Dead soldiers flown home as British presence in Basra is questioned

[TexasLawyer]

19 May 2006 02:23

Dead soldiers flown home as British presence in Basra is questioned
By Kim Sengupta
Published: 19 May 2006

Five military coffins, bearing the latest British dead from Iraq, arrived home yesterday. At the same time, 105 people died during two days of carnage in Afghanistan ­ the next battleground for British forces. The bodies returning were of five personnel killed when their helicopter was shot down north of Basra. They included Flt-Lt Sarah Mulvihill, 32, the first British woman to be killed in the conflict.

Her husband, Lee, watched as the coffins, covered in Union flags, which had left Iraq after a ceremony at sunset in Basra in a C-17 Globemaster, were carried to waiting hearses at RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire, with the band of Britannia Royal Naval College playing laments.

He described her as a "best friend" and "beloved wife", whose loss "has greatly affected and impacted on more people than anyone can comprehend." Group-Cpt Duncan Welham, station commander of RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, where Flt-Lt Mulvihill was based, added: "Sarah was one the RAF's finest: courageous, upbeat, unselfish."

The casualties had come in a particularly grim week for British troops in the country, amid sweeping violence which shows no signs of abating three years after the American and British "liberation". There were seven deaths and four injuries.

<snip>

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article548113.ece

[cyclezealot]

1. please note end of story deals with UK's Cindy Sheehans.

And BUsh thinks it too much the families of the dead soldiers would like to talk to the Commander in Chief. Or is her the decider.? Late in the story it tells of Blair being a coward and refusing to meet with the dead soldiers at #10. But Prince Charles is willing to receive them... Blair a coward too. With the Downing Street Memo's Blair's embarrassments are as heavy of Dubya's..
Looks like the UK needs a Crawford , Texas too.
( PS, It is great to get the Independent emailed each morning.) Was gonna post this story and soon discovered Texas Lawyer read the story first. vital posting.
There will be more Cindy Sheehans in both countries. And to think the last sight of the dying soldiers was being stoned.

[TexasLawyer]

2. US MSM

So where is US MSM with the big articles on our own 10 US troops killed in the helicopter crash on the same day?

Well, the tragic deaths themselves were covered on page 14 of the NYT, page 29 of the Houston Chronicle, etc... so that would put transportation and funeral coverage for those same US troops on what page?

[Greeby]

4. "How many more?"

You shouldn't ask that question, these psychos just might give you an answer :scared:

[gratuitous]

6. "How Many More?"

What is "a headline you won't be seeing anytime soon on CNN, Faux, in the New York Times, the Washington Post, or on any major network" Alex?

I'll take Despotic Dictators for a thousand.

[libodem]

3. Sometimes the outrage is so stunning

that it is difficult to make a coherent comment. But, I wanted to acknowledge the post because of the grave sadness and seriousness of the subject. What can be said? The losses are so devastating.

[AzDar]

5. Why. The. Hell. Are. We. There?????? n/t

[Supersedeas]

7. What? Honoring the War Dead is not just a secret family matter...there.

[bemildred]

8. Thought it said "Dead soldiers flow home" for a second. nt