MetaFilter posts tagged with UK and war

Operation Overlord

zarq — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:21:02 -0800

PhotosNormandie is a collaborative collection of more than 3,000 royalty-free photos from World War II's Battle of Normandy and its aftermath. (Photos date from June 6 to late August 1944). The main link goes to the photostream. You can also peruse sets, which include 2700+ images from the US and Canadian National Archives.

Documentary mistakes videogame footage for genuine terrorist footage

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:09:36 -0800

Last night, British ITV broadcasted "Exposure: Gaddafi and the IRA", a documentary which included this 1988 Provisional IRA footage the filmmakers found on YouTube. Unfortunately, the footage is actually and blatently from videogame ArmA 2. ITV has stopped streaming the documentary.

Keep Calm, But Cease and Dissist

The Discredited Ape — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:09:07 -0800

On the 25th March 2011, Mark Coop of 'Keep Calm and Carry On LTD' registered a trademark of the words Keep Calm and Carry On in an attempt to take control of the very British and now very famous, nostalgia invoking, wartime poster. The trademark has angered Barter Books (who discovered the poster), wartimeposters.co.uk (owners of an original poster) and Kerry Cade from Simply Printing 4U whose business was greatly affected by the trademark. Now, in true British Spirit, a group of wartime enthusiasts has come together in an attempt to overturn the trademark. Leading expert on Second World War propaganda posters Dr Bex Lewis wades in on the kerfuffle. Original merchandisers Yes No Maybe also have their say. Previously on MeFi.

UK had official torture use policy.

maiamaia — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:42:54 -0800

UK's official use of torture policy. For MI5 & MI6, special renditions: when to proceed knowing torture would be used during the interrogation. and more at guardian.co.uk

"The Third Way of COIN: Defeating the Taliban in Sangin"

zarq — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:52:12 -0800

100 Firefights, Three Weeks: Inside Afghanistan's Most Insane Fight "In its first three weeks in Afghanistan’s Sangin district, the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines got into more than 100 firefights and sustained 62 casualties. The insurgents managed to negate the Marines’ night-vision gear, and rendered their traditional close-combat tactics useless. Things got so bad, the 3/5’s superior officers even suggested pulling their troops back. That didn’t happen. Instead, the 3/5 went after the militants, hard. When the 3/5 came home, they told counterinsurgency historian Mark Moyar all about their deeply unconventional approach to what was already an unconventional war."
This is an excerpt in Wired of Moyar’s 74-page after action report. (pdf) The Military Times' Battle Rattle blog has posted somewhat extensively on Sangin. The Guardian embedded a reporter with British paratroopers fighting in Sangin back in 2006. More.

Brown And Also Blue

The Whelk — Sun, 08 May 2011 21:29:18 -0800

VE and VJ Day, in London. In Colour.

A G.I.'s WWII Memoir

zarq — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:16:33 -0800

Robert F. Gallagher served in the United States Army's 815th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion (Third Army) in the European Theater during WWII. He has posted his memoir online: "Scratch One Messerschmitt," told from numerous photos he took during the war and the detailed notes he made shortly afterwards. From "Side Effects of the Story" "In the year 2007, I was approached by DWNY Productions, Inc. who was working on a movie called "Revolutionary Road" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, two of the leading movie stars of the day. The studio was interested in using pictures from my story taken in Paris during my trip to Nice, France in 1945 - see Chapter 27, Rest and Relaxation. We arranged a financial agreement and although I sold them ten pictures they used only one. In it, they transposed my face with that of Leonardo DiCaprio."

