prince out to war
 

says on the news that harry has been fighting the taliban secretly for ten weeks!!
but the news was leaked out by a big gob yanky news website:rolleyes:........

Prince Harry Fighting In Afghanistan For Past 10 Weeks |Sky News|UK News

somebodys not gonna be happy:(
does this mean they will have to pull him out now???

Re: prince out to war
 

if you listened to all of it,they got the info from an Aussie magazine.;)printed on jan15th.

Re: prince out to war
 

From reading that page and the other links it seems that the media had a blackout on his being there, in otherwords a gentlemans agreement that they wouldnt say nothing about him being there till he was safely back in this country. Prince Harry wanted serve in Iraq but because there was a furore about it in the media that he couldnt go - he didnt want to put the men he was serving with at risk. Now hes been in afghanistan, serving his time like any other soldier, doing his job and now the foreign media has put his life and others that serve with him at risk seeing as now theyre going to go all out looking for him. Thing is the date on the website was 15 January - that was over a month ago and no one said anything. He's due home in April whos taking bets that he'll be home in March if not already at home or on his way home seeing as it has now become public knowledge?

Im glad hes had the chance to go into a front line area and dont agree with the foreign media spilling the beans. If they cant keep their mouths shut then why should they be included in any press conferences in the future. They were wrong to do this. Wonder what Prince Harry thinks about it?

Re: prince out to war
 

If you're there to be trained, you're there to serve!!

Get the bloody kid gloves off.

Re: prince out to war
 

re, the "big gob yanky news website" does this mean you are in favour of news censorship ? ....the Govt. being able to control what you read and see, ? ......yep great idea put the Beckhams , Amy Winehouse and other pap on the front pages every day . :rolleyes:

yep , he (Prince Harry) has probably been showing the Afghanis how to grow organic opium , how the hell a country under so called military occupation can increase its drug production 5 fold since taliban rule, (now responsible for about 90% of the world herion supply) is a mystery to me. :rolleyes:

Re: prince out to war
 

Good i say , about time one of them there `Royals` did something worthwhile.

Re: prince out to war
 

Think this is only going to spell trouble for Harry and the men he is fighting with.
Surely they will be a target now?
The best thing would be for him to come home before anything happens.
I know people say he has done his training so why shouldn't he serve but with him being so high profile i just don't think it is possible especially now.

Re: prince out to war
 

Probably but it will also mean that other troops may be less of a target.
Why?

I don’t wish the lad any ill will but there should be no special treatment just because of an accident of birth.

Re: prince out to war
 

Spot on .

Re: prince out to war
 

I don't see why he shouldn't be able to fight regardless of the risk. I always thought it was an honour to serve alongside a member of the royal family at war, so the soldiers in his troop would think it an honour to fight alongside prince harry?

And I always thought the Royals were happy to die in battle anyway, thought that was another honourable thing...

I find the whole thing about Prince Harry weird. If he wants to fight then they should just let him. He's a good example of a dedicated soldier and deserves praise for wanting to serve the country so badly.

Re: prince out to war
 

Exactly! Harry has had loads of bad press, thought he was a waster to be honest, but at least he's had the b*lls to go out there. As well as that, over Christmas as well, when the troops find it hardest. Fair play to him, I say, and if he does get sent back, he should come back a hero, as every serving squaddie should

Re: prince out to war
 

b*gger, half my reply is lost in the quote! Blazey dont sue me ;)

Re: prince out to war
 

To be fare to the lad he did want to go out there and do the job he was train to do, it was the brass who thought that not only him but those serving with him would be put in great danger, because who he is, this still applies. Yet again we have irresponsibe journlism, people who will stop at nothing to get top buck for a storey. But to compare the likes of Amy Winehouse and the Beckams being chase everywhere they go, that is brought on by their own antics and their own egos, not doing a job in service of their country.

Re: prince out to war
 

think its funny the way some celebs are apparently' hounded' everywhere they go, but more famous celebs can keep their private life.

When was the last time we saw Robert de Niro, or Eminem falling out of a nightclub or going shopping? Brad Pitt and Angelina also keep a relatively low profile unless its publicity used to suit them. Some celebs court the press and then complain about it. If they wanted a normal, less intrusive life, they could have it

Re: prince out to war
 

I should think that the media's keeping the lid on his presence in Afghanistan is an attempt to avoid giving him special treatment ...

Note the media blitzes when America's most high profile draft dodger visits his troops ... not serve with them, visit them.

Re: prince out to war
 

seems private hewitt is coming home ASAP. can only say now the cats out of the bag thanks too the wonderful media, its the only choice the MOD had. oops slip of the tongue meant Private Wales. pmsl.

Re: prince out to war
 

probably a daft question , just wondering if any of the MPs who voted for the war have kids serving in the military , either in the UK or overseas, ? ;)

Re: prince out to war
 

highly unlikely,would have been rammed down our throats if so, the press dont miss owt that juicy.;)

Re: prince out to war
 

Just a couple of points about the video footage of Harry in the desert.

