Wednesday 31 March 2010

Cabin Crew poses Naked for Calendar


Now think about this.

The average age of BA cabin Crew is 52 with an average length on the job of 14 years.

So see here and be pleased to know it was a Spanish Airline.

I mean BA cabin crew are dreadful.
I have never had a good BA experience.

Now Emirates...............theres an airline with service even in cattle class.

Now BA cabin crew...............keep on striking and please do a quick salary and perks check against your competition and see how you fair.

Cretins

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

Much has ben written in the blogosphere about the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and the complete contempt by our current government to our forces.

This is clearly demonstarted in this post here....... by myself last year.

Infact hit any of the military, MOD, Armed forces tags at the end of my posts and see the trail it gives you.

However it was also reported and blogged by many that indeed the government had gone to court to reduce the payments to the injured like Ben McBean....see here.

Knobhead Ainsworth stated that a full review of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme was to be carried out to make it fairer. (Save money more like).

Well I have unearthed the terms of reference for the body that is to carry out this review.
Please see below and make your own opinion.

Personally I have not seen such a quality load of Quango, red tape, twisted, over complicated BULLSHIT for a while.
There is no way that this will be succesful, will be transparent or indeed come out as a win situation for any member of our armed forces.
The treasury will be the only winner by using convaluted terms of referance to reduce payment.

Filthy socialism at its best.

Vote for labour and watch another 270 odd coffins return to the UK, and another 3000 servicement live in poverty and misery due to injuries not being compensated.


Also note the name in the forst sentance below...........slimy shit!




The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence (Kevan Jones): The Government committed to implementing in full all the recommendations arising from the Review of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme when it was published on 10 February 2010. As the Review acknowledged, considerable detailed work is required to translate the Review’s high level recommendations in to legislation. An important first step is the formation of the proposed independent medical expert group, which I an establishing on an interim basis today in order to meet the timescales envisaged by the Review. The terms of reference, structure and membership of this interim medical expert group which will advise on armed forces compensation is set out below:


Terms of Reference


The interim Independent Medical Group is established as a result of the AFCS Review (Cm 7798) published on 10 February 2010. Its role primarily is to advise on the appropriate levels of compensation for all the specific injuries, illnesses and diseases highlighted in the AFCS Review as being areas of concern, in time to be included in the consultation in Autumn 2010 leading to the legislation planned for early 2011 to implement the Review.


In addition, the interim Group will also, as appropriate:


a. provide initial advice on the list of recognised diseases that, on the balance of probabilities, are predominantly caused by service in the armed forces since 6 April 2005;


b. provide initial advice on those injuries, illnesses or diseases that might be made worse by service during the first six months of service that are currently excluded from the Scheme. This advice will need to distinguish between those injuries, illnesses or diseases that might simply be triggered by service, but are not caused by service (perhaps such as asthma which might only become apparent during initial training);


c. advise on the definitive structure and membership of the Group, beyond the transitional Group which would only be in existence for around 12 months;


d. advise on any other medical matters in relation to the Armed Forces Compensation Schemes that the Minister for Veterans requests it to provide.


Membership


The Chairman and expert members of this interim Group will comprise senior licensed consultants drawn from the relevant specialties, including: Trauma/Orthopaedics, Neurology, Ear/Nose/Throat, Occupational Medicine, and Mental health. The MOD’s Senior Medical Adviser to the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel) will also be a member of the Group. Three lay members will also be appointed to the Group: one from Service/ex-Service Organisations on the statutorily established Central Advisory Committee on Pensions and Compensation (CAC), one from the in-Service representatives on the CAC, and an injured serving person who has claimed under the Scheme. The Group will be able to draw on other expert advice where required.


The Chairman of the Group will be a member of the CAC that advises the Minister for Veterans, and the Chairman would present the advice of the Group to Minister as a member of the CAC. The advice and the Government’s decisions in relation to it would be published together at the same time on the MOD’s website.


The following individuals have been appointed to form this interim group:


Chairman: Professor Sir Anthony Newman Taylor CBE, FRCP, FFOM, FMedSci


Expert Members: Professor David Alexander MA(Hons) C.Psychol PhD FBPS FRSM(Hon) FRCPsych; Professor Linda Luxon FRCP; Dr John Scadding MD FRCP; Dr David Snashall MSc FRCP FFOM LLM; and, Professor James Ryan OStJ, MB, BCh, BAO (NUI), FRCS (Eng), MCh (NUI), Hon FCEM, DMCC(SoA), RAMC(V)


MOD’s Senior Medical Adviser to the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel): Dr Anne Braidwood CBE MRCP MRCGP


Lay Members: Lt Col Jerome Church MBE, General Secretary British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association, member of the CAC, representing the Confederation of British Service and Ex-Service Organisations; Col Robin Vickers, Army Pay Colonel, representing the three single Service members on the CAC; and, Col David Richmond, a serving member of the armed forces who suffered an AK47 bullet wound that shattered his femur in Afghanistan in June 2008 who was injured when Commanding Officer 5SCOTS.


Mode of working


The Group itself will not be expected to create its advice from first principles. Instead, the MOD would investigate issues and draw up evidence-based proposals for the Group to consider and either validate or advise, support or challenge in the same way that the MOD conducted the work of the AFCS Review and used the Independent Scrutiny Group to validate this work. The MOD will provide secretariat support to the Group.


The Group will meet as and when required, perhaps 4-6 times during its existence. Between meetings business will be conducted via correspondence. Some meetings may be conducted virtually via video- or telephone-conferencing.


Terms of Appointment


The Chairman and members of this interim independent medical group to advise on Armed Forces compensation will be appointed until February 2011. The roles will not be remunerated, but the MOD will reimburse reasonable travel and subsistence expenses. The Chairman and members will be expected to follow the Seven Principles of Public Life enunciated by the Nolan Committee.

Tuesday 30 March 2010

I dont Bloody Believe This???

A convicted rapist facing deportation has won a High Court battle to be allowed to stay in the country to get married.

Alphonse Semo, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, threw his victim on a rubbish tip when he had finished with her.

But yesterday evening he won the right to remain for his wedding just hours before he was due to board a plane back to Africa.

A judge said it was difficult to have any sympathy for Semo, who was jailed for eight years, but he must be allowed to stay.

Mr Justice Collins said the Home Office had at first agreed to let the 53-year-old, from Deptford, south east London, get married to his long-term partner, a German national.

Then the wedding was effectively cancelled by a subsequent decision "by the same Home Office - no doubt by a different department".

The judge said he was "very reluctant" to intervene - "but it seems to me the Home Office really cannot be allowed to play hot and cold".

The judge said: "With considerable reluctance, I have to say he must be allowed to marry.

"That means there will be a prohibition against removing him."

So just to get this straight, The home office said he could marry then a different dept said it could not. This the judge is an issue and sites playing "hot and cold".

Which part of he's a convicted rapist do you not fucking get!!!

When will a labour government actually take crime and punishment seriously????

But hey 2 more voters guaranteed for the great Socialist Movement that is the Labour Party !!


The judge said the Home Secretary would have to reconsider later, after the marriage, whether to make a fresh attempt to deport him.

