Lt. Wales Not To Deploy To Iraq
BBC reports: Prince Harry not to serve in Iraq
Prince Harry will not be sent to Iraq, the head of the British Army has said.
General Sir Richard Dannatt said the prince’s deployment would pose an “unacceptable” threat to him and the men who served alongside him.
It had been reported that militant groups had planned to kill or kidnap the young royal.
Clarence House said Prince Harry was “very disappointed” but will not be leaving the Army as a result.
[snip]
The general said he had reached his decision following a visit to the region at the end of last week.
“There have been a number of specific threats, some reported some not reported, which relate directly to Prince Harry as an individual.
“These threats expose not only him but also those around him to a degree of risk that I now deem unacceptable.”
This is a tough call, but in the end General Dannatt had to come to grips with the reality that Prince Harry represented an increased threat to those around him because of the PR value of killing or capturing him. The family and friends of the Prince’s unit would surely blame any deaths or injuries on his deployment.
It’s too bad he couldn’t have just gone without the announcement of his deployment until after he returned, but that’s not the way the system works.
6 comments
I totally agree… But also wonder, aren’t the lives’ of all the other soldiers just as important? Haven’t other soldiers been threatend with kidnapping and death? At least the royals got a little taste… a very small, but a taste nonetheless, the US administration members haven’t….
From what I’ve read, the families of the members of his unit have been expressing concerns that it’s all good that the Prince wants to show what he’s made of, but he’s making their family member a target.
The UK is trying to pull people out of Iraq and they don’t need Harry drawing a lot of “bad guys” down to southern Iraq just to capture him. He