German army officers allow top Taliban commander to escape ... because they are not allowed to use lethal force

A Taliban commander with links to the killers of several British soldiers has escaped from German special forces because they were not allowed to shoot.
Elite soldiers from the German KSK had been charged with capturing the terrorist. After spending weeks searching for him, in cooperation with the Afghan army and secret service, they discovered that he was located near the town of Pol-e-Khomri in the north of Afghanistan.
Wearing night-vision goggles, the German team came within a few hundred metres of his hideout before they were discovered by Taliban forces.
It is unclear precisely what happened next, but the Berlin government will not let its soldiers fire shots in Afghanistan in any situation other than self-defence... and the Taliban chief escaped.
If the German soldiers had opened fire they could have ended up on a murder charge.
The incident was reported yesterday by the German news magazine Der Spiegel which warned: "The man and his network are active once again."
It quoted an "incredulous" British officer in Kabul as saying: "The Germans are allowing the most dangerous people to get away and increasing the danger for the Afghans and all foreign forces here."
The Taliban commander was known as the Bagh - lan Bomber after masterminding an attack last year in Baghlan province in which 79 people died.
Nato sources say he has organised roadside bombs in other areas which have struck British military convoys, causing deaths.
One British Special Forces source said: "This is very embarrassing, particularly for the soldiers on the ground who are very professional and dedicated men, but they know they must obey the orders of their government.
"The blame here lies with the politicians, not the men on the ground."
A German defence ministry official said the incident would not change Berlin's policy of the "principle of proportionality". He added: "A fugitive like the Baghlan bomber is not an aggressor and should not be shot unless in self-defence."
A British Special Forces soldier was killed yesterday when a mine or hidden bomb exploded during a foot patrol near Musa Qaleh, Helmand Province.
The UK death toll since military operations began in Afghanistan in 2001 now stands at 96 - almost all since British forces moved into Helmand Province almost two years ago.

A True Stroy - Genetic Warfare

British Army deploys DNA of real-life Rambos - Article

Recruits likely to fail basic training are literally being given a shot in the arm thanks to an amazing new initiative poised to transform them into super-troopers. The Army will, in effect, be turning to the Marines for a drop of the 'right stuff.'

Under a controversial scheme codenamed Proiject Rico, personnel struggling to make the grade can volunteer to be injected with the genes of individuals with proven military prowess, including heroes from the Royal Marines & RAF Regiment.

According to Defence sources, the initiative, being rolled out this month, has been undergoing closed door trials at the Centre of Aviation Medicine for the past five years. It has delivered promising results, with two-thirds of test subjects showing enhanced perfomance and physique.

'We are not talking about turning failing soldiers into Slyvester Stallone or Vin Diesel, and any suggestion that this will provide us with a legion of Hollywood Action Heroes is complete rubbish,'' said an Army clinician involved in the trials.

'However, by harvesting the genes of some of the Services ' top guns', and introducing them into recruits who have a track record of poor perfomance, the long term results suggest an increase in motivation and fitness.'

The process of exttracting DNA from the militaruy elite is painless and involves collecting cells by rolling the tip of a sample collection swab on the inside of both cheeks. This genetic pick-me-up is stored under lock and key at the Centre of Aviation Medicine from where it can requested by clinicians in the Soldier Upgrade Personnel Resource (SUPER) programme.

The identitiesd of Servicemen donating the DNA is never disclosed and only recruits who volunteer will receive the genes, which are introduced via the bloodstream via a series of injections. Medical Chiefs pointesd out that that the shots could be done as a stand alone procedure or as part routine health checks carried out during phase one training. Further injections are given at weekly intervals for a month.

Details of those taking part in RICO have been witheld because of the MoD's strict code of confidentiality to protect troops involved in medical trials. But one 18 year old male participant, back squaded in the early stages of his training at ATR Pirbright, said the treatment had awken a 'killer instinct' in him. He added: ' Full credit to my instructors, they had really tried to get me sorted but my moral was at rock bottom and I was about to throw in the towel. ' After three shots I am more motivated, focused and it's not a drama to get there and mix it up. 'I'm holding my own now thanks to RICO I'm going to do it.'

A Royal Marine veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq, who has participated in the project since 2003 and is continuing to donate, firmly believe the introduction of the Green Beret DNA could improve performance. The 27 year old added: 'It' is an established fact that out tough training regime only attracts the most dedicated and we owe it to the future generations of soldiers past a little bit of our success back through the ranks. I don't have a problem with this scheme as long as our genes are only used for the stated purposes'.

