British Officer Famed for Speech Quits

LONDON (AP) -- A British officer who made headlines with a stirring eve-of-battle speech to troops preparing to fight in Iraq has resigned from the army, a newspaper reported.

The Mail on Sunday said Col. Tim Collins, 43, had handed in his resignation last week and was expected to leave the army this summer after 22 years of service.

The Ministry of Defense refused to comment on the report, saying it did not discuss individuals publicly.

Collins, who commanded the 1st battalion of the Irish Guards, was often photographed smoking a cigar and wearing designer sunglasses. He galvanized his troops in Kuwait before the war with a speech that urged them to do their duty while treating the enemy with respect.

"Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle, remember to be magnanimous in victory," he said.

Prince Charles was so impressed that he wrote to Collins to say how "profoundly moved" he was by the "extraordinarily stirring, civilized and humane" speech.

Collins was investigated for war crimes after a U.S. Army reservist accused him of mistreating Iraqi prisoners, but was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The Mail on Sunday quoted Collins' wife Caroline as saying he was disillusioned with changes in the armed forces.

"Tim is no longer convinced that the army reflects the country with the fourth largest economy in the world," she was quoted as saying. "He fears it is becoming a cottage industry.

"He's worried it is being crippled by political correctness, petty bureaucracy and the refusal of politicians who send British soldiers to war to give them enough money to do their job."

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg	Freepers/Avg	Monthlies
57	Wyoming	20.00	1	20.00	26	0.77	30.00	1

Sunday, May 25, 2003 9:52 PM

Spite Shame Lies Toughness Truth Justice Professionalism

This is a story you will want to read..!!
And now for the rest of the story...

The attachment is a reading of the now famous British Commander giving his 'entry to battle speech' to the troops before the Regiment enters Iraq.

Imagine you are cooking in the heat and sun, as afraid as you can be, knowing you are about to fight, perhaps to kill, perhaps to die. Your commander says this: Speech by Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins – We Go To Liberate Not To Conquer. The British press said this of Collins speech "The words of Colonel Collins will long survive this war, for in their raw clarity, they capture its essence, and a military sensibility that is peculiar to our time. ...The valour lies not in bloodshed, but in decency; not in winning, but in leaving well. And at its heart, his speech offers this unlikely truth: that war is not glorious, or fun, but complicated and morally messy; not a matter of sacred shrouds, poppy fields and noble deaths, but of dead friends, wrapped in sleeping bags."

Serious charges have been leveled against him by a US Army Reserve major of Civil Affairs.

Lt. Col. Tim "Nails" Collins, 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish after addressing his troops. "If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer. You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest," he said.

LT Col Collins has since been promoted to Colonel.

The US army reservist who accused Col Tim Collins of serious misconduct during the war in Iraq has been described by an American colleague as a "weak officer" motivated by revenge. Major Coerr in his statement: "This is an absolute travesty. It is obvious to everyone in theatre that it is a vendetta by a weak officer against a hero.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/917669/posts

America should look to its own before firing off at our colonels

And now for the rest of the story...

Collins accuser did not witness Iraq incidents
From Tim Reid in Washington

Excerpt

...Major Re Biastre, 37, a reservist and part of the US Army’s 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion, provoked the ire of Colonel Collins, the commander of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, as he handed out lollipops to Iraqi children. The allegations were made after being publicly reprimanded and arrested by Colonel Collins for handing out sweets to Iraqi children in defiance of the British officer’s orders.

....Major Stan Coerr, a US Marine reservist, said: “Major Biastre is the sole reason this is happening. It is his spite for Colonel Collins that started this whole thing. I loved Colonel Collins and would serve with him again. This whole thing is a travesty.”

...According to Mrs Biastre, her husband heard allegations about Colonel Collins while he was made to wait outside his office.

....The Iraqi at the centre of the claims is Ayoub Yousif Naser, a member of the Baath party and a leading official in Rumaila, an oil village 30 miles west of Basra. Mr Naser told The Times that Colonel Collins subjected them to a mock execution, ordering his men to put him and his son against a wall and ordered a soldier to kill them. Colonel Collins denies the claims. Mr Naser conceded to The Times that he lied about possessing weapons to British forces. Locals said Mr Naser was widely feared in the area.

Army clears colonel of war crimes in Iraq Humiliated major’s claim ‘triggered by spite’

by IAN BRUCE

Excerpt

...COLONEL Tim Collins, the British officer who made world headlines with his rousing eve-of-battle speech before the invasion of Iraq, has been cleared of war crimes in a preliminary report by the army's special investigation branch.

Collins inquiry finds no evidence of war crime
By Sean O'Neill
(Filed: 26/05/2003)

Excerpt

...The Army inquiry into Col Tim Collins has found no evidence that his conduct during the war in Iraq was in breach of the Geneva Conventions.

Spite likely motive for war shame
Bruce Wilson in London
26may03

Excerpt

...OUTRAGE mounted in Britain yesterday after the chief accuser of Iraq war hero, Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Collins of the Royal Irish Regiment, was named as US army reservist Major Re Biastre.

...Major Biastre's allegations were motivated by "revenge and spite" in his accusations against Lt-Col Collins. The case is reported to be souring relations between the US and Britain –the two major anti-Saddam military allies.

For those who just love rhetorical flourishes, here's the Mother Of All Pre-Battle Speeches - courtesy, of course, of Shakespeare. Henry V - Act III, Scene I. The eve of another big battle against the French...

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers go off within.

Speech by Tim Collins, Lieutenant-Colonel, Commander of The Royal Irish battle group, Beginning of Iraq War

Our Business Now is North

THE enemy should be in no doubt that we are his Nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of Hell for Saddam. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity. But those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others, I expect you to rock their world. “We go to liberate, not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people, and the only flag that will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Don’t treat them as refugees, for they are in their own country.

I know men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts. They live with the mark of Cain upon them. If someone surrenders to you, then remember they have that right in international law, and ensure that one day they go home to their family. The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please. If there are casualties of war, then remember, when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly, and mark their graves.

You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest, for your deeds will follow you down history. Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood, and the birth of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality, even though they have nothing ...

There may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow. Let’s leave Iraq a better place for us having been there. Our business now, is north.

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