UK troops reveal their new ordeal in 120F Iraq

[Nottingham]

UK troops reveal their new ordeal in 120F Iraq
Exclusive: MoD attacked as heat casualties fly home
IAN BRUCE, Defence Correspondent
BRITISH troops have been flown home from Iraq as casualties of the heat amid claims they are being forced to live in squalid conditions.

There are 12,000 UK frontline peacekeeping troops in southern Iraq, and it is said their conditions have not improved markedly since hostilities ended three months ago.
Personnel from units within 19 Brigade, which took over from the Desert Rats of the 1st UK Armoured Division in Basra last month, have contacted The Herald to complain about the lack of basic welfare for the soldiers patrolling the streets of Iraq's second city.

Concerns include tents with no air-conditioning in 120F, having to drink "blood-temperature" bottled water because of a shortage of refrigerators, and fly-infested chemical toilets.
While the cash-strapped Czech Republic has provided its military police detachment under UK command with cooled sleeping quarters and cold drinks, British troops are suffering exhaustion from working in temperatures of more than 110 degrees during the day and then being unable to sleep in humid night conditions where the thermometer seldom falls below 70 degrees.

more.... http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=c2fc9ccbaac26225

Is this HELL or what :bounce:

[smallprint]

1. i'm starting to think this is more than incompetence

how could these "mighty" armies fail to get water to their troops after 3 months?! it's beyond incompetent, it's sadistic... are the pentagon brass conducting some kind of psychological experiment on the troops? like to see how much abuse they can take before they go crazy?

things like this make me wonder...
(put on tin foil hat here)
:tinfoilhat:
...weren't there psy-ops on our own troops in vietnam? somebody out there has some info, i'm sure

[short bus president]

5. simple answer

the pentagon no longer runs the supply side of the equation. That's KBR's job, and they approach it like Columbia HCA approaches health care.

[NYC]

10. Is that true? Is this the result of privatization?

Is one of Cheney's companies making a profit while our soldiers do without an adequate supply of water?

I'll bet KBR is handsomely paid for what they do. Does nobody hold them accountable?

[UpInArms]

11. Baghdad's electrical system could take up to 2 years to fix

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/world/6404806.htm

BAGHDAD, Iraq - (KRT) - Electricity experts are offering a jolting assessment of Baghdad's power prospects: City residents should not plan on continuous service for up to two years.

The news is unwelcome in a city sweltering in 120-degree heat. A major transmission line from a power plant in Basra, which would boost electricity to Baghdad, cannot be fixed in less than four months, engineers and coalition officials said over the weekend.

Coalition advisers have been upbeat for weeks about Baghdad's utility problems and tried to put the best face on the electrical difficulties Sunday. A new power schedule - three hours on and three hours off_is being imposed in residential areas, and critical institutions such as hospitals have 24-hour power, they said.

...more...

guess it's going to be a long hot period - up to two years :(

[PartyPooper]

6. It's sadistic and inhumane.

Remember, how Bush was "hot to trot" to get the show on the road-well before the onset of the summer heat of the Middle East? It was all well-reported on U.S. cable & network news outlets. Military experts warned of this outcome! But, "somebody" wasn't listening.

Just like the "war"...this administration had no plan for the "peace"...civilian or otherwise. So, the U.S. and coalition troops were given a bogus bill of goods.

The trouble is, Bu$hco doesn't give a flying fig about our troops-or the Iraqi civilians!

I'm sure many of these British troops returning home will hold Blair and Bush in contempt for the rest of their lives.

[bahrbearian]

2. What do the Iraq's have to endure

[Tinoire]

3. Bush and Blair care not ONE whit for the troops!

Remember this old story re equip?

British troops prefer Iraqi boots to Her Majesty's standard issue


27 March 2003

NEAR BASRA (AFP) - British soldiers have been scavenging the debris
of war for Iraqi army boots because the British army variety are
disintegrating in the hot desert sun.

<snip>

Equipment shortages have affected British forces since their arrival
in the Gulf.

Other soldiers are wearing patched-up combat trousers, repaired in
one instance by removing a pocket, and in another case by cutting up
a colleague's spare shirt.

<snip>


Another Irish Guard, Guardsman David Richardson, 22, from
Manchester, has cut up his own trousers in an attempt to repair
holes in the crotch and backside.

"I've only got one pair of desert combats and they were issued
second-hand with tears in them which have got worse since I got
here," he said. "I've had to cut my pocket out to make patches to
cover up the holes. It's embarrassing.

"The Iraqi army seems to be better clothed than we are. We are
supposed to look like professional soldiers, but we don't. I look
like a tramp."

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eI-media/message/305 (# 11)
http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2003w12/msg00372.htm

[olmy]

4. Living in Phoenix makes me feel sorry for these guys.

At night the temperature will stay in the high 80's. We just had our record high "low" of 96 about two weeks ago. The air is still and you can't sleep at all. The old timers used to get wet sheets and sleep in those.

Those poor guys.

[dArKeR]

7. 19 Brigade needs to start a coup against Blair. The Filipinos did why not

the U.K. troops?

[Nottingham]

8. What I don't get is Why we spend so much money on Bombs

And No air conditioners for these men or refridgerators.
Aren't these the Guys who are winning the war for us!

:bounce:

Its like we are treating the Military guys like they are slaves

Thats NOT RIGHT!

[PartyPooper]

9. How much $ have they spent on ordnance to get Saddam and his sons?

As I recall, that one bomb dropped at that restaurant in Baghdad cost over $1 million! Plus, they dropped a boat load of bombs on the palaces during "shock 'n' awe".

And, the U.S. is paying $30 million in bounty for the Hussein boys! Add another $25 million for Saddam himself.

How many air conditioners, refrigerators, cold potable water, and decent toilet / shower facilities could all of this money have bought?

[NickB79]

12. And remember, these are just British troops: what about US troops?

Where are the reports of US troops failing from the heat? Since we have several times as many troops over there as Britain, where are the dozens of US heat casualties we should be seeing? Simple answer: no one is being allowed to report it. You think soldiers can function for months at a time in 110F+ heat with inadequate water supplies? Yet one more thing about this war that's being conveniently ignored to make it look at good for us as possible.

[Neutrino]

13. 'ol Bremer has Air Conditioning--to keep his white shirt

nice and starchy and crisp. maggot.