So, Britain Sent The SAS To Train Gaddafi's Elite Troops In 2009 & Sold Him Sniper Rifles In 2010...

[Turborama]

The SAS are some of the best snipers in the world.

How this was reported in the Gulf at the time...

Britain's military training Libyan forces: reports
British special forces have been training Libyan elite troops for the past six months, according to newspaper reports on Saturday.

Published: 08:42 September 12, 2009

=snip=

The Daily Telegraph said a troop of four to 14 SAS men was training the Libyans in counter-terrorism techniques, including covert surveillance.

It said the training tie-up was agreed under former British prime minister Tony Blair in 2004 but current premier Gordon Brown "signed off" the deal earlier this year.

"A small SAS training team have been doing it for the last six months as part of this cosy deal with the Libyans," one SAS source told the Telegraph.

"From our perspective we cannot see it as part of anything else other than the Megrahi deal."

Full article: http://gulfnews.com/news/region/libya/britain-s-military-training-libyan-forces-reports-1.539106

The Telegraph article...

SAS trains Libyan troops
The SAS has been ordered by the Government to train Libyan special forces despite the country having armed the IRA, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent 10:35PM BST Sep 11 2009

For the past six months Britain’s elite troops have been schooling soldiers working for Col Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, which for years provided Republican terrorists with the Semtex explosive, machine-guns and anti-aircraft missiles used against British troops during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Sources within the SAS have expressed distaste at the agreement, which they believe could be connected to the release of the Lockerbie bomber

=snip=

The disclosure that members of the SAS are training their Libyan counterparts will further raise suspicions about exactly what has been agreed behind the scenes between Tripoli and Britain.

=snip=

Members of Britain’s elite regiment are angry at having to help train soldiers from a country that for years armed terrorists they fought against.

Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/6176808/SAS-trains-Libyan-troops.html

And now it comes out that British sniper rifles are in the SAS's trainees' hands...

Britain sent sniper rifles to Gaddafi just before his troops began killing
Joe Murphy, Political Editor | 23 Feb 2011

Britain approved the export of sniper rifles to Libya just months before marksmen began murdering protest- ers in Tripoli.

An export licence was granted to let "a small quantity" of deadly long-range weapons be shipped out in November for exhibition or testing. Four licences were approved for the rifles, along with assault rifles and semi-automatic handguns, with cleaning kits.

They were signed off by officials in the Department for Business and it was unclear today whether ministers were involved in the decision.

=snip=

Horrific wounds among Libyan demonstrators, including limbs ripped off, are consistent with the impact of a high-velocity round from a sniper rifle.

Full article: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23925936-britain-sold-sniper-rifles-to-gaddafi-just-before-his-troops-began-killing.dot

And now this...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4743260">On Tour With Senior British "Defense" Manufacturers, David Cameron Hits Out At Critics Of Britain's Arms Trade


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[JohnyCanuck]

1. Just more evidence the war on terror is a scam. n/t

[Turborama]

2. Ironically, British Special Forces troops put on standby to conduct deep penetration rescue missions

Libya: SBS On Stand-by For Rescue Mission

11:47am UK, Thursday February 24, 2011

Sam Kiley, security editor, in Ras Djedia, Tunisia

British Special Forces troops have been put on standby to conduct deep penetration rescue missions to take British subjects out of isolated Libyan oil exploration camps following widespread criticism of the Government's response to the unfolding crisis.

Security sources have told Sky that the Special Boat Service (SBS) had already forward mounted liaison officers to a Mediterranean location, which Sky will not reveal, as part of the preparations to rescue an estimated 170 people unable to reach Tripoli where RAF Hercules aircraft have been evacuating civilians.

Any mission to fly into Libyan airspace on a rescue mission would be extremely dangerous and Libya has highly efficient air defences.

But it is not clear whether these are still under the control of the army groups still loyal to Colonel Moammar Gaddafi.