That would engage issues of EU law as his bride-to-be, Bunsana Kalonji, is a refugee from the Congo who became a German national.

The pair have a long-established relationship. Ms Kalonji is in the UK, exercising her right to work here under Community law. What is community Law????

Once married, the pair are expected to claim that Semo is legally entitled to remain in the UK as the spouse of an European Economic Area national entitled to free movement within EU member states, including the UK.

DO FUCKING WHAT !!!!!

Semo was sentenced to eight years' jail in December 2002 for raping and assaulting a 38-year-old woman in Rushey Green, Catford, south east London.

The trial judge said of the rape: "You added to that the degradation of throwing her on a rubbish tip once you had finished with her."

His refugee status was revoked in June 2008 and the Home Secretary made a deportation order.

After finishing his prison sentence, he was detained pending deportation. Since then he has successfully fought a series of legal battles to stay in the UK, the latest of which centres on his wedding plans.

ALL ON FUCKING LEGAL AID AT MY COST!!...................Utter Twats

And you keep telling me Gordon I should vote you back in !!!!!!!!!



Source

So What We Have Done Here


............. Is given every slightly hormonal woman a green light.

We have all heard it before.."I NEED chocolate".


See Here

"its ok ...... I know I am only 5'2" and 19 stones but I wont get heart disease"

UK Border Control

LET ME SEE IF I GOT THIS RIGHT.


IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOUR.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS THE UK BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET
1 - A JOB,
2 - A DRIVER’S LICENCE,
3 - SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER,
4 - WELFARE,
5 - FAMILY CREDIT,
6 - CREDIT CARDS,
7 - SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
8 - FREE EDUCATION,
9 - FREE HEALTH CARE,
10 - A LOBBYIST IN PARLIAMENT
11 - BILLIONS OF £'s WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE
12 - AND THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR OWN COUNTRY’S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON’T GET ENOUGH RESPECT


WITH AN ELECTION COMING I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP OF THE SITUATION!!!!
WOULD NOT WANT TO VOTE INCORRECTLY NOW WOULD I ?

Friday 26 March 2010

Its Friday so another round of our competition.



Yes the famous "Spot the Lying Bastard" Competition.

But this a tough one this week............so try your hardest.

Today is...............






........National Cleavage Day.





Please see here
Here
Here

Now I am 100% in support of this day so ladies dont let down.

Feel free to email TLOTF all the phots you wish and I will....eeerrrr......keep them safe............so to speak.

And no I have not been doing web searches all day for inspiration.

(Note:- I am in sooooo much trouble)

Help Please !

Last night on the BBC there was George Osborne doing a Conservative Party responce for the general public post The budget. It was a bloody joke.

In the interest of balance I was going to blog about JUST HOW CRAP HE IS AND WHAT A LIABILITY to the Tory party that odeous turd is. !!

However I can not find the broadcast on the interweb.
It is not the one on the tory web site.

So if any of you good people come across it please send me a link, so I can do a post.

I would not want Liam Byrne to think I was being bias following his "words can not describe" performance on Question Time last night.

Thanks


UPDATE

Manwiddicombe sums up the mood as well with this top pic

Who watched Question Time Last Night ?


What a fucking car crash for Liam Byrne.

Jeez there will be Nokias all over No.10 this morning.



Please follow this link here then go top right to watch again.

Get a coffee and sit down.

On the panel were Chief Secretary Treasury and Unite member Liam Byrne MP, the Conservative Shadow Minister for Communities Baroness Warsi, the Liberal Democrat communities spokesman Julia Goldsworthy MP, the First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond and businessman Sir Martin Sorrell.

Julia Godsworthy tried to make it a party political broadcast on behalf of the Lib Dems but quite easily forgot only last week 3 senior Lib Dems were found gulity as part of the MP expences scandal.

Baroness Warsi was weak, ill informed and not a good orator at all.

Big Eck was in superb form..........and I can see why the Westminster leader did not want him at the leaders debates (yes despite them now being a PM debate as he would destroy all 3).

Martin Sorrell was superb, well informed , factual and picked his words and moments to speak accurately and cleanly. Well a man of his position, and proffessional ism would as I expect. All politicians could learn from him.

However as described in the blogosphere Liam Byrne the Treasury attack dog (bwahahahahahahahahaha) not last night he was not.
He was useless. Big Eck nailed his knackers to the wall on Badger Darlings budget and his thursday comments "about cuts worse than under Mrs T".
All panelist clearly had him on Byres, Hoon and Hewitt.
His comments on defence and Afghanistan were ill informed and factually incorrect.

And the great thing I thought was the audience...........Glasgow is a strong militant and Labour heartland. Indeed many union movements owe there upbringing to the workers of Glasgow. However the people were having none of it. they clearly expressed and stated there displeasure at the parties, the lack pof policy, the mess the country is in and the fact they all view ploitics as sleazy, dirty and a mass gravy train.

Liam Byrne was a disaster last night. As the attack dog so to speak, Chief bitch in the Treasury you mean..........that was a weak performance and more likely to turn voters away from Labour than onto them.

Thursday 25 March 2010

Oh Dear Dave.................bit of an issue here !!

A quality piece by Fraser Nelson in The Spectator mulling over what George Osbourne had to say in responce to the budget.

In a nutshell weak, unconvincing, more interested in landing a quality interview timeslot.

Basically lacking any fibre that would make the country feel Osbourne was the right man for the job post May 6th.

Wonder how many tories feel the same???

I have no faith in Osbourne at all. He has no steel, no core, no actual idea of his political thoughts, no idea of fiscal policy..........he is a slimy little bugger as well. His quotes in the interview are testamony to is lack of ability.
I also have zero faith in Liam Fox...........he is a proven liar and a thief !!!

So does "Call Me Dave" think the same.......should he arrive in No10 the morning of the 7th May will Osbourne move into No11 ???????

Does the tory high rankers share the same thoughts.........because if the population think along the same line as me with regards to the tories then the minority parties will do well and labout crash back in for a fourth term.

You have a lot of work to do Cameron and you better be quick !!!!!

Quote of the Nanosecond

From eyespymp on twitter

eyespymp Prezza having photo done in Westminster Hall this morn, lighting rig and all. Proof if ever it were needed that you cannot polish a turd

OMG




Can you just imagine the ratings !!!!!!!!!

See here

So why did you sell it ??????








Gordon Brown has been ordered to release information before the general election about his controversial decision to sell Britain's gold reserves.

The decision to sell the gold taken by Mr Brown when he was Chancellor is regarded as one of the Treasury's worst financial mistakes and has cost taxpayers almost £7 billion.

Mr Brown and the Treasury have repeatedly refused to disclose information about the gold sale amid allegations that warnings were ignored.

Following a series of freedom of information requests from The Daily Telegraph over the past four years, the Information Commissioner has ordered the Treasury to release some details. The Treasury must publish the information demanded within 35 calendar days by the end of April.

The sale is expected to be become a major election issue, casting light on Mr Brown's decisions while at the Treasury.

