner or later there will need to be some serious payback for France and
Germany.


Not while US forces in Iraq are still dying and the new election year
is looming ahead. President Bush has recently praised German forces
for their participation in Afghanistan and their evolving role in the
region.
Berlin for its part would be willing to send German troops to Iraq
should the US properly cede military and political control of that
nation over to the UN.

Not gonna happen, not even in your wildest Wagnerian dreams, Robert.
Perhaps you would like to enlighten us as to the massive record of
past UN successes in this regard--like the Middle East, or Somalia?


The US could still have the biggest piece of
the peace dividend/restoration contracts... but Berlin wants a share
plus the reestablishment of its business contracts and monies owed.
Sounds fair enough to me. But then again, we live in the US and
consume an awful lot of gas. Iraq currently holds the second largest
oil reserves and when its industry and resources are properly
developed will surpass Saudi Arabia. For the US to relinquish control
of such a strategic asset now in the midst of unprecedented
international terrorism and national vunerability makes that proposal
unlikely.
Despite the rising death toll we will still probably arrogantly refuse
to budge until Bush's numbers start to seriously fall or another

Did you catch yesterday's poll results? Bush beats *every* Democratic
challenger by a wide margin? Where is this massive drop in Bush's
numbers you keep mumbling about?

conflict breaks out that requires calling up all the reserves.

LOL! We now have over 172K reservists on active duty; how much more
are required in order to meet this doomsday scenario you forecast?

US troops are already grumbling and we still have no exit strategy.

US troops always grumble; part of what makes US troops unique, I
guess.

This can't go on forever with Bush merely asking Congress for
ever-increasing funds for a failed mission.

Failed mission? My, you continue to demonstrate a tremendous
capability for fantasy. Is Saddam in control? No. Is the interim Iraqi
leadership accepting more responsibility for their own governance?
Yes. Are *all* of the schools, universities, and hospitals open again?
Yes. Are Iraqis being herded into the desert and gunned down by their
mass graves as they were throughout Saddam's reign? No. And you call
that *failure*?! God only knows what you require of our military to
acheive *success* if that is the case.

We can't go it alone no
matter how powerful we are and we look foolish on the international
scene with the conspicuous absence of any WMD proof or link of Saddam
to 9/11.

We are not alone. That you are terribly myopic to the point of
considering any venture that does not include French and German
participation as "solitary" does not change the fact that British,
Dutch, Polish, Spanish, Australian, Italian, Lithuanian, Latvian,
Estonian, Honduran, Czech, etc., ad nauseum, forces are now serving or
have served in Iraq.

Simply waving a flag and invoking 9/11 memories won't last
forever. The US is still vunerable, our missions in Afghanistan and
Iraq are failures (no Osama, no Saddam, no WMDs, no restoration),

So you say; but then again, you have not exactly told us how to define
"success", have you? FYI, military operations are usually not the best
manner to capture a single individual; merely dislocating him from
power is a rather good first step.

Brooks


snip further rant

"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
m...


US troops are already grumbling and we still have no exit strategy.

US troops always grumble; part of what makes US troops unique, I
guess.

Hardly.

The old maxim that probably goes back beyond the Romans is "you start to
worry when the troops stop bitching".

Berlin for its part would be willing to send German troops to Iraq
should the US properly cede military and political control of that
nation over to the UN.

Not gonna happen, not even in your wildest Wagnerian dreams,

Actually, Schroeder's latest offer is for troops but no money!

To be sure, the troops would be used for training Iraqi police and
military, not for active use.

What's the German army like these days? Is it anything like Holland's,
over-weight, over-aged, and the troops in hair nets?

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

Berlin for its part would be willing to send German troops to Iraq
should the US properly cede military and political control of that
nation over to the UN.

Not gonna happen, not even in your wildest Wagnerian dreams,

Actually, Schroeder's latest offer is for troops but no money!

Schroder's current offer is to kiss GW's ass and beg forgivnance.

To be sure, the troops would be used for training Iraqi police and
military, not for active use.

Works for me.

(Kevin Brooks) wrote in
m:

US troops always grumble; part of what makes US troops unique, I
guess.


Hardly! It's a characteristic of soldiers the world over, and led one
British CO to say "if the men are moaning, things are okay, when they STOP
moaning I'll start worrying because something is seriously wrong"

--
Regards
Drewe
"Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colourful rag is unfurled"