This is not the time to send out a signal like this in some personal fucking sodcast

Artw — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:51:12 -0800

For quite some time, I’d wanted to make a screwball comedy. A fast-talking, wildly acclerating ensemble comedy that gets stupider and stupider. I never imagined it would be about a war, and inspired by a very recent war at that. But Simon, Jesse, Tony and I all felt that the more we found out about the dysfunction in Washington and the naivety in London leading up to the Iraq invasion, the more obvious it was that the only way to deal accurately and fairly with this topic was as a screwball comedy. - The Oscar nominated script for In The Loop, with an introduction by writer Armando Iannucci.

britishbattles.com

nthdegx — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:49:21 -0800

The sections of britishbattles.com about The First Afghan War have apparently been quoted verbatim in Al-Qaeda propaganda. Site author, amateur historian John Mackenzie, told the press "It's exactly appropriate to use the account of the first Afghan war to point out the pointlessness of the current operations and the dangers that they run of a similar disaster," The National Army Museum's Julian Farrance: "They're ignoring the successes that Britain had in Afghanistan, and there have been many. The second Afghan war was concluded very much in Britain's favour and the third Afghan war was a total washout for the Afghans."

When the Wind Blows

Artw — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:48:37 -0800

This is the Wartime Broadcasting Service. This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons. Communications have been severely disrupted, and the number of casualties and the extent of the damage are not yet known. We shall bring you further information as soon as possible. - The BBC releases its script for use in the event of nuclear war.

James Hewitt Jr

chuckdarwin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:08:30 -0800

The 'bullet magnet' is back. I can't believe that the British press kept a secret for so long (10 weeks is a miniature eternity in journalist time). It was supposed to last six months... I also can't believe that the odious Drudge has broken yet another big story. Was it all just a PR stunt? I'm sorry for the lateness of this post. I really can't believe it didn't make the blue before this.

Big man with a big heart does his part

fearfulsymmetry — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:26:54 -0800

Mark Wallinger has won the Turner Prize for 'State Britain' his recreation of Brian Haw's Parliament Square peace protest. Although for the prize exhibition (this year out of London for the first time) Wallinger showed a video of himself dressed in a bear costume. The seems to be at least one critic's choice although not everyone agrees. Wallinger had previously been short-listed for the prize in 1995 for work exploring his interest in horse racing. Although he is probably best know for the Christ sculpture 'Ecce Homo', and religious themed videos he has produced an eclectic set of work including a TARDIS sculpture.

In the hollow of an unarmorial age

Abiezer — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 04:23:59 -0800

“Iraq War Memorial: Death of Prince Harry" features the in fact hale and hearty royal scion "laid out before the Union Jack with pennies placed over his eyes and head rested on the Bible...Prone with his unfired gun still holstered, Prince Harry is represented clutching a bloodied flag of Wales, and holding to his heart a cameo locket of his late mother, Princess Diana, while a desert vulture perches on his boot...a bronze casting of Prince Harry’s 'severed ears' also set for display at the Trafalgar Hotel will be offered on eBay." Via.

A soldier speaks out

A189Nut — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:07:56 -0800

Chief of the General Staff General Sir Richard Dannatt has given an interview to the Daily Mail in which he says that the presence of British troops makes the security problems in Iraq worse . The General won the MC aged 22 in an action in Northern Ireland, so he presumably knows a thing or two about insurgency, never mind courage. Mr Blair has agreed...

Spectre: Families of bereaved British servicemen to stand against pro-war politicians

nthdegx — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 06:38:25 -0800

"Families of soldiers killed in Iraq launch party to challenge ministers". Reg Keys, father of a British serviceman killed in the Iraq War, stood directly against Tony Blair in his Sedgefield constituency as an independent candidate (see Wikipedia for a brief summary of independent movements in the UK, USA and Canada) in the 2005 UK election, taking 10% of the vote. A founder member of Military Families Against The War, he is also at the centre of a new political movement, Spectre, that aim to stand up to 70 members of bereaved families directly against pro-war government and cabinet members in the 2009 election, and each by-election before then. See also the Guardian's Guide to anti-war websites.

Replacing Trident? The UK's role in nuclear proliferation

nthdegx — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 01:52:59 -0800

Replacing Trident? Clare Short MP, former International Development Secretary for the UK Labour government, debates replacing trident and the UK's role in nuclear proliferation (and the world in general) with Michael Codner, Director of Military Science at the Royal United Services Institute. Scroll to the bottom for the mp3s.