Last night, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, demanded that the information was published immediately. " Gordon Brown 's decision to sell off our gold reserves at the bottom of the market cost the British taxpayer billions of pounds," he said. "It was one of the worst economic judgements ever made by a chancellor.

"The British public have a right to know what happened and why so much of their money was lost. The documents should be published immediately."

Between 1999 and 2002, Mr Brown ordered the sale of almost 400 tons of the gold reserves when the price was at a 20-year low. Since then, the price has more than quadrupled, meaning the decision cost taxpayers an estimated £7 billion, according to Mike Warburton of the accountants Grant Thornton.

It is understood that Mr Brown pushed ahead with the sale despite serious misgivings at the Bank of England. It is not thought that senior Bank experts were even consulted about the decision, which was driven through by a small group of senior Treasury aides close to Mr Brown.

The Treasury has been officially censured by the Information Commissioner over its attempts to block the release of information about the gold sales.

The Information Commissioner's decision itself is set to become the subject of criticism. The commissioner has taken four years to rule on the release of the documents, despite intense political and public interest in the sales. Officials have missed a series of their own deadlines to order the information's release, which will now prevent a proper parliamentary analysis of the disclosures.

It can also be disclosed that the commissioner has held a series of private meetings with the Treasury and has agreed for much of the paperwork to remain hidden from the public. The Treasury was allowed to review the decision notice when it was in draft form and may have been permitted to make numerous changes.

In the official notice, the Information Commissioner makes it clear that only a "limited" release of information has been ordered.

So it allows him to bury the "Real Truth".

Ed Balls, who is now the Schools Secretary, Ed Miliband, now the Climate Change Secretary, and Baroness Vadera, another former minister, were all close aides to the chancellor during the relevant period.

Notice how Badger Darlings replacement post the election "Ed Blinky Ball" name pops up again.

If the information is not released by the end of April, the Treasury will be in "contempt of court" and will face legal action. A spokesman said last night that the Treasury was not preparing to appeal against the ruling.



And finally a few facts on gold........and how the auctions cost taxpayer £7bn

*The price of gold has quadrupled since Gordon Brown sold more than half of Britains reserves. *The Treasury pre-announced its plans to sell 395 tons of the 715 tons held by the Bank of England, which caused prices to fall. *The bullion was sold in 17 auctions between 1999 and 2002, with dealers paying between $256 and $296 an ounce. Since then, the price has increased rapidly. Yesterday, it stood at $1,100 an ounce. *The taxpayer lost an estimated £7 billion, twice the amount lost when Britain left the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992. *The proceeds from the sales were invested in dollars, euros and yen. In recent years, most other countries have begun buying gold again in large quantities.

Friday 19 March 2010

Friday Competition

Yes Folks its Friday and another round of our.......


.....SPOT THE LYING BASTARD COMPETITION


Tell me about the money, John


John Mann MP gets a bit touchy when he asked about an expenses repayment he made of £2,395.02


He says he claimed it on the wrong forms, and can't be arsed to reclaim it.


Every time somebody asks him about it, they're threatened with a libel action.


So, how about it, John, sue me if you like, but tell me what the money was for.


--------------------------------
Source here

Rab note - To my fellow bloggers, cut and paste and put on your blog! He can't 'sue' us all.
TLOTF note - Nope he can not !!

Meet Paul Holmes MP for Chesterfield

Reproduced with Kind Permission from Ollie Cromwell at his now famous "you've been cromwelled" site

Well worth a visit



A few weeks ago an “interested party” passed on some information to me which stated that Paul Holmes MP for Chesterfield may have fiddled his expenses. After a bit of investigation I’m inclined agree to an extent. Even if it so happens that Mr Holmes has not fiddled his expenses he sure has taken the taxpayer for a good old ride… without the necessary lubrication.

Let me deal with the alleged fraudulent activity first. Mr Holmes rents an office in his constituency, we the taxpayer fund his rental expenses, just like we do with any other MP’s office. Through the landlord of said office Mr Holmes pays rent, and he also pays an insurance premium which I assume insure the premises should any damage be caused etc. A while back Mr Holmes’ office was flooded and was damaged it seems quite extensively, however instead of claiming the damages on insurance would you like to guess who paid for those damages? Do you really need an answer to that question? Yes we did. The taxpayer. Now based on this MP’s previous behaviour which I’ll deal with further down, the insinuation is this:

That Mr Holmes not only charged the taxpayer for the expense of renovating his office, but he also claimed the damages on insurance, thereby getting two lots of money. This is insurance fraud. What’s that I hear you say? I’m being a little brazen with my accusations? Yes. There is a reason. I put my concerns in a an email which was sent to Mr Holmes and Mr Nick Clegg his party leader weeks ago asking them both to clarify what exactly has happened you can see a copy of the mail on the MP Responses page of this site. In fact I’ve been pestering Mr Clegg via Twitter and Facebook asking him to help me get some sort of closure on this matter.

The silence has been deafening. So Mr Holmes until you can prove that you have not claimed twice for those damages, this is me accusing you of fraudulent activities and upon receiving that proof I will retract this post and issue an apology. Oh by the way I have also laid an official complaint with the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, here’s the reference: Ref: PCS 352 2009-10. I’ve also let the Insurance Fraud Bureau know.

Apart from the alleged fraud above, let me demonstrate why I think this MP is literally on the take. Firstly digital cameras. Mr Holmes has claimed for 4 in his time as MP. His justification? One for the constituency office, one for the parliamentary office and one for the car. That’s bad enough, then we get the nepotism which seems rampant in political circles. Mr Holmes has employed both his wife and daughter throughout his tenure. Now for the biggy.

The Dolphin Estate was a complex of apartments that a few MP’s lived in (Including Mr Holmes) and the taxpayer took care of the rent for them. A while back the Dolphin Estate was purchased by a private company and they offered it’s tenants either a lump sum to leave, or they could stay put but pay a higher rate of rent. Mr Holmes opted for the former so moved out and received a lump sum of almost £10 000. He rightfully paid capital gains tax on that amount, but the issue is this. Why did he receive that lump sum and not the taxpayer? After all it was us that paid the rent for him. If you’re not seething now… there’s more.

Six months after moving out of the Dolphin Estate, guess what? Yes that’s right Mr Holmes moved back in. So now the taxpayer is ten grand out of pocket AND paying the higher rate of rent for Mr Holmes. See Mr Holmes in our eyes you have form and until you can prove otherwise, you’re a thief!

Paul Holmes consider yourself Cromwelled!

Thursday 18 March 2010

Good God Gordon bet you are glad you dont live in Korea

North Korea has arrested and possibly executed its top financial official as it struggles to contain chaos set off by its botched attempt to halt inflation through a radical currency revaluation, according to news reports Thursday in South Korea.

The fate of Pak Nam-gi, the ruling Workers’ Party’s finance and planning department chief, who is said to have spearheaded the currency reform, became a focal point of speculation when he failed to appear at any official functions reported in the North Korean news media for the past two months.

But the reclusive nature of the North Korean government has made it nearly impossible to verify reports about high-ranking officials.

If the reports about his arrest or execution are true, though, they suggest that the ailing North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, considers the public discontent in the aftermath of the currency reform a serious challenge to his grip on power.

