A security guard at a side entrance to the British Army base in Massereene
On Saturday two off-duty soldiers were murdered just outside the Massereene Barracks, 16 miles north of Belfast. Two more soldiers and two delivery men were also injured in the attack, for which the dissident republican group the Real IRA claimed responsibility.
The Times reports today that armed security guards employed to protect the military base where the two soldiers were shot dead did not open fire on the terrorists, even when they stood over the injured men and fired further shots. Army sources said that it was the first time the Northern Ireland Security Guard Service (NISGS) had had to deal with a direct attack on a base. The service took over responsibility for security of barracks from soldiers more than ten years ago.
Other sources are reporting that the security threat level was increased last month from 'substantial' to 'severe'. If the barracks was on red alert why were the soldiers outside without being armed? The gunmen obviously knew of the regular routine on Saturday nights when as many as 20 orders of pizza were delivered. They waited until the soldiers emerged through the gates to pick up the food, then they attacked.
A few more questions I would like to ask John Hutton - why are civilians defending military establishments? Does the UK not have enough military in the UK to carry out their own defence? These young men were to be enroute to Afghanistan within hours and the two seriously injured pizza delivery men were only doing their job. Why didn't NISGS officers open fire?
NISGS personnel in this role are the equivalent of special constables who have been trained in the use of arms which they carried on Saturday night, but they took no action. Surely that is enough evidence to show they are not suitable for this form of defence. In the aftermath of this horrific incident it is a matter of urgency that the security of barracks is reviewed and returns to what it was for generations prior to the change of policy ten years ago, that is the military protecting themselves. Nobody does it better. Our military and the people of Northern Ireland deserve the best.
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10 comments:
Somebody's playing silly buggers!
Aye indeed. It's a strange setup. The CO of the barracks was on radio this morning saying the NISGS had done everything they could.
What surprises me is only you scunnert has commented on this post. What's up with the Scots? Aren't they at all concerned that their soldiers are being killed?
I campaigned for the disgraceful removal of Scottish Regiments from history.
The rapid way Gordon Brown is destroying this county may make some think they should have supported our own who offer to protect us rather than allow him to continue his social engineering programme.
Aye Subrosa - you'd have thought there would be more interest in this story. Something about it doesn't ring true. There something not quite right about this story.
Funny you should say that, I had that feeling too, that's why I posted it. Just can't put my finger on it.
A policeman has been killed in N Ireland today.
subrosa,
I think that there's a lot more questions to be asked. Who trains these individuals? - I suspect that it's a private company rather than the army. How long and comprehensive is their training? Under what circumstances can they open fire? Do they take their orders from the army or is there some-one in authority to take decisions and give orders? Was that person present? etc. etc.
As far as I can gather Brownlie, they are civilians, paid the basic recruit wage and given very brief training in the handling of weapons. They had pistols only and stayed within their guardroom while the attack was happening. From a report in the Telegraph or Times it said it was unarmed soldiers who ran out to help not the NISGS.
I know little about their line of authority at the moment.
These civilians were allowed to do this job because having military guards was 'upsetting' the locals so this was the solution according to Westminster.
I've been listening and reading more about the monies which are poured into NI just to keep this peace agreement going and it's quite an eye-opener. This Mail article is one I found interesting
.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1160824/MAX-HASTINGS-The-genie-violence-needs-strong-leaders-combat---bitter-blood-stained-old-men-like-Gerry-Adams.html
There is a military training base not far from here with a proper guard house and Soldiers with Machine-Guns on the gate.
Yet in Ulster thay have glorified bouncers with pop-guns ? Unbelievable.
All in the name of appeasement banned. Don't google funding for NI or your blood pressure will suffer and some English say Scotland receives too much.
as an ex royal engineer and ex nisgs who stood on that gate for 2 years i was surprised they did not return fire,although if they had when the vehicle drove off and killed or injured the terrorists they would be locked up for improper use of the yellow card,the only people to blame are the cowardly murdering evil bastards who carried out the attack.
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