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DAMN YOUR POLITICAL CORRECTNESS - MRS BECKETT

Sir Michael Rose

[SAS COMMANDER IN THE FALKLANDS]

Although I lost many good friends in the Falkland islands conflict, I've never once questioned the logic of the war of the

JUST CAUSE

-for which we fought.

As Margaret Thatcher observed of the people of the Falkland Islands:

They have a right to live in peace. Their way of life is

BRITISH

-their allegiance is to the

CROWN

It is the wish of the British people and the duty of

HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT

-to do everything that we can to

UPHOLD THAT RIGHT.

She was determined that no common or garden Argentine dictator should ever rule over the Queen's subjects. That exactly described our own sentiments during the long weeks that we sailed south towards the Falkland islands -although, of course, they were far less eloquently expressed.

There were many heated discussions about the best way of achieving what would be a difficult mission, but I never heard anyone question the moral justification of what we set out to do -even when casualties started to mount.

Had Great Britain failed to respond to the invasion of one of her territories and the subjugation of its people by a foreign power, the country would simply have its lost its right to be called

'GREAT'

AND NONE OF US WANTED THAT TO HAPPEN.

It was not imperial nostalgia as some hostile commentators chose to call sending of the expeditionary force- we were fighting a modern 20th century war to preserve all that was decent and good about being

BRITISH.

Given the unprovoked act of aggression by Argentina in invading the Falklands Islands on April 2, 1982, in our minds there was

NO ALTERNATIVE.

We did not hate the Argentine soldiers, and it was a war fought without a hatred of the enemy so characteristic of the British soldiers' attitudes towards the Germans and Japanese during WorldWar II.

That is why, 25 years on from the conflict, I would have been comfortable as I suspect would most British veterans of the Falkland Islands - to have heard Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett make a general official expression of regret about the loss of life, while praising the sacrifices and achievements of British sailors, soldiers and airmen who fought in that war.

It was quite wrong of her, however to say that this year's commemoration events should seek to be

'fitting and respectable tribute to all those who fought in the 1982 conflict'

It implies a moral equivalence between what we were fighting for and the aggression perpetrated by the Argentine dictator Galtieri.

Margaret Beckett's words

have rightly caused outrage among the veterans and the families of the 255 Britons killed in the conflict.

I shall attend the Falklands Islands Families Association service in the Guards Chapel at the end of April and particularly remember the 23 soldiers and airmen who died under my command during the war. All were friends as well as colleagues.

I am fiercely proud of them and what they died for - and I shall remain so until I die, no matter what political correctness might urge upon me. I shall never place them in the same category as the Argentine invaders of a foreign land.

Without the determination and commitment of my SAS soldiers, the war could never have been won. Their contribution was vital to the overall strategic plan.

In the first major amphibious operation carried out since World War II, and adhering to the principles established in 1941 by David Stirling, the founder of their regiment,

['WHO DARES WINS']

-the SAS had brilliantly succeeded in their two prime missions

INFORMATION GATHERING

and

OFFENSIVE ACTION.

SAS patrols had been responsible for the capture of South Georgia. Then, after deploying onto the Falkland Islands - three weeks before the main force -they had provided vital intelligence about the the enemy's locations, capabilities and morale.

THEY HAD seriously reduced the Argentine ability to respond to the landings in San Carlos water by destroying the ground attack aircraft on Pebble Island and by taking out helicopters on which the Argentine forces depended.

I particularly remember the loss of a young SAS officer who, when surrounded by vastly superior Argentine forces, courageously launched a single-handed attack against them. Today he lies buried where he fell in the Falkland Islands.

When I visited my soldier's graves in 1992, I had to walk alone among the gorse bushes and along the seashore near San Carlos Water for a long time as I reflected on their sacrifices and what they achieved.

IN THE WORDS OF

MARGARET THATCHER

'LOOK BACK from the VICTORY that they WON'

The Moral certainties that drove Margaret Thatcher to

WAR in the SOUTH ATLANTIC

-are entirely missing from Tony Blair's

WAR in IRAQ

-based as it is on false justification. It has furthermore been a war with terrible human consequences for the

PEOPLE of IRAQ

and the

REGION.

Rather than engage in moral equivalence over the

FALKLANDS WAR

Margaret Beckett and her Prime Minister should examine how Great Britain can recover the

*HIGH INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION

that the

VICTORY in the FALKLANDS WAR

-brought the NATION,

BUT

[with the loss of 255 lives of British sailors soldiers and airmen and many injured severely in body and mind even today in 2007]

*ONE WHICH THEY HAVE NOW LOST.

* * *

[Font Altered-Bolding & Underlining Used-Comments in Brackets]

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN-IS THE EU COMMISSION LISTENING?

*

Ditch the EU TREATY after IRISH REJECTION

SAY VOTERS

by

Daniel Martin

Political Reporter

[Daily Mail-Wednesday, June 18,2008]

MORE THAN HALF of voters believe Britain should drop the controversial European Treaty in the wake of its rejection in last week's

IRISH REFERENDUM'

The poll comes as the Tories launch a last-ditch bid in the

HOUSE of LORDS

today to delay the

RATIFICATION OF THE TREATY.

And

10,000 people

have signed a

PETITION

on the

DOWNING STREET- WEBSITE

within the past few days

JUNE16-2008

, calling on the

GOVERNMENT

NOT TO RATIFY THE BILL

[WHY DON'T YOU?]

Downing Street website is

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Abandon-Lisbon/

*

JUNE 18-2008

13th October,2007

So You Want Out Of The EU

THEN WHY NOT SIGN THE

RENUNCIATION of EU CITIZENSHIP

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Optout

Details from petition creator

With the signing of the Maastricht Treaty the people of Britain were given

DUAL CITIZENSHIP

-both

EUROPEAN and BRITISH

The extra tier of citizenship was thrust upon the people without their consent -and in many cases knowledge.

The PEOPLE of GREAT BRITAIN should be allowed the option of opting out of the EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP if they so wish. The GOVERNMENT will then be able to provide those who have opted out with

BRITISH DOCUMENTATION

-only such as British (not EU) passports, driving licences and other national documents.

EU laws will also NOT APPLY to those who

HAVE OPTED OUT OF EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP

[PETITION OPEN UNTIL OCTOBER 08]

Let the people speak!

www.makeitanissue.org.uk

www.noliberties.com

[Latest Addition - June07]

www.eutruth.org.uk

www.thewestminsternews.co.uk

www.speakout.co.uk

Daniel Hannan - Forming an OPPOSITION to the EU

www.telegraph.co.uk.blogs

GORDON BROWN WANTS TRUST-BUT WHY WON'T HE TRUST YOU?

HELL ON EARTH IN IRAQ