Mr. Pak “was executed at a firing range in Pyongyang on the trumped-up charges of being an antirevolutionary element as public sentiments worsened over the failure of the currency reform,” the South Korean news agency, Yonhap, quoted unnamed “sources on North Korea” as saying.

Oh you know where I am going with this aren't you ????????????

Gordy Gordy Gordy if only !!!



Source

That Man in Oxford and his Fancy Smanshy Ideas !

The thing is though............I think he is spot on !!!

Go read right here..........and please read it all.



hmmmmmmmmm !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

About Time Too, Bomb Disposal experts awarded George Cross


Two British military bomb disposal experts, one of whom gave his life in the line of duty, have been awarded one of the UK's highest awards for gallantry, the George Cross.

At a special ceremony in London today, Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup confirmed that Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes and his fallen colleague the late Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid are to have the gallantry award bestowed upon them.

Previous Post on SSgt Schmid Here

SSgt Hughes and Mrs Christina Schmid, SSgt Schmid's widow, were present at the ceremony today, where they were both personally congratulated by Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, and Secretary of State for Defence Bob Ainsworth.

The George Crosses will be presented in a Royal investiture at a later date.

These honours are part of Operational Awards List 34, the remainder of which will be announced tomorrow, Friday, 19 March 2010.

The George Cross ranks alongside the Victoria Cross as the nation's highest award for gallantry. It is awarded "for acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger."

Announcing the award of the two George Crosse's Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said:

"As one of our top two operational honours, the George Cross is awarded only rarely; its recipients must have displayed the very highest levels of gallantry.

"The actions of Staff Sergeant Hughes and the late Staff Sergeant Schmid meet this most demanding test in full measure.

"Their selfless commitment, unswerving devotion to duty and unsurpassed courage are both awe-inspiring and humbling. The nation will rightly take enormous pride in their service; it owes them and their families an enormous debt of gratitude."

Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes and the late Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, both from the Royal Logistic Corps were deployed to Helmand Province as part of 19 Light Brigade, which was deployed to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 10 between March and November 2009.

The Brigade's deployment saw noticeable UK progress in Helmandlargely as a result of Operation PANCHAI PALANG (Panther's Claw), a counter-insurgency operation which saw an area the size of the Isle of Wight seized from insurgent control enabling security and governance to develop.

The insurgency however was far more intense and lethal than on any previous HERRICK operation and particularly in their use of IEDs.

As High Threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) operators, Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes and Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid were at the forefront of trying to neutralise this lethal threat.

SSgt Hughes's actions are described in his citation as "the single most outstanding act of explosive ordnance disposal ever recorded in Afghanistan."

A particular incident on the 16 August 2009 is referred to when he was tasked to provide close support to the 2 RIFLES Battlegroup during an operation to clear a route, south west of Sangin.

In preparation for the operation, some soldiers deployed early to secure an Emergency Helicopter Landing Site and isolate compounds to the south of the route as part of the inner cordon. During these moves a soldier was very seriously injured by an IED and as he was being recovered another IED exploded killing two personnel outright and resulting in four more very serious casualties, one of whom later died from his wounds.

The area was effectively an IED minefield, over-watched by the enemy and the section were stranded within it.

SSgt Hughes and his team were called in to extract the casualties and recover the bodies.

Without specialist protective clothing in order to save time, SSgt Hughes set about clearing a path to the injured, providing constant reassurance that help was on its way.

On reaching the first badly injured soldier he discovered a further IED within one metre of the casualty that, given their proximity, constituted a grave and immediate threat to the lives of all the casualties.

SSgt Hughes calmly carried out a manual neutralisation of the device; any error would have proved instantly fatal. This was a ‘Category A' action only conducted in one of two circumstances; a hostage scenario where explosives have been strapped to an innocent individual and a mass casualty event where not taking action is certain to result in further casualties. Both place the emphasis on saving other peoples' lives even, if necessary, at the expense of the operator. His citation states "It was an extraordinary act."

With shots keeping the enemy at bay, SSgt Hughes coolly turned his attention to reaching the remaining casualties and retrieving the dead. Clearing a path forward he discovered two further IEDs and, twice more, carried out manual neutralisation enabling all the casualties to be extracted and the bodies recovered.

After this the Royal Engineers Search Team (REST) detected a further four IEDs in the immediate area and stoically, like he had on over 80 other occasions in the precious five months, SSgt Hughes set about disposing of them too. His citation stated:

"Dealing with any form of IED is dangerous; to deal with seven IEDs linked in a single circuit, in a mass casualty scenario, using manual neutralisation techniques once, never mind three times, is the single most outstanding act of explosive ordnance disposal ever recorded in Afghanistan.

"That he did it without the security of specialist protective clothing serves even more to demonstrate his outstanding gallantry. Hughes is unequivocally deserving of the highest level of public recognition."

SSgt Schmid's citation described how he personally dealt with 70 confirmed improvised explosive devices.

He was deployed to Helmand from June 2009 until his death in action on 31 October 2009.

His disposal of IEDs involved him typically having to deploy on foot, thereby precluding the option of specialist protective equipment and severely limiting the use of remote controlled vehicles.

He spent long periods of time in close proximity to IEDs and in the gravest personal danger. Before his death in action he responded to 42 IED tasks, personally dealing with 70 confirmed IEDs.

Amongst these incidents was an 11 hour clearance which took place when an infantry company based in Wishtan province was isolated by a substantial minefield and the infamous Pharmacy Road, the only resupply route, was blocked by a medium wheeled tractor and another vehicle, both blown up by very large IEDs.

Intelligence, unenviable first-hand experience and numerous unexplained explosions from the area indicated that the area of the stricken vehicles was laced with IEDs.

At 0800hrs on 9 August 2009, as temperatures soared past 45°C, SSgt Schmid started work. Within only a hundred metres he found and cleared an IED and once within 100 metres of the vehicles he deployed an remote controlled vehicle that struck an IED and was destroyed.

SSgt Schmid then moved forward and, well inside the most lethal arc of any device, manually placed explosive charges, clearing a route to within five metres of the vehicles.

His team then moved to clear a compound adjacent to the stricken vehicles to drag them off the road. When a second IED was found, SSgt Schmid made another manual approach and rapidly got rid of it.

A new approach to the vehicles from the compound was explosively created for the hulks to be dragged clear. SSgt Schmid painstakingly cleared up to both vehicles and his first trip took an hour.

He was relying on his eyesight and his understanding of enemy tactics alone. Despite the threat, SSgt Schmid again decided against explosive clearance; time was critical so he placed heavy and cumbersome chains onto the stricken vehicles, the riskiest of enterprises given the very high likelihood of booby traps, and the vehicles were finally dragged clear.

As light started to fade, SSgt Schmid then personally led a high risk clearance of the road where the vehicles had been, manually disposing of two further IEDs.

The clearance had lasted 11 hours. It was physically, mentally and emotionally draining, but the road was open and the company resupplied. The resounding success of this battlegroup operation was entirely due to the heroic, selfless acts of SSgt Schmid.

