Here's
a thing you might not know- the
SAS had Bin Laden cornered and ready to ambush him and CAPTURE him in
the Tora Bora mountains in 2001. The American high command ostensibly
were worried about U.S casualties as there were some of Delta Force
present (who Google tell me are a U.K based paintball game company),
but the high command were really a bit antsy about the idea of the
British getting the credit, probably due to a Navy Seals commander
saying "Please let us do it, I'll be your best friend and you
can come to my birthday party" or "If you don't let me,
I'll tell your mum on you and get you done". The
American high command refused to let the SAS off their leash, and
consequentally Beardy McHaterson slipped away, but it's
alright as the Navy Seals managed to kill him. Now I'm sure they have a
better idea of covert and military operations and intelligence gathering
than this writer. I do think though that it's just a bit odd that they
shot the head off the man who would be the most knowledgeable in the
world regarding Al-Qaeda. Wouldn't you want to ask him a few questions
(and I'm not talking about "What the fuck have you been doing all this
shit for" and "How d'you like the taste of prison ass")? Nevertheless,
it's fine that the Americans didn't let the
SAS capture Bin Laden in 2001 as they managed to kill him a mere 10
years
later. Hurrah!
Just to give you an idea of what a stupid idea it was not to let the SAS in Tora Bora do their thing, two of them were going to be given the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest medal for combat, for operations conducted around that time and in that area. However, they were denied it by a technicality, because we do like our silly rules like passing the port to the left and making sure that war heroes aren't recognised. Here's what you have to do to win a VC. The warrant for the VC makes only two immutable stipulations: that the recipient shows "conspicuous bravery or devotion to the country in the presence of the enemy"; and that there should be "conclusive proofs". Also, it has become accepted wisdom that the recipient must have faced a 90 per cent risk of death and materially affected the outcome of the battle. No superior officer saw the action that these men were in that got them recommended for the VC. They saw the piles of bodies around these two men, and I reckon the superior officer had a strong idea of how they came to be corpses. Nevertheless, they couldn't be awarded a VC, despite having done enough in everyone else's eyes to deserve it. Here's a fact- America's highest medal for combat is the Medal of Honor- they doled out 135 of them in the Korean war alone. Seriously, they toss them about like peanuts. There have only been 9 Victoria Crosses awarded to British Armed forces since 1945. For both of these guys to be so brave and competent at fighting to almost get them, despite not having a superior officer to sit there and validate how fucking awesome they were, indicates that they were very hard. I think that goes to show that if they were allowed, they'd have caught Bin Laden in five minutes and then whipped out the primus and brewed up a cup of tea- maybe even had a game of cricket. And that's why the SAS are the best special forces in the world. The Navy Seals don't even play cricket on the battlefield, let alone have a spin bowler. Rubbish effort.
 | |
| To be fair to the U.S, we've all been there. |
Just to give you an idea of what a stupid idea it was not to let the SAS in Tora Bora do their thing, two of them were going to be given the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest medal for combat, for operations conducted around that time and in that area. However, they were denied it by a technicality, because we do like our silly rules like passing the port to the left and making sure that war heroes aren't recognised. Here's what you have to do to win a VC. The warrant for the VC makes only two immutable stipulations: that the recipient shows "conspicuous bravery or devotion to the country in the presence of the enemy"; and that there should be "conclusive proofs". Also, it has become accepted wisdom that the recipient must have faced a 90 per cent risk of death and materially affected the outcome of the battle. No superior officer saw the action that these men were in that got them recommended for the VC. They saw the piles of bodies around these two men, and I reckon the superior officer had a strong idea of how they came to be corpses. Nevertheless, they couldn't be awarded a VC, despite having done enough in everyone else's eyes to deserve it. Here's a fact- America's highest medal for combat is the Medal of Honor- they doled out 135 of them in the Korean war alone. Seriously, they toss them about like peanuts. There have only been 9 Victoria Crosses awarded to British Armed forces since 1945. For both of these guys to be so brave and competent at fighting to almost get them, despite not having a superior officer to sit there and validate how fucking awesome they were, indicates that they were very hard. I think that goes to show that if they were allowed, they'd have caught Bin Laden in five minutes and then whipped out the primus and brewed up a cup of tea- maybe even had a game of cricket. And that's why the SAS are the best special forces in the world. The Navy Seals don't even play cricket on the battlefield, let alone have a spin bowler. Rubbish effort.
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