Hushing Up Crisis Of Suicide, Mental Scars

This article is taken from from courant .com about American Veterans; just makes you think that little bit harder as to what WE are doing to address this issue.

Dr. Ira Katz, chief of mental health services for the Department of Veterans Affairs, sent an e-mail to a VA colleague this past February that read:

"Shh! Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before somebody stumbles on it?"Unfortunately for the government, somebody did "stumble" on it.

Dr. Katz lied about the numbers before the House of Representatives Veterans' Affairs Committee, grossly understating the number of such suicide attempts. He testified that the number for all of 2007 was 790. He also neglected the Army's own "Suicide Event Report," which disclosed that 2006 saw the highest rate of military suicides in 26 years!

CBS News did its own extensive research, finding that more than 6,250 American veterans took their own lives in 2005 alone. That comes to slightly more than 17 suicides every day.
Most of the data was obtained by discovery in the case of Veterans for Common Sense v. Peake, now pending in U.S. District Court in California. Veterans for Common Sense has spent years seeking this information under the Freedom of Information Act as well as through discovery ancillary to its lawsuit.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of Veterans for Common Sense, and I have an application pending with the VA for an increase of my disability pension as a Purple Heart combat veteran of World War II.The litigation against Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake is uncovering more than the familiar amalgam of government secrecy, cover-up and deception by still another federal agency.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is vital to the protection and support of our troops. This support has carried an implied exception, namely cost-cutting for veterans' health care after they have served their country.

The Veterans for Common Sense lawsuit has already demonstrated that the VA intentionally misled Congress and the public about the epidemic of veterans' suicides. Here are the facts squeezed out of the government to date:
• 120 veterans commit suicide every week.
• 1,000 veterans attempt suicide while in VA care every month.
• Nearly one in five service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (approximately 300,000) have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms or major depression.
• 19 percent of post-Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been diagnosed with possible traumatic brain injury, according to a Rand Corp. Study in April.
• A higher percentage of these veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder than from any previous war because of "stop loss" or an involuntary extension of service in the military (58,300), multiple tours, greater prevalence of brain injuries, etc.

The Veterans for Common Sense case has already uncovered widespread breakdown of the VA's health care for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The Rand Corp. study demonstrates that, in addition to the 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans diagnosed with PTSD, an additional 320,000 have sustained physical brain damage resulting from traumatic brain injury. A majority of these injured GIs are receiving no help from the Defense Department or the VA, which are more concerned with covering up such unpleasant facts than providing care and paying disability pensions.

The Rand Corp. study concludes:"Individuals afflicted with these conditions face higher risk for other psychological problems and for attempting suicide. They have higher rates of unhealthy behaviors — such as smoking, overeating and unsafe sex — and higher rates of physical health problems and mortality. ... These conditions can impair relationships, disrupt marriages, aggravate the difficulties of parenting, and cause problems in children that may extend consequences of combat trauma across generations."The Defense Department's Task Force on Mental Health has begun to recognize "daunting and growing" psychological problems among our troops. Nearly 40 percent of our soldiers, a third of our Marines, and half of the National Guard members are presenting with serious mental health issues.The administration and Congress must come to grips with this grave and growing problem among our returning vets.

The suicide rates, domestic violence and the strain on families need to be recognized, and timely health care provided. Proper screening and treatment are essential. Our returning troops are entitled to nothing less.These are the real costs of President Bush's misbegotten and mismanaged wars.

These are the costs that the administration seeks to hide while it attempts to make the test of patriotism the wearing of flag pins in our lapels! It's what is underneath those flag pins that really matters. It is called compassion. It is real patriotism as opposed to the fraud of "Mission Accomplished" and promises of victory.

Emanuel Margolis is an attorney in Stamford, a former chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut and an adjunct professor of First Amendment law at Quinnipiac Law School.

Coldstreamers Return from Afghanistan

On Saturday 26 April I was privileged to visit Winsdor, and to witness the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards excercising their right to march through the town of Windsor after returning home from their recent service in Afghanistan. With the upmost pride both as a Coldstreamer and civvy I watched with admiration at what these guys had achieved whilst in theatre.

Whilst no lives had been lost, some casulaties had sustained serious injuries. This however, did not detract from the fact that the Battalion saw fit to have these guys attend and lead the parade throught the town of Windsor. Some of the guys had only just returned the night before this parade took place.

Attendence for this parade was absolutely superb with literally thousands in attendence along the route. The recognition from the public, former members of the regiment and civic dignitries and most of all the families was truly humbling. I watched with pride children holding placards with photos of their respective fathers returning home to a hero's welcome.