On another occasion, on 8 October 2009 SSgt Schmid was tasked in Sangin District Centre to deal with an artillery shell. On arrival he immediately realised that the many unsuspecting civilians around him in the bustling bazaar were in peril.

Time was not on his side. He quickly assessed that the shell was in fact part of a live Radio Controlled IED intended to cause maximum casualties in a well populated area. The nature of the device also meant it was almost certainly over-watched by the bomber controlling it.

Without any consideration for his own safety SSgt Schmid immediately decided to neutralise the IED manually. To do this he knew he was employing a render safe procedure that should only ever be employed in the gravest of circumstances and which is conducted at the highest personal risk to the operator.

In an instant, SSgt Schmid made the most courageous decision possible, consciously placing his own life on the line in order to save the lives of countless Afghan civilians and demonstrating bravery of the highest order and well beyond the call of duty.

SSgt Schmid was killed during an operation near Forward Operating Base JACKSON. Having dealt with three IEDs already that day, he and his team were transiting to another compound when a searcher discovered a command wire running down the alleyway they were in.

SSgt Schmid and his team were trapped in the alleyway with no safe route forward or back as they did not know in which direction the IED was situated. Knowing that his team were in potential danger, he immediately took action to reduce the hazard.

SSgt Schmid eventually traced the wire to a complex command wire IED in that it incorporated three linked buried main charges. He was killed whilst dealing with the device.

His citation states:

"Schmid's actions on that fateful day, when trapped in an alleyway with no safe means of escape, probably saved the lives of his team.

"These occasions are representative of the complexity and danger that Schmid had faced daily throughout his four month tour.

"His selfless gallantry, his devotion to duty, and his indefatigable courage displayed time and time again saved countless military and civilian lives and is worthy of the highest recognition."

Wednesday 17 March 2010

MP's Still Stealing

MP's are just the wost. The lowest of the low.
Being an MP is just an excuse to act in a deplorable manner and basically authorised theft from the public.

Its getting worse.

We now have the cant pay my subsidised drinks and food bill scandal.

Scores are expected to be identified as having failed to settle their Commons restaurant tabs for more than three months. Some of the bills run to thousands of pounds.

However, many more MPs whose bills have been outstanding for less than 90 days will not be named, on the grounds that they have not breached the grace period for settling accounts.

The move follows a Freedom of Information Act request by the Press Association which sparked six months of wrangling between Commons officials, MPs and lawyers over how to respond.

MPs objected and demanded further legal advice after being told last autumn that the details of their unpaid bills were set to be published.

The Commons has now decided that it will only release the names of the MPs who have owed money for more than 90 days.

Bob Castle, head of information rights, said the House had decided that ''disclosure of individual indebtedness'' would breach the Data Protection Act where MPs were ''operating within the letter and spirit of the system of personal accounts''.

However, it has been concluded that this balance changes at the end of the 90 day period following on from the recording of the debt,'' he added, in a formal response.

The timing of the release is still unclear, the Commons saying it needs yet to consult the MPs it intends to name.

Last August, 329 MPs owed a total of £138,046 on their refreshment department accounts - an average of £419 each.

They included 77 MPs who have failed to settle £45,150-worth of tabs averaging more than £500 each for more than six months.

Food and drink in the Commons is already subsidised by the taxpayer to the tune of £6.1 million a year, roughly half the catering budget.

The forthcoming release will include the names of MPs and amounts owed on September 1, 2009, for more than 90 days.

Source


So just to remind you....

We the taxpayer..... subsidise that bunch already to over £6 Million quid a year for food and drinks inside Westminster.
They get £400.00 per month allowance already for without having to submit a receipt for food.

And they still cant pay up on time.

Its also the fact it took them 6 bloody months of forward and backwards arguing to come to an agreement on what to do.

Any other comapny would have that paid immediately back to them.

However all memebers of the political class feel they are an elitist group to whom normal rules no longer apply.

Freeloading bastards !!!!

Stat Analysis

Ok folks go back to Ollies place and check out his stats analysis work.

It gets worse............a lot bloody worse.


UPDATE More gems from the ONS report

The employment rate for the three months to January 2010 was 72.2 per cent. The rate is down
0.3 on the quarter and it has not been lower since the three months to November 1996.

The number of inactive people of working age increased by 149,000 over the quarter to reach a record high of 8.16 million.

The number of people in public sector employment was 6.10 million in December 2009, up 7,000 from September 2009. The number of people in private sector employment was 22.76 million, down 61,000 from September 2009.

I had assumed earlier that the 8.16 million includes the unemployed, it appears it does not they are a further 2.45 million making a total of 10.61 million people of working age who are without work.

OMFG

When Conservative MP Theresa may challenged Labour MP Jim Night on the Daily Politics about the 8.16 million inactive people of working age he implied they are mostly students. They are not. This figure includes 2.31 million students, which although the highest figure since comparable records began is only a little over a quarter of the total.

Well add that to the comments from Bugger in the below post and its pretty fucking clear now is it not?????

Bugger ..................... What a clever Panda


No Bugger is his name.

He frequents Subrosas blog and every now and again likes to visit my wee page of musings with a comment or 2.

However in response to my post below this one he comes up with a spot of further maths that is very scary indeed.!!!!


Think about this

If 2.75 millions equals 7.8% of the workforce, this means the workforce is potentially 35.6 millions.

8.16 millions represents 24% of the potential workforce.

Factor in spouses, civil servants, local gummint spongers, etc and I bet this would come close to the 30% who say they will vote Labour.

Now you know, the significance of the client state to Labour.

Keep them poor, keep them dependent and harvest their postal votes.



And bugger me Gordons back in No.10 again

OMFG How many !!!!!!!


Go to Ollies Blogspot and check this out.

Hat tip to the Red Rag

Figures have been released today which claim to show that the number of people unemployed in the UK has fallen and show a jobless rate of 7.8% with total unemployment standing at 2.45 million for the three months to January. So down 33,000 on the figure for the previous three months.

However a quick look at the ONS data reveals the smoke and mirrors. The number of people in work actually fell in the quarter, by 54,000 to 28.86 million. So how is it that both the number of people in work and the number of people out of work fell, did I miss a plague, a famine, a third world war? For only a massive reduction in the population could cause this surely.

Well no actually the ONS has the answer "unemployment and employment were both falling because of a rising number of people being classed as economically inactive. This category includes students and those on long-term sick leave, as well as those who have stopped looking for a job.

Ah, so that's it, unemployment has fallen because people have stopped looking for a job. FFS!

Long-term unemployment, covering those out of work for more than a year, rose by 61,000 to 687,000 a massive quarterly rise of almost 10%!

The lesson is - with this government - always read the fine print.

The inactivity rate was 21.5 per cent and there were 8.16 million working age inactive people.

8.16 Million people of working age doing nothing
8.16 Million people of working age doing nothing
8.16 Million people of working age doing nothing
8.16 Million people of working age doing nothing


8.16 Million people of working age doing nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are royaly fucked here !

All Quiet

My post here.


Isn't it funny.................all the shitty little blue noses have gone quiet.

Should the Tories win the GE and this light fingered little bastard takes over in the War Office............I'll show you a fight !!!

Gagging the Military

I wont let this go.
Subrosa
Tris
Constantly Furious have all blogged.

