Who Cares Who Dares?....We Always Win

[harry hackedoff]

Companions,
your humble scribe has often felt that the two books to come out of the B2O mission contained more than a grain of fiction, there are many examples where the stories differ. I have problems with the body count, for instance, and the account of how the patroll became separated seemed to be lacking in the most basic field-craft.
Sunreader.com apart, the two accounts have never been called to account, until now.

Monday, C4 2100Hrs, Michael Asher, himself ex-Harry SAS, admits that he has probs with the story, too.

Someone has realised what a fantastic opportunity lies in de-bunking this myth, so they have sent Mike to re-trace the patrols` steps.

You will be surprised, or not.

yours,Aye,


Harry(Black Maskers)













0

[harry hackedoff]

Remembering that this debacle cost the life of one Royal, Bob Consigllio, your views before and after viewing, would be appreciated,

as ever, brothers



yours, Aye


Harry

[faddius]

In anticipation of Asher's retracing of the B20 route in his prog, I had a quick re-read of the book over the weekend. Since just watching the programme, I am shocked to what a degree the memory of the three had been so overshadowed by the poetic licence utilised by the two authors.

Asher's retracing was a real revelation. Vince, who was shockingly treated by both (McNab and Ryan) in the books, prima facia seems to have been unduly slandered in name and spirit. For instance I did not know before the programme that he was not awarded a medal posthumously, and the fact that the Iraqi bedouin considered all the members as heroes begs the question as to why he was not honoured.

Intrestingly Asher refused to complete Ryan's final yomp into Syria as he was so ashamed of their deceit in the books. As an ex-service man he clearly despised the fact that the two broke the unwritten moral codes of the service in that they referred to the deceased by real name, shamed their memories and hid behind asumed names.

What did the rest of you think?

~James

[faddius]

PS, the story is so exceptional in itself that it would have been even more effective in the telling had it been 100% the truth. i.e. no body count, the fact that only three badawi istigated the first contact in a manner common to other bedouin symbolising a greeting, the seeming friendliness of the locals and the beauty of the barren desert.

~james

[harry hackedoff]

Cheers, Jim, my thoughts exactly,

Mike Asher started off with a genuine admiration for Ryan and McNab and an open mind.

If he was a civvie, it would be easy to write his programme off, and to suggest that he had been duped by a clever Iraqi intel plot. The fact that he is one of their own, however, will be very difficult for McNab and Ryan to rubbish. Most of the Bedu that he spoke to seemed very certain of events.

The real damning comments came at the end , from Sgt Maj Pete. The guy who did the de-brief " there were enormous gaps between what they said in the de-brief, and what they said in the books. Most of the guys think it was rubbish,"

Sas, don`t you just love`em? Vote no

[faddius]

Intrestingly the Asher account might just match up to the much litigated book by 'Mike Coburn' the Kiwi in B20 who sought to have his book released and the similar accusations made by 'Mel', another member, in a Panorama programme last February.

Unfortunatly the absolute truth will probably never come out. Assuming the McNab, Ryan, Coburn, Mel and Asher accounts bear some grain of truth, it was clearly illfated from the start: the weather, prior intel, sat photos, confirmed E&E plan to Saudi, actual E&E to Syria, Tacbe problems, delayed rescue plan, Billiere's alleged reluctance to react yadda yadda yadda...

What is often forgotten is that excellent men died and the accounts of a few have overshadowed their ultimate sacrifice.

[harry hackedoff]

Kiwi`s book has just been given approval, on appeal, for publishing in the land of the" long white cloud " Interestingly, the beak said Kiwi can`t make a profit from the sale. H.M.G. has seen to it that we can`t read the book in U.K. If it isn`t on the net by the time I get to Oz, then expect significant extracts via your e-mail, not from myself you understand.

Harry who?

[harry hackedoff]

What, apparently, came to light from the two books those liars wrote, was a certain friction between McNab and Ryan. They both slagged each other and to a certain extent, blamed each other for the failure of the mission. Seemed plausible enough. Till you saw the Asher programme.
Now it is obvious, they both colluded in the fiction and the "friction" was no more than a red-herring to give the lies more credence.
One wonders, how much more of the story is fiction? How hard was the interrogation? Were they that good at R to I ? Are Oakley shades that much better than Foster-Grants?
From watching the prog, "headless" and "chickens" spring to mind, and the reallisation that these two liars made millions, out of a poorly thought through operation that cost three good men their lives.
No small wonder that they are barred from the mess at Her`ford.

yours, Aye,



Harry

[Mutley]

I was sceptical of the motives of this prog, but very quickly drawn in to an enthralling well presented documentary. Mike A's enthusiasm at finding the Wadi, being just a little dashed, first by the discovery of its proximity to the DZ then by the circumstances surrounding B20s bugging out.

Finally his decision not to follow the footsteps through the Syrian desert, said almost all. Although the Guiness was a touching thought, for me, the most poignant moment was watching the broken bino's being carefully passed around the family of a hero.

I am glad that I haven't read any of the hellou librorum seemingly written by those with "big heads and little honour" to misquote, after all I have never been a great one for fiction.

[harry hackedoff]

Muts, truly poignant moment
that was Vince`s sisters and brother.
"For every victim..." remember?
This was a real person, despite what we generally say about Harry Sas, a good soldier by all acounts. These two liars were awarded the M.M. and due to their version of events, this trooper was not. That needs to be addressed.
Mutster, you must be in a very small minority if you havn`t read these two books. Any thing with flames on the cover lands under my christmas tree.
These books were pumped out as factual accounts. If they were novels "inspired by the author`s own experiance" then that is quite another thing. For your benefit, as the only non-reader I know, the list of tactical blunders presented here is endless. Simple procedures that are s.o.p.s were ignored( radio checks in base area and lost comms procedure, for example) and pre-agreed escape routes changed when no method of communicating that change was available.
"Disaster" and "waiting to happen" spring, covertly, to mind.
Before too long, one of these liars will appear in the media, slagging off Mike Asher, but " bag", "cat" and"out of" will be mentioned.


as ever,

yours, Aye

Harry Black Maskers

[harry hackedoff]

Loz,

Seen Been, now there`s a thing,

but first, there is no way you are in the Mutster`s category, you are far more attractive( though slightly less feminine)

My daughter`s graduation ceremony at Sheffield went through the usual parade of Graduates, each clutching their degree whilst being photographed with the Dean.
Then came the Honourary Degrees. First up was Seen Been, ex welder, ex labourer, ex everything else, oh and a bit of an actor, apparently. Granted an honourary deg for being a famous son of Sheffield. Halve a dozen young females ran on the stage and mobbed him. Next up, some Doctor of Mathematics, who came up with some new Earth-shattering theory of maths. This guy was at the leading edge of math theory and a world class mathematicion. For the craick, as he received his degree, the stage was mobbed by young women who threw themselves at this guy. Brought the house down.
Met Seen afterwards, he has quite a large nose. You know what they say about guys with large noses? Thats right, large handkerchiefs

yours,

Harry

[Mutley]

I never get anything hot in my stocking, only socks, nicks, smellies made famous by our 'Enry, and occasionally - a strange battery operated devise 'Made in Tiawan', with the operating instructions translated by a working group made up of Tibetan monks, a Swedish chef, an Italian bus driver, a Rockhopper Penquin, and chaired by an official from the Zimbabwian Equal Rights Commision.

I have to say there's no accounting for the strange fetishes, Shoes, Noses, Beans, etc etc

Although talking of beans it reminds me of another incident that ended needing Fairy Liquid and Ajax..........

[harry hackedoff]

Muts,
don`t cloud the issue with a tale of your culinary exploits. Or was it a pan spattering defacation event you were trying to clean up?

Loz remains a bright, bubbly, attractive woman, who is less feminine than you. Even when she dis-appears in a whirling cloud of meat cleaver, which would put Bruce Lee to shame. Whole side of beef one minute, boned, jointed and priced-up the next.

Aye,

Harry

[harry hackedoff]

Don`t ever mention sheep and sausage in the same sentance

Harry

[Mutley]

Feminine side, FEMININE SIDE, of course I have a feminine side, how DARE you suggest otherwise. It happens to be a very nice feminine side I'll have you know, and your damn lucky that I show it so often, and not a word of appreciation. Working my fingers to the bone, racking my brains with all this techno stuff, and do I get a word of gratitude, Pah No!

I'm telling you right here and now its about time that some of you starting showing a bit of repect. If you don't start sitting up and taking notice and showing a bit of appreciation I might just pack up my damn PC and ditch it in the canal, just to spite you - now that would show you wouldn't it!

Now then I hope that clears up that, and I don't want to hear another thing about my Feminine side...............