The David Kelly Conspiracy

gsb — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 15:51:28 -0800

New questions over the death of David Kelly. Previously, on MeFi...[1][2][3][4]. It's a theory, that wants to explain the death of a Weapons Inspector who was involved in little problem concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction. And of course, one cannot link to the Daily Mail without a fondness for the daily-mail-o-matic.

Silence is Broken

Dunvegan — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 23:51:50 -0800

A Disturbance in the Blogosphere: Publishing the UK/US/Uzbekistan Torture Memo. Braving arrest, bloggers have broken the UK’s law of silence with the truth about torture. Bloggers are mass publishing the leaked UK/US/Uzbekistan Torture Memos. The memos are from the correspondences of Craig Murray who was the United Kingdom's ambassador to Uzbekistan. These memos are evidence and a memorandum of record outlining the rendition and torture of US-arrested prisoners in Uzbekistan. From Craig Murray's Memo: 12. On the usefulness of the material obtained, this is irrelevant. Article 2 of the [UN] Convention, to which we are a party, could not be plainer: "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture." 13. Nonetheless, I repeat that this material is useless – we are selling our souls for dross. It is in fact positively harmful.

Don't Bomb Us.

edverb — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 09:59:48 -0800

Don't Bomb Us. In response to credible reports that Bush wanted to bomb al-Jazeera's HQ in allied Qatar (discussed here and here on MeFi), Al Jazeera staffers start their own English-language blog. Their site contains remembrances of their fallen colleagues, firsthand accounts of US attacks on their offices, links to relevant reports on the controversy, Flickr photosets of protests calling for an official investigation, and al Jazeera's code of ethics. Also, a quick note to Tony Blair: " P.S. Thanks for talking Mr. Bush out of bombing our offices!" Not surprisingly, their blog is generating some comments.

Fighting the Liberal Media Bias

Pretty_Generic — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:28:50 -0800

In 2001 America destroyed the Kabul offices of al-Jazeera with two smartbombs; officials said it was an accident. In 2003 America destroyed the Baghdad offices of al-Jazeera with missiles; officials said it was an accident. Now, two British civil servants are on trial for leaking a memo revealing that Bush intended to bomb al-Jazeera... at their headquarters in allied Qatar.

The Fenian Raids

Shanachie — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 19:35:16 -0800

During the middle of the 19th Century, a series of factors combined to create a new Irish patriotic movement. This organization was a revolutionary group dedicated to the overthrow of British rule in Ireland. It had its roots in both the United States and Ireland and was popularly known as The Fenian Movement, in honour of the Fianna, the ancient Irish warriors.

It's a basic irony, folks...

tapeguy — Tue, 03 May 2005 22:04:59 -0800

I'm amused by today's Editorial in The Sun. It starts off with how a protest vote against Labour may mean 'you could be signing a young person's death warrant' due to the Liberal Democrat party's drugs policy.

The second half of the newspaper's editorial is a tribute to Anthony Wakefield... whose death came, of course, as part of the Blair government's war in Iraq... a basic irony that the newspaper has failed to pick up on. [via Bloggerheads]

For those who don't know, The Sun - which backs Blair, though not like this - is the UK's biggest selling newspaper and is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

British soldiers in Iraq torture photos

iffley — Sat, 01 May 2004 05:18:17 -0800

British soldiers in new Iraq torture photos. Brutal photos and story in today's Daily Mirror.

Living in poverty and fear of abandonment, the barely functioning state that trusted its saviours

specialk420 — Mon, 24 Feb 2003 07:17:06 -0800

"If the Americans think this is success, then outright failure must be pretty horrible to behold." something for US, British and world citizens to think about as we bang the drums for war on Iraq.

Mocata — Wed, 25 Sep 2002 09:34:32 -0800

In the new LRB, a pretty good attempt to answer the pressing question - why do the Bush people want to attack Iraq so much?