There is a facebook group which sadly only has 110 followers. I find that criminal as a bloody sausage roll can get best part of a million........shows that a facebook group is pretty irrelevant I suppose for trying to get a message across.

Lib Dem MP Willie Rennie ( who has been the butt of much of my fury on this page) has tabled an EDM which has 11 sigs from the 646 club. I gave my thanks to Willie but feel and noting not a single big hitter from any opposition party has just reinforced my thoughts on the whole political system.

The tories are useless.
"Call Me Dave" Cameron.............dont make me laugh...mark my words he will be no different.



Anyway the Lovely Trixy has a post which I will re-post below and hat tip to her.

Fighting for democracy?

Aside from the dragging out of the spouses, we can tell it's coming up to an election time because the military are once again being dragged into a battle ground they can't properly engage in.

We've seen the Tories bringing up the subject of equipment whilst our PM Brown and the Defence Secretary, given the job because he was the last one left in that June fiasco last year, flying out to Afghanistan to meet soldiers who they've shafted in one way or another over the past few years. It was the same time as the inquest into the death of Cpl Sarah Bryant revealed what we had all known for years: that the Labour Government had not considered the needs of the Armed Forces sufficiently before they signed them up for two conflicts.

How Brown and Ainsworth could really think that we'd see their stunts as anything other than that is saddening, but not quite so demoralising as the realisation that there are people in this country who, in their millions, will look at the past 13 years and think that this shower have been doing a good job.

But whilst the government have gagged the officers and used the troops for their own gain we've heard very little about the injuries in the press recently. Those who are in the know on these issues read about those deaths and realise that for every Killed in Action there will be casualties.

It's no wonder that with the looming election and with the Armed Forces Minister defending a slim majority of 97 that there's a wish to keep the casualty figures away from the papers. A quick glance at the casualty stats from the MoD's own website (which doesn't include a breakdown by types of injury and, in my experience, Freedom of Information Act Requests on these topics get mysteriously lost when civil servants read them) shows some tear jerking figures.

The summer of 2009 will be etched in the memory of many as we heard of the loss of so many young men and, as these men were flown home and buried with their deserved full military honours, the wards at Selly Oak and Headley Court were packed to bursting with wounded and limbless men. In total there were 158 serious and very seriously injured soldiers in 2009; an average of 13 per month.

In the first two months of this year we have seen 24 serious casualties: 17 very seriously injured and 7 seriously injured. Thats an average of 12 without counting those who were injured from the rifles battlegroup recently. That's almost the same and yet nothing.

I wonder why these figures haven't hit the headlines? I wonder why Bob Ainsworth and Bill Rammell haven't been talking about assistance for these men and their families? Those whose lives are changed forever rather than those who are squabbling, policy-less, to grip onto second homes and lavish expenses at our expense.

But don't hold your breath to hear the stories of those who have suffered and turned their lives around. For the MoD control what they can and can't say to the national press. And that means Bob Ainsworth and Bill Rammell. And do you think they want you reminded of these injured soldiers when they're trying to win your vote?

Tuesday 16 March 2010

Stop Thief !!!!!!!!!!


Liam Fox loses appeal against paying back £22,000 in expenses

Please see full story Here

So over to "Call Me Dave" Cameron with a quick question..............WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT

Easy question !

Remove him from the shadow cabinet.............errr No
Suspend Him..........................eerrr No
Discipline him..............errr No
Deselect him.................errrr No

Because your spineless.
Your also part of the great British political gravy train!

Mr Fox you now have no credibility, anyone who votes for you in the GE requires certified. You have been proven to be dishonest.

Had I increased a mortgage for the reasons he did it and charged my employer I would right now be sharing a cell with big Vern.
Now admittidly more sex but not my first choice style no doubt.

looking forward to what Iain Dale makes of this!!!

Labour & Unite Union


















I take no credit for being an author of this.

Hat tip to Dizzy

However read this here.

This is scary shit folks.............Militant Tendancy is back !

Friday 12 March 2010

So there are Men of Honour !!


No I am not talking about members of the armed forces.

I am talking about this group.

Pakistan's entire World Cup hockey squad have announced their international retirement after finishing last at the 12-team tournament in India.

Pakistan lost 3-2 to Canada on Thursday which condemned them to 12th place, their worst ever showing at the tournament.

"The players including captain Zeeshan Ashraf have announced their retirements and intimated this to the Pakistan Hockey Federation president," a federation spokesman said.

"All the players in the team accept their responsibility for the humiliating performance in the World Cup and have decided to retire," Ashraf told Geo News channel from New Delhi.

Earlier, the PHF said it had sacked coach Shahid Ali Khan as well as the team manager and selection committee.

"I have sacked the team management and the national selection committee because of our shameful performance in the World Cup," PHF president Qasim Zia said.


I think this is great...................some honour.

Some men who have said and I quote a "shameful performance"......."humiliating".

Now if our PM was to sit down and think, was to view his humiliating performances, his shameful handling of various issues................why could he not do the honourable this and just go????????

But still 56 days and counting !!!!!



Source

Thursday 11 March 2010

Another Avoidable Tradgedy

Do you remember the horrific story from Sept last year about a lady called Fiona Pilkington and her disabled daughter Francessca.



Sadly the pair had been terrorised by feral youth for such a period of time that Fiona committed suicide taking her disabled daughter with her in a car blaze.



The police clearly failed in their duty to the ladies and indeed to my knowledge not 1 feral scrote hs been brought to book over the years of misery and pain the pair endured.

Story here

However it emerges today of a similar story.

A 64-year-old man with learning difficulties was "tormented to death" by yobs who hounded him for a decade, neighbours have claimed.

David Askew was found dead outside his home in Hattersley, Greater Manchester, by police who had been sent to the address.

The man's family had called 999 because yobs were causing an "annoyance", but by the time officers arrived the youths had fled.

Mr Askew was well known in the area because of the problems he had had with youths.

Apparently a group of youths had a confrontation with him outside his house.

It started with him at an upstairs window, he eventually ended up coming out on to his back garden.

Sometime around half-nine he collapsed. Police said they don't believe he suffered any injuries, but it does seem he may have died of a heart attack or stroke."

Neighbours angry at the death have also hit out at authorities for failing to stop the "hoodies" from harassing his family.

"This has been going on for about 10 years," said Avona Davies, a 49-year-old shop worker. "They tormented David for money and cigarettes. They harassed him every night without fail."

She added the yobs were "about 18 or 19 years old".

Do What 10 Fucking Years

A police investigation is ongoing.............Well too bastard late now isnt it.
Another innocent vulnerable victim looses their life because of feral shits who run around thinking they own the place.

Source

A group of individuals who think they have god given right to do what the hell they want when they to whom they want.

Symptom of broken Britain................there is NO GREAT in Great Britain anymore.

Bust Britain
Broken Britain
Fucked Up Britain

So come on Plod,
Come on Al "postman Pat" unfit for purpose home office Arse
Come on government, with your put people first, take kids out of poverty, "trust me I'm Gordon" "I wont let you down" Brown.

What the fuckity fuck are you going to do about it.

