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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: British Army

British Army stories: 20 news summaries

(Newser) - The Afghan war could last three to four decades, the new head of the British Army predicted today. “It will take time. This is nation building,” Sir David Richards said, “not the starry-eyed type, but nation-building nonetheless.” He allowed, however, that “the Army’s role... More »

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(Newser) - British troops called Iraqi detainees "apes," beat them so that their moans of pain sounded like an "orchestrated choir," and forced them to dance like Michael Jackson, a public inquiry into the death of one of the detainees heard yesterday. The inquiry panel was told... More »

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Brit Families
Can Sue Over Soldier Deaths

Court: Troops protected by human rights law, even on battlefield

(Newser) - A British court has ruled that defense heads can be sued for neglecting soldiers’ human rights—meaning decisions made on the battlefield could be subject to litigation, the Times of London reports. The ruling stemmed from an inquest into the heatstroke death of a soldier due to what the coroner... More »

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British Town Honors War Dead With Silent Farewells

Impromptu silence as soldier's hearse passed grew into tradition

(Newser) - A lone man's silent salute to a military hearse grew into a tradition that now involves thousands who line the streets of a small British town, the New York Times reports. The bodies of UK troops killed in Afghanistan pass through Wootton Bassett on the way from the nearby air... More »

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 Wills Wants 
 to Be a 
 Real Soldier 



Nightclub confession also touches on Harry's split with Chelsy

(Newser) - It may seem like England's Prince William has it all, but the News of the World is reporting that the 26-year-old is jealous of his brother's chance to serve in Afghanistan. An undercover reporter says he got the prince to open up at a party, reports the AFP, but a... More »

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N. Ireland Police Nab 3 in Soldier Killings

Men aged 41, 32, 21 arrested in pair of raids

(AP) - Northern Ireland police arrested three men today over the killings of two British soldiers last week in a gun attack at an army base by suspected IRA dissidents. Police in Belfast said that men aged 41, 32, and 21 were arrested in early raids at two separate locations and are... More »

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Secret Army Units Stirred Up N. Ireland Violence: Adams

British PM visits site of shooting, calls for 'hunting down' of gunmen

(Newser) - Sinn Fein head Gerry Adams says Northern Ireland’s chief constable “made a huge mistake bringing in undercover British Army units” to Northern Ireland after two UK soldiers were killed at a barracks Saturday, the Daily Telegraph reports. “You don't understand the history if you don't appreciate that... More »

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 Army Hits Harry 
 With Sensitivity School 

Disciplinary action follows two racial gaffes

(Newser) - Prince Harry has been booted to sensitivity camp by his army higher-ups following back-to-back racial gaffes, People reports. Shortly after calling a fellow soldier a "Paki," the 24-year-old royal told a black comedian, "You don't sound like a black chap." The diversity lessons, slated to last... More »

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 Furor 
 Follows 
 Harry's 
 'Paki' Vid 

Prince's taped words 'not acceptable in a modern army': official

(Newser) - Britain's defense ministry has launched a formal inquiry following widespread outcry over a videotape showing Prince Harry calling a fellow military trainee “our little Paki friend” and another cadet “a raghead,” reports the Telegraph. “This sort of language is not acceptable in a modern army,”... More »

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 Brown Announces 
 July Withdrawal 
 in Baghdad 

Brown says troops home by July in surprise Baghdad visit

(Newser) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Baghdad today and announced that all but a handful of British troops will leave Iraq by July 2009. About 4,000 British service members remain in Iraq, mostly around Basra, though at the height of the war 100,000 were... More »

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 Prince William
 Will Fly to
 the Rescue 

Royal plans to be search and rescue pilot

(Newser) - Prince William’s next military stint  will be as a search-and-rescue pilot for the Royal Air Force, the BBC reports. Having served with the army and navy, the prince learned to fly with the RAP this year and said today, "I now want to build on the experience and... More »

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For Britain's Young Princes,
a Role Reversal

Harry's Afghan tour, Wills' chopper antics flop public perception

(Newser) - It seems like only yesterday that William was Britain's standup prince, brother Harry the misled stoner in an SS uniform. But after revelations that William landed his RAF helicopter on his girlfriend’s lawn, and that the younger Harry served actual combat in Afghanistan, the tables have turned, the AP... More »

Brits Will Pay $4M to Iraqi
Boy Paralyzed by Bullet

Record compensation for teen shot by dropped rifle

(Newser) - Britain's Ministry of Defense has agreed to pay $4 million in compensation to an Iraqi boy accidentally shot by a British soldier, the Guardian reports. The boy, now 17, is paralyzed from severe spinal injuries inflicted when the soldier dropped his rifle at a Basra base in 2003. He is... More »

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Harry Praised
by US Pilots 

F-15 flyers note composure of then unknown Brit who called in airstrikes

(Newser) - American F-15 fighter pilots were impressed with the composure of the British soldier who called in air cover on Taliban entrenchments in Afghanistan in December. But for 2 months Capt. Ben Donberg and Col. Dan DeBree had no idea that "Widow Six Seven" was actually Britain's Prince Harry calling... More »

OPINION

Prince Harry Should Have Stayed

Christopher Hitchens asks what threat he posed others

(Newser) - When Matt Drudge revealed to the world Prince Harry was in Afghanistan, there he should have stayed, writes Christopher Hitchens for Slate. It's "piffle" to think that his royal highness was a "bullet magnet" in Helmand province, already one of the most dangerous places on Earth for any... More »

Prince Harry: I'm No Hero

Praises fellow soldiers, wants to return 'very, very soon'

(Newser) - In a revealing interview with the British press, Prince Harry spoke yesterday of his stint in Afghanistan as one of the happiest times of his life, and said he "generally" doesn't "like England that much." The third-in-line to the British throne insisted he's not a hero, and... More »

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UPDATED

Prince Harry Arrives Home After Deployment

Young royal flourished under adverse conditions of battle

(Newser) - Prince Harry is back home after an abrupt end to his hitherto unreported Afghanistan deployment, CNN reports. The frustrated royal had earlier rued his return. "I don't want to sit around in Windsor," Harry, third in line to the throne, had told the Telegraph. "But I generally... More »

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Secret No More: Prince Harry's
in Afghanistan

UK press promised silence, but foreign media leaked story

(Newser) - Prince Harry is indeed in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban, the BBC reports. The news was leaked by foreign media and confirmed by the UK government despite a press agreement to stay mum on Harry’s military service. The prince, nicknamed “bullet magnet,” said he appreciates frontline duty: “... More »

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NATO & Afghan Forces
Rout Taliban

Taliban leaves stronghold as UK Prime Minister arrives

(Newser) - Taliban troops retreated from their last major stronghold in the southern town of Musa Qala in Afghanistan yesterday, ceding control to NATO and Afghan troops, the New York Times reports. After heavy bombardment and a troop attack, the Taliban was overcome by "heavy casualties," said a local police... More »

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Britain's Longest Campaign Ends

Brit Army campaign in Northern Ireland shuts down

(Newser) - 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.  More »

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20 Stories