Britain's Longest Campaign Ends

Brit Army campaign in Northern Ireland shuts down
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 30, 2007 5:27 AM CDT
Britain's Longest Campaign Ends
North Belfast Orange Order members react to large fireworks thrown at them as they make their way past the mainly Roman Catholic Ardoyne area of North Belfast, Northern Ireland, Thursday, July, 12, 2007. Thousands of Orange Order members and bands paraded across Northern Ireland to celebrate the 1690...   (Associated Press)

The British Army's military campaign in Northern Ireland comes to an end at midnight tomorrow—after 38 years of bloodshed. It's  the longest conflict in the army's history. Some 300,000 military personnel served; casualties included 763 soldiers, and 309 civilians  and members of paramilitary groups. 

The 5,000 soldiers stationed in Northern Ireland will remain but not as part of a security force. Lessons learned fighting the Provisional IRA have been used in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq. There will be no celebration, only a moment of silence. "You should not have the Army on your streets; it is an aberration," said the deputy commander. (More British Army stories.)

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