Oh I know another quango, another committee to look at it.............Fuck all basically.

Still as long a dopey bastards like me pay the taxes, and keep the 646 club on the gravy train who gives a shit eh!

WELL I DO !!!!!!!

Shock Horror Stun



Well fuck me sideways..................All 4 of the robbing bastards pleaded "not guilty"...............I am shocked

Another 2 Piggies under the Spotlight













Harry Cohen labour MP for Leyton, the seat once held by Winston Churchill is under investigation by the Met Plod.

He has claimed substantially more for his second home and expenses than any other MP in London, in fact his annual expense claims of £123,718 are £30,000 higher than neighbouring Walthamstow Labour MP Neil Gerrard’s claim of £92,228 and greater than Chingford Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith’s allowance of £104,222.

He is only 30 mins on the tube from Westminster yet our Harry claimed the maximum tax free second home subsidy of £21,630.

The Metropolitan Police has begun a criminal inquiry into Harry Cohen, who claimed more than £70,000 for a “second home” while renting out his main property.














Pic of a piggies "second home".........nice if you can get it!




It is also understood the Rozzers are looking into Eric Illsley, the MP for Barnsley, after he allegedly made “phantom” claims for council tax.

Source

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Huge credit where it is Due



















Anna Racoon and Old Holburn..............Take a bow

See Here

Tuesday 9 March 2010

The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh



The assassination of senior Hamas militant leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on Jan. 19 is still generating a tremendous amount of discussion and speculation some six weeks after the fact. Dubai’s police force has been steadily releasing new information almost on a daily basis, which has been driving the news cycle and keeping the story in the media spotlight. The most astounding release so far has been nearly 30 minutes of surveillance camera footage that depicts portions of a period spanning the arrival of the assassination team in Dubai, surveillance of al-Mabhouh, and the killing and the exfiltration of the team some 22 hours later.




By last count, Dubai police claim to have identified some 30 people suspected of involvement in the assassination; approximately 17 have been convincingly tied to the operation through video footage either as surveillants, managers or assassins, with the rest having only tenuous connections based on information released by the Dubai police. In any case, the operation certainly was elaborate and required the resources and planning of a highly organized agency, one most likely working for a nation-state.



















Pre-Operation



While the 22-hour period depicted in the video showcased the tactical capabilities of the various teams, it hardly tells the whole story. In order to pinpoint the location of al-Mabhouh on the day of his killing, the organization responsible for this operation would have had to have tracked al-Mabhouh for months, if not years. This can be done in three ways: technical surveillance, utilization of human sources and physical surveillance.



Technical surveillance of al-Mabhouh would include monitoring his e-mail, telephone calls and other forms of electronic communications such as online credit-card transactions and travel reservations. This could reveal his physical location and future plans, which would allow the assassination team to anticipate his location and prepare well ahead of time. With such a large team involved in the assassination, careful coordination and planned movements would have been required to ensure that all members were in place without attracting attention.



But technical surveillance has limitations. An experienced operative like al-Mabhouh (who had been the target of two previous assassination attempts in as many years) would most likely have taken precautions that would have limited his electronic visibility. The operational team likely used human sources with close ties to al-Mabhouh who could corroborate the information and possibly influence the target’s movements, putting him in place for the operation. Human sources could have included al-Mabhouh’s colleagues within Hamas or a member of a rival group such as Fatah. (Three Palestinians suspected of being members of Fatah were arrested by Dubai authorities in connection with the assassination, indicating that the group may have provided human intelligence to the organization responsible for al-Mabhouh’s assassination.) Other people could have been recruited using a number of incentives (including cash) without their knowing the consequences of their assistance. Both the technical and human intelligence operations would have been run by intelligence officers operating abroad and at locations separate from the operational team.



According to Dubai police, physical surveillance was conducted by members of the operational team during al-Mabhouh’s previous trips to the United Arab Emirates. Physical surveillance is a critical part of any effective assault (whether it’s a clandestine intelligence operation or a car-jacking) because it gives the operatives an opportunity to become familiar with their surroundings and recognize their target in his or her “natural” environment.



Once all this homework was done to establish al-Mabhouh’s normal routines and determine his approximate location and duration of his stay in Dubai, the intelligence-collection process moved into the deployment phase and an operational team was sent into action.



The Operation



Prior to Mabhouh’s arrival, surveillance teams set up in the airport and at different hotels to make sure they could obtain a visual confirmation of their target. Based on their intelligence of his prior trips to Dubai, planners placed teams in two hotels to wait for al-Mabhouh approximately an hour before his arrival. They also had a surveillance team waiting for him at the airport to follow him as soon as he entered the country and report his movements to the rest of the team. While it wasn’t captured on video, we suspect that a mobile surveillance group tracked al-Mabhouh from the airport by car. To help ensure a successful outcome, the operational team used overwhelming force to prevent the target from ever seeing the same face twice. When it was established that al-Mabhouh was staying at the Al Bustan Rotana, the team responded by abandoning their other posts and directing their focus to that hotel.



Once al-Mabhouh was identified, the team locked on to him at the hotel and started initiating further steps in the operation. The first surveillance team watched al-Mabhouh register at the front desk and then followed him to his room, noting the target’s specific room number. This was relayed to other members of the team, who then placed a reservation for the room across the hall from al-Mabhouh, which gave them direct access to their target. The selection of the room is very interesting for two reasons. First, it was directly across the hall from al-Mabhouh’s room, giving the team a perfect spot from which to monitor his movements. Second, the room was just behind the video camera for that floor and the camera was trained on the emergency stairwell exit, which allowed the assassination team to carry out the attack on his room without being filmed.



Meanwhile, down in the hotel lobby, surveillance teams were rotating to monitor the target’s movements in and out of the hotel. At one point, a surveillant is seen following al-Mabhouh out to the street to relay by cell phone the type of vehicle he had entered. These surveillants, operating in teams of two, used disguises such as hats, sunglasses, beards and work-out gear to establish a cover for action and better conceal their identities. While many members of the operational team were identified on closed-circuit television (CCTV), hats and sunglasses helped distort their images and reduce the already low risk of being recognized by the target or any protective team during the operation.



Another necessity in any operation like this is communications. Surveillance video of the team involved in this operation shows them using cell phones to send text messages and talk to other members of the team. According to reports from Dubai police, the cell phones used in the operation were dialed to an Austrian number, likely the operations and support center for the team on the ground and any others involved in the operation. This might have been an open conference line into which all members of the operational team could dial to monitor the movement of their target. It is unlikely that the center was actually in Austria; it probably used a proxy phone line to mask its true physical location.



Assassination and Exfiltration



At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 19, after al-Mabhouh returned to his hotel room from a meeting, the assassination team moved in. It was important to carry out the killing at a time and in a manner that would give the team the maximum window of opportunity. They suspected that al-Mabhouh was in for the night, which meant that nobody would miss him until early the following afternoon, giving the team ample time to flee the country. The team carried out the assassination smoothly, with video surveillance showing only two operatives casually talking outside the elevator (a cover for monitoring the hall for possible distractions) — in other words, nothing out of the ordinary. The assassination team members also exhibited no unusual behavior when they departed the scene. Demeanor is extremely important, and the ability of the team to act calmly and naturally and not catch the attention of security guards monitoring CCTV ensured that the act remained a secret until hotel cleaning staff found the body more than 17 hours after the entire team had departed Dubai.



