Posted on 04/26/2007 11:04:20 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
London, Apr 27 (ANI): British royal Prince Harry has threatened to quit the Army if senior officers decide to ban him from serving in Iraq.
Senior officers in the British Army fear that Harry’s presence in the war zone will be an “inevitable disaster” as far as other soldiers are concerned, and that insurgents will step up their attacks on the British forces in the Middle-Eastern country.
Based on these concerns, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) had launched a last minute review of the young Royal’s deployment in the country, after the Royal household gave the clearance for his stint in Iraq in February this year.
At the time, the MoD and Clarence House released a joint statement confirming that Prince Harry would be performing duties in Iraq that would involve "leading a troop of 12 men in four Scimitar armored reconnaissance vehicles, each with a crew of three" from the regiment's "A squadron".
A Household Cavalry source insisted that if Chief of the General Staff General Sir Richard Dannatt, who will make the final decision, decides that having the third-in-line to the throne will only see an increase in British causalities and stops him from going, then it was very likely that Harry would quit the Army.
"This is what he signed up for and if he doesn't go, he will sign off and leave. He joined the Army for a bit of excitement and for him to be told he's not going would be awful," the Daily Mail quoted the source, as saying.
The source added that not letting Harry go to Iraq would also cause a ‘bad feeling’ in his Blues and Royals regiment.
"There will be bad feeling in the regiment if they stop him. He has his troop, and the protection of his troop, and his vehicle," he said.
"His troop will not just protect him but all the guys. He is just as important as the youngest guy in his troop. They are all there to do their bit," the source added.
Harry has faced increased threats from insurgents ever since it became known that he was keen on serving in Iraq.
Not only have highly-publicized threats been made to kill or capture Harry, but militants have also put huge bounties on his head.
Despite all this, Harry, trained to command 11 men in a troop of four Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles, has repeatedly insisted that he wants to serve in the war-torn country.
On his 21st birthday last year Harry had said: "There’s no way I’m going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country. That may sound patriotic but it’s true."
If the Prince does go to Iraq, he will be the first senior royal to serve on the front since Prince Andrew did in the Falklands in 1982.
Good for Harry! Stand your ground!
Harry ... go for the SAS and then you can serve in secret missions and stuff :)
I’d be most worried about an Islamic Brit soldier fragging him.
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They should send him there and use him as bait. He wouldn’t even have to be around, just let people think he is.
"Prince Harry would be performing duties in Iraq that would involve "leading a troop of 12 men in four Scimitar armored reconnaissance vehicles, each with a crew of three" from the regiment's "A squadron"."The terrorists will never know where he is now.
Wearing a blue bandanna, and leaving on Tuesday and likely to be serving in the east part of Baghdad, probably be rolling through the 1300 block of Al-Maliki Avenue at oh, 2:30 PM local time. Or anything like that.
patriotism is often enough reason to dilute the truth.
They've been very careful, too, with the subtle and smallish (three-foot square) insignia on his vehicle..
He has a good oportunity to save the crown from a long spell of disgrace, especially anything to do with ‘prince’ charles. Already he’s showing more guts than many English nobility for a long time, and can turn into a new Churchill-esque figure is he works on it.
We’ll see..
Bomb the shite out some enemy stronghold and drop PsyOp leaflets that say, “Prince Harry was here, you bastards!”
That’s the insignia of Prince William. The article is about Prince Harry.
“His Scimitar will have a polished chrome bumper with regiment markings, Union Jack hanging out of the passenger side window, and a vanity plate that says ‘HAIR-EE’. They will be doing 1800-2200 patrols on Alpha road nightly. Harry himself will be sitting in the front passender seat, and although helmetd, his facial features will be clearly distinguishable, with a Clove fag dangling from the mouth.”
Yep. Throws 'em off the track.. they're looking for Harry, think that's William, keep on goin'.. Clever, wot?
Off to rehab for you, mate..
You just gotta like Harry, he exhibits honor, courage, and integrity, asks no accolades for it, just to be with his men and serve his country. That is one fine soldier.
I applaud Prince Harry's gumption and determination to serve, but I think that I have to side with the brass on this one. Can you imagine the propaganda victory should anything happen to the Prince while serving? And the level of security around him would hinder any sort of operations his unit would be able to perform. At least as a naval officer stationed aboard a ship, Prince Andrew had some isolation, which isn't practical or possible for a land based soldier. I'll bet that Audie Murphy and Alvin York didn't want to be sent home before the wars they fought were over.
Mark
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