Full article: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Libya-Special-Boat-Service-On-Stand-By-To-Rescue-Trapped-British-Subjects/Article/201102415939830?lpos=World_News_Second_UK_News_Article_Teaser_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15939830_Libya:_Special_Boat_Service_On_Stand-By_To_Rescue_Trapped_British_Subjects

[pinboy3niner]

6. They can thank their PM's if this comes full circle on them

Let's hope they can accomplish any necessary rescues without having to face the weapons supplied by their country...

K&R--Thanks for posting, Turborama! :hi:

[Turborama]

11. Yes, let's hope everything goes/is going smoothly for them on any rescues they have to do

Thanks for the K&R pinboy3niner! :hi:

[Turborama]

17. Seeing as they're in an 'austerity frenzy', maybe they've decided it's cheaper to pay bribes instead

See here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4749187

[Turborama]

18. Not just the SBS, the SAS themselves are standing by as well, according to The Guardian

Details: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4749216

[JVS]

3. I'm shocked that these sniper rifles aren't being used for the humanitarian purposes as intended!

[EFerrari]

4. Damn that Hugo Chavez.

[truebrit71]

5. Of course we did, his check cleared.....Ugh....

..yet another reason why Tony Blair is piece of human excrement..

[JohnyCanuck]

7. Gaddafi son at heart of British high society

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was a guest of financier Nat Rothschild and Lord Mandelson, the former business secretary who was virtual deputy to Gordon Brown. The peer and Saif are said to have got on well and met again at the Rothschild holiday home in Corfu, where Lord Mandelson stayed for a week and discussed the case of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who was freed days later.

Saif is Muammar Gaddafi‘s third son and heir apparent. LSE educated, he owns a home in Hampstead with eight bedrooms, indoor pool, sauna and cinema. Last year Saif claimed Tony Blair was a “personal family friend” who had visited Libya many times, becoming an adviser to Colonel Gaddafi over the fund that manages Libya’s £65 billion oil wealth.

Other key business links include Sir Mark Allen, a former MI6 officer who moved into BP, and Margaret Thatcher‘s former policy aide Lord Powell, whose companies have invested in Libyan hotels and offices.

The Gaddafi family is believed to have stashed most of its wealth in Dubai, south-east Asia and the Gulf, where banking is more secretive than in Britain. The Libyan Investment Authority owns three per cent of Pearson, which owns the Financial Times. Its property includes a retail complex in Oxford Street.

http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/gaddafi-son-at-heart-of-british-highsociety/

[ikri]

8. The Blair & Brown governments were disappointing in so many ways

Back in 1997 Blair promised an ethical foreign policy before allowing arms to be sold to anyone with a bit of cash to spare.

On the plus side, many British-made weapons are so poorly made the SAS & SBS were apparently using AK47's & US rifles whilst deployed rather than use any of the crap the rest of the army was given, so there's a good chance that the sniper rifles won't work if they try to use them.

[JohnyCanuck]

9. If this quote in the OP is correct, it appears the sniper rifles are working just fine....

unless the sniper was aiming for a head shot and took off an arm instead.

Horrific wounds among Libyan demonstrators, including limbs ripped off, are consistent with the impact of a high-velocity round from a sniper rifle.

[pinboy3niner]

16. Many reports say they've also used .50 cal machine guns...

...as well as anti-aircraft weapons against people (and the graphic photos and videos of bodies blasted into pieces provide strong support for those allegations).

An eyewitness account aired on one of the cable stations today provided further support for claims that helicopter gunships were used to attack peaceful protesters. (Apart from the video evidence of Chinook 'choppers that were used to insert mercenaries.)

The sheer volume of these reports from a wide variety of sources make it entirely credible that all of these weapons have been used.

Unfortunately, those sniper rifles do seem to be working just fine.

[spanone]

10. who sold him the fighter jets???????

[Turborama]

12. In light of pinboy3niner's latest post...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x510283">Libya carnage: 'IT WAS REALLY LIKE WE ARE DOGS'

I think it's pertinent to give this a :kick:

[pinboy3niner]

13. Good call, Turborama...

...as usual. :thumbsup:

[malaise]

14. Duh!

Western governments prop up their dictators. Nothing to see here.

[somone]

15. Anything for a good cause