Tim Worstall

Tee Hee.
A couple from Oregon lived through the ultimate redial nightmare, however, when they found a three-minute answering machine message from their son, a soldier in Afghanistan who had inadvertently called home during a battle.
The family told KPTV, in Portland, Oregon, that Stephen Phillips and comrades in his military police unit were engaged in a […]

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This all seems very strange to me I must say:

In a blow to Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, a senior judge said troops in combat zones have a "right to life" at all times, even while under fire on the battlefield.

Makes you rather wonder whether the politicians actually read and understood the Human Rights Act […]

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Alex picks up on a fun story involving the flogging of very dodgy ammunition by a bunch of 20 year olds to the Pentagon’s client forces.
What makes it all the more fun for me is that my buddy was the underbidder on that contract. Several times in fact. Clearly too expensive as he intended (and […]

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Quite.
Here.

However, during the night the Japanese attacked Snowdon East in overwhelming strength, killing half the Gurkhas on it; the remainder, completely out of ammunition, managed to cut their way through to their comrades on Snowdon.
The following day "B" Company, with which Bhanubhakta was serving, was ordered to retake Snowdon East "regardless of cost".
Bhanubhakta’s citation (in […]

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Seumas Milne on Hamas, Gaza and Israel:

More than 120 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces in the past week, of whom one in five were children and more than half were civilians, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. During the same period, three Israelis were killed, two of whom were […]

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The one redeeming feature of the place was the kids. They were anarchic, testosterone fuelled, BMX heroes who could find a way through two insurance padlocks and an engine immobiliser on a piece of site plant in 10 minutes flat. They were fit, lean, lithe, careless of any danger, disrespectful of any authority, infinitely crafty […]

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The pilot, on the other hand, is probably an ego-maniacal jackass.

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Seriously?

Yesterday the Israeli announced that the IDF and Shin Bet had found “6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sacks that were disguised as aid from the European Union”.

Potassium nitrate? Saltpetre? People are making explosives out of black gunpowder?
Sheesh, you’d think they would have caught up with the IRA by now and be using ammonium […]

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They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
 
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce […]

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Oh yes, we’ll save those brave people who worked for us in Iraq! We won’t let them be tortured, mained, killed, oh no, we’ll do what every Briton would do and take responsibility for our actions.
Like buggery they will. Here’s the Ministerial statement:
 
Written Ministerial Statement
09 October 2007
 
IRAQ: ASSISTANCE TO LOCALLY EMPLOYED STAFF
 
 
The Secretary of State […]

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God these people are shits. Our Lords and Masters. Prize, Grade A, bastards.
Yes, you can quote me on that.
So some people out here in Blogistan along with The Times have managed to get Gordon Brown to agree that there is indeed a moral case that those who worked for the British military in Iraq should […]

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Sadly, it’s not just our own MOD that screws those it sends to fight:

I no longer believe in coincidences when it comes to stuff like this. Whoever wrote the order for 729 days knew precisely what he or she was doing.

No, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence either.
 

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Nick Cohen’s column is all about the moral duty owed to those Iraqis who have worked for the British forces in Basra and environs. Good piece too:

Some leaks from the MoD say that asylum will be offered to only the 91 translators currently working with the British army. If true, Brown would be engaging in […]

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So the Govt has indeed changed its mind:

Iraqi interpreters and other key support staff who have risked their lives to work for Britain are to be allowed to settle in the United Kingdom, The Times has learnt.
Hundreds of interpreters and their families are to be given assistance to leave Iraq, where they live under fear […]

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