The assassination team also killed al-Mabhouh in a way that apparently confounded medical examiners trying to determine the cause of death, delaying the announcement of a criminal case for nine days. This delay gave the operational team ample time to cover its tracks, possibly by using third- and fourth-country border crossings, additional false identities and safe-houses, making it much harder for Dubai authorities to track team members to their ultimate destinations. This confusion appears to have been created by the use of a muscle relaxant called succinylcholine (also known as Suxamethonium), which, if used in large enough quantities, can cause the heart to stop, making it appear that the victim died of cardiac arrest. The drug also has a very short half-life, meaning that traces would degenerate and virtually disappear shortly after injection, making it ideal for covert operations such as this one.



The team was not able to pull off the operation with complete anonymity — it is virtually impossible to operate in a modern environment without leaving some kind of electronic trace. The Dubai police were able to use video surveillance from the airport, hotels and a nearby shopping center to trace back the movements of the operatives and establish their identities according to the passports that they used. These later proved to be fraudulent passports from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and France — but they were extremely well-made fraudulent passports that were discovered later, only after video surveillance prompted closer scrutiny; customs officials were unable to detect this when the operatives were arriving or departing. Moreover, the credit cards used by several members of the operation team were linked to a company called Payoneer. The company’s CEO is a former member of Israel Defense Forces special operations, and Payoneer has financial backing from a company based in Israel.



Dubai police have announced that they retrieved DNA evidence from at least one of the members on the assassination team and fingerprints from several others, giving authorities pieces of evidence that are unalterable, unlike a passport. However, DNA evidence is only helpful when it can be compared against an exemplar. If Dubai police are unable to find a match to the DNA sample or a fingerprint, then these clues will offer little immediate help.



The passports also provide little immediate help in terms of tracking down the suspects. The discovery that fraudulent British, Irish, German and French passports were used has created a diplomatic problem for Israel (Mossad is understandably at the top of the list of suspects), which raises the profile of the operation considerably. This is certainly not what a clandestine operation is supposed to do. Although the operatives will probably never be found and handed over to UAE authorities, the fact that so many details of the assassination have been made public jeopardizes the anonymity that is supposed to surround this kind of operation.



Potential Consequences



Al-Mabhouh was hardly a likable character. As a senior Hamas military commander, arms smuggler and liaison to Iran, he was already on the terrorist watch lists in the countries that have complained about the use of fraudulent passports. Public indignation is a necessary and expected reaction from these countries to save diplomatic face, but when it comes down to it, there would be few incentives to seriously punish Israel, if it indeed sponsored the hit. The police of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, rightfully frustrated that they are tasked with solving an unsolvable case, will still probably not miss al-Mabhouh. Their efforts to stir up outrage over the assassination are likely fueled by their desire to save face in the Arab world, where the Palestinian cause is of high rhetorical importance but little strategic importance.



The fact is that the high level of complexity involved in this assassination, along with the smoothness with which it was carried out, is evidence that the operation was undertaken by an elite covert force, the likes of which could only be sponsored by a nation-state. The ability to conduct preliminary intelligence collection, to muster a large and coordinated team of skilled operatives, to fabricate passports to an exacting degree, to successfully exfiltrate all members of the team — all of this requires a significant and well-funded effort that, we believe, exceeds the current capabilities of any non-state terrorist group. It is worth noting here that the most impressive aspect of the operation was the team’s tradecraft and demeanor. All the members of this team were professionals.



Indeed, with so much time having already elapsed, and if the operation was sponsored by a nation-state, it is highly improbable that any of the operatives involved will ever be caught. However, countries around the world are offering their assistance in the case, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia. Few officials from these countries actually believe any of the operatives will be apprehended, but that is not the real reason to participate in the investigation. What officials are really looking for are the granular details of how this group of assassins and surveillants operated. These details are extremely valuable in ongoing counterintelligence efforts by countries to thwart foreign intelligence agencies operating on their home turf. The information can provide clues to past and future cases, and it can be used to build databases on covert operatives, so that if any of these people show up unexpectedly at an airport, hotel or embassy in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia or elsewhere, the alarms can be sounded more quickly.

Reproduced with permission from Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (http://www.stratfor.com/)

Monday 8 March 2010

Browns Lies Exposed

On Friday Brown sat infront of the Chilcot farce and said "he accepted every request for new equipment for Iraq". Money no issue the troops got what they needed.

However a top civil servant at the MOD has come out at the Chilcot enquiry and completely dismissed the PM stance.

Sir Bill Jeffrey Permanent Under Secretary at the MOD has appeared to come out alongside 2 leading military figures and again proven the PM to be a liar.




Sir Bill told the Iraq Inquiry that the small annual increases in the defence budget Mr Brown has made have not been enough to meet the sharp rises in the costs of defence operations and equipment.

That has forced the MoD to seek cuts, he said.

“The upward pressures have meant that in successive years, I and ministers, we have had to think hard about what we could cut,” he said.

Mr Brown has been under intense pressure over his record of funding the Armed Forces. Last week, he told the inquiry he had accepted every request for new equipment for Iraq and Afghanistan, and increased the total defence budget every year.

Several senior military commanders have accused Mr Brown of not telling the whole truth, pointing out that the money Mr Brown allocated to defence simply did not match the rising demands imposed by two foreign wars.

Sir Bill also said that a budget forced on the MoD by Mr Brown shortly after the Iraq war began had left the MoD with a “significant” financial problem that “persists to this day”.

There had been “a serious dispute” between Mr Brown's Treasury and the MoD in 2004 about spending, Sir Bill said. The Treasury vetoed MoD attempts to use Whitehall accounting rules to allow it to spend more on new equipment.

“That undoubtedly left the department with a significant problem because the estimated cost of the programme exceeded the budget,” he said.

Sir Bill said when he took up his post in 2005, “that pressure in the defence budget was still there.”

The defence budget has been rising in real terms by around 1 percent point a year, Sir Bill said. But that annual rise was not enough to cover the rising costs facing the MoD, he said.

“The real problem, and it persists to this day is that despite those easements, is that the defence budget has been stretched,” he said. “The cost of the programme has exceeded our ability to pay for it.”

The MoD has been forced to make “some reductions in equipment” to prioritise Afghan operations, Sir Bill said.

As an example, he cited an announcement in December that RAF fast jets will be cut to pay for more protective equipment for ground forces in Afghanistan.

“It’s been difficult against the wider financial background,” Sir Bill said.

Sir Kevin Tebbit, Sir Bill’s predecessor, told the inquiry that Mr Brown “guillotined” the defence budget and left him operating with a “crisis budget”.

Sir Bill was asked if he believes he is operating with a “crisis budget.”

He replied: “We certainly have had to look consistently at ways of reducing the estimated cost of the programme.”

“Whether that constitutes a crisis I don’t know. It has certainly felt more than quite tight over the last period.”

Source

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