The shot of Harry firing a machine gun was staged for the cameras.
Officers do not sit behind a machine gun engaging the enemy unless he is the last man standing. A platoon will have a specialist in that job, not any old Tom, Dick or Harry.
His body language was all wrong. He didn’t look like a person that was used to firing a machine gun.

Re: prince out to war
 

after watching the evening new and listening to the smug self patronizing news editors, (one of Murdoch's trained monkey's and couple of news editors from the BBC and Sky ) saying how patriotic the British media had been in not reporting the guys overseas deployment ....what a load of bull crap ....these and all the others are guilty of one thing ...Blackmailing the British military , how else do you explain the allowing of news crews to follow him about ..........hopefully at least one member of the House of Commons will have the cajones to ask a question about it , but don't hold your breath. As I have said before in other posts a $5 whore has more morals and better scruples than most journalists and politicians


(understand the local MP has spent time in Nicaragua so hopefully he will know what cajones are)

Re: prince out to war
 

Re: prince out to war
 

Americans are obsessed with rights, and it's rights that are killing this country.
Bog off with your gung ho tactics. We stick together in this country and if that means not reporting so as one of our trained soldiers can use his skills so be it.
I'm proud of him, I'm proud he wanted to do his bit for his country.
He was also a specific target, he'd had specific death threats made against him and he still wanted to do it.

And the press were invited because it was a Google Page Ranking exercise boosting the moral of troops, their families back home, the royal family. If the British military didn't want them there they wouldn't have been there.

Re: prince out to war
 

Exactly. He's gone up in my estimation no end. As said in another post, the fact that good old uncle Edward is in this country serving his country, by, well, erm...opening the new health centre (?!), Harry should hold his head up high.

Re: prince out to war
 

And our rights are slowly being eroded away to Brussels Madhatter. That’s what is killing this country.

We stick together? Don’t make me laugh! In this me, me, me, me, me, me, me society the last thing that we do is stick together. Nearly everyone is out for themselves and devil take the hindmost. Fortunately there are still a few who are genuinely concerned for others. As for the rest they just hang around tut, tutting to each other monopolising the moral high ground but do nothing, except tut, tut.

Harry was never in any real danger sat behind a bunkered radar screen. I know that someone has to do that job but it was picked for him as the least likely to get him targeted.

All the footage of him on patrol was staged in some area that had been swept safe. All this making him out to be a brave soldier is poppycock. Bravery is going out on patrol day after day, knowing full well that at any time a land mine could blow them to pieces, or a sniper drop them in the street.

It’s not his fault but the military’s for putting him there.

Re: prince out to war
 

The military didnt put him there. He didnt have to enlist, he didnt have to go.

He is highlighting the problems our troops are facing over there, unfortunately the press arent that interested about the normal guys over there.

I know someone who was over there at the time, he was treated as any one of the lads were, and did the same.

He was meant to stay in HQ (yes obviously the safest place) but secretly went to Forward Operational posts, just like the other lads.

Credit where credits due, is what i think

Re: prince out to war
 

as you know someone out there,i would say some are being meanspirited,in there comments, a royalist i am not (cant stand em) agree credit were its due, if its been good for morale then thats fine with me.

Re: prince out to war
 

Yes the military did put him there. And my bet is that he did have to enlist. As third in line to an obsolete and archaic institution his chances of fulfilling that obligation were minimal so he was the right royal to enlist to show the public that this outdated and dysfunctional family was pulling its weight.

If you recall when he was stopped from going abroad with his unit last year he was on the verge of resigning his commission. But – “Early summer - Household Cavalry Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Edward Smyth-Osbourne, who is forming a battlegroup for the winter deployment to Afghanistan, secures a place for Harry on a TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) training course.”
Source - http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1307396,00.html

A nice safe posting well out of harm’s way at what General Dannatt called Forward Operating Base Dwyer. This base was allegedly 500 metres from the Taliban lines. Strange how the Taliban suddenly have clearly defined lines when in the past one of the excuses for not eradicating them was that they had no clearly defined positions. Guerrillas do not have clearly defined positions. That’s the nature of guerrilla warfare. Hit and run.

This whole affair has been nothing more than a Google Page Ranking exercise and the royal forelock tugging, sycophants are lapping it up.

As I stated before, I don’t blame Harry, he was only doing what was required of him by the establishment.

My sources reveal that most of the troops out there didn’t want Harry, on any other royal, out there, but being part of the armed forces they are not allowed to say so publicly. Privately many would have preferred that he stayed at home staggering out of nightclubs.

Re: prince out to war
 

He just wants to be a soldier
........................................like his DAD;)

Re: prince out to war
 

What worries me most about this nonsense is the fact that the press agreed with Ministry of Defence to say nothing about it. If our supposedly free press can be subborned over something so trivial, what else have they agreed not to comment on?

Re: prince out to war
 

Well it certainly wasn't the government sending the troops there in the first place

Re: prince out to war
 

He was at a busy FOP which encountered attacks and injury on a regular basis. Camp Bastian would have been safer. (not any that has been mentioned)

Also, if you think about it, not one british troop serving over there 'let slip' that Harry was there. If they disagreed with it, he wouldnt have lasted 2 minutes. I think that they had the final word as to where our support shoulf go

Re: prince out to war
 

I agree entirely

I have total respect for him now,,,He is a credit to us, and his mum would be as proud as punch,,,,,
as for Edward,,,,,what a let down..

Re: prince out to war
 

Do they still have a “D” notice for the media?

For those who don’t remember - a “D” notice was a notice to the press, TV and radio not to report on an issue if it would breach national security. To do so was treason and punishable as such. But the government of the day abused it to cover issues that were not really about national security but about party security.

Re: prince out to war
 

I doubt if all the troops out there were aware that Harry was back at base. What you don’t know you can’t tell. In any case soldiers are trained to follow orders and undoubtedly orders would have been to keep shtum. Revealing troop movements to friend or foe is a treasonable offence and but for the EU it would have meant the firing squad after a court martial. In the navy it would have been a hanging from a yardarm.

If you’ve been in the military you would know about such things. If you haven’t then you don’t know what you are talking about.

Re: prince out to war
 

lmao

If anyone of them had wanted to, they could have said something. Family and friends know a hell of a lot more than they are meant to. Also, access to email, phone calls etc etc meant that any info leaked out would probably never have been traced, and yet the lads respected him enough not to do it.

Incidentally, , i do try not to give opinions about things I know nothing about, something maybe other people should try.

Re: prince out to war
 

Of course self-preservation wouldn’t have had anything to do with keeping quiet, would it? The troops would be well aware that if it got out that Harry was serving with them the Taliban could re-double their efforts and they could become extra targets/casualties just to get him.

So you served in the armed forces? I did for 13 years in the Royal Navy as, what would now be described as a radio technician responsible for the maintenance and repair of radio transmitters and receivers, radar, sonar, audio and ancillary equipment associated with them. I am still bound by the Official Secrets Act and will be until my dying day for equipment that is as obsolete as the German Enigma machine.

Re: prince out to war
 

And every man and his dog who has anything to do with any sort of government work has to sign the official secrets act. I think I have signed it on at least 3 occasions. Dont believe that makes me special though...

Re: prince out to war
 

thats game set n match in my book.:rofl38::rofl38:

Re: prince out to war
 

Actually that is not true. At Park Brothers in Blackburn I wound the coils for and assembled magslips and servos for the navy and didn’t have to sign anything. It was the same story at Dynamo & Electric Services in Blackburn where we did numerous government contracts.

I never suggested that being subject to the Official Secrets Act makes a person special. Just pointing out that servicemen and women are subject to the act.

However you have conveniently forgotten to state whether you have been in the armed forces or not.

Do enlighten me.

Re: prince out to war
 

sorry, not served myself, but was born into it. My father did 22 years, I have a brother, cousin and friends currently serving, so feel I have at least a slight knowledge of what goes on.

Ultimately I think that every member of the armed forces (including yourself of course) should be highly commended- even if people do not serve in war zones or fire a weapon in a hostile environment, they are split from their families for months at a time, all for the sake of 'Queen and Country'. I have a fairly dim view of the armed forces in its entirety, but it doesnt stop me respecting the individuals in there, doing the job they do

Re: prince out to war
 

I signed it too - not allowed to reveal personal data about benefit claimants

Re: prince out to war
 

All service personnel are bound by rules and regulations named, as far as the navy is concerned, “Queens Regulations and Admiralty Instructions” lovingly known as QR’s & AI’s. The RAF and Army are also bound by the QR’s but I don’t know what their equivalent to AI’s is but you can rest assured that there is one. Even families living in married quarters are bound by the same rules.

One rule is that the armed forces must not divulge obvious secrets and operational details be they actual or practice. Thus your slight knowledge could only have been what your relations were able to tell you.

However, this is all getting away from the topic in question – Harry in Afghanistan.

Letters on Ceefax and Teletext plus some newspapers all say the same thing – the video footage was staged. And there is a precedence.

Back during WWI some battle scenes were staged for the cameras and passed off as the real thing. The reasoning being that it was not possible to film an actual battle. You may have seen at least one of them in various documentaries where it shows the soldiers going over the top and one dropping ‘dead’ at the top.

To his credit Harry is doing his best to play down the “he’s a hero” thing that others are trying to promote.

The bottom line for me is that no service person should have preferential treatment because of who s/he is.

Re: prince out to war
 

My 'slight' knowledge comes from living within the armed forces regime for the majority of my 32 years.

No-one is denying that the pictures taken were 'set up' or done so for the media. However I believe that this has done no end of good, by bringing to the forefront of the publics mind exactly where our troops are and what they are doing

As far as I am concerned, every single soldier, sailor, pilot or armed forces personnel, especially those that have served in war zones, are heros, no matter who they are, or what rank they hold.

Re: prince out to war
 

Well Said...I certainly agree with that

Re: prince out to war
 

Agree 100% .... they are all heroes ... men like Trooper Michael Yuki Hayakaze, 25 yrs old, killed in action on March 2 serving with Lord Strathcona's Horse (Edmonton, Alta.) attached to 12e Regiment Blinde du Canada (Valcartier, PQ.)