E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Lack of kit blamed for UK soldier's death
A British soldier died after being sent into combat in Afghanistan with a lack of basic equipment, a coroner said on Friday. Captain James Philippson of 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery was shot in the head in a gunfight with the Taliban in June 2006.

The 29-year-old from Hertfordshire was the first casualty after troops were deployed to the violent southern province of Helmand, where the Taliban remains strong. Assistant coroner for Oxfordshire Andrew Walker said he died after an unforgivable "breach of trust between the soldiers and those who govern them". The inquest at Oxford heard that troops had repeatedly complained about a lack of proper equipment, in particular standard night-vision kits. Four kits had to be shared between as many as 30 men, the inquest heard.

The Taliban were armed with multiple rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other firepower, it heard. "They (the soldiers) were defeated not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment," Walker was quoted by the BBC as saying at the end of the inquest. He said sending troops into a combat zone without basic kit was "unforgivable and inexcusable."
Well, how on earth could the UK be expected to equip their troops where there are 2nd, 3rd, and 4th wives of indolent immigrants to take care of? I mean, let's get real. Who's more important, stupid old Tommy or our upstanding and vehement imams and preachers of hate?
You speak of Tommy:

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

Posted by: Fred 2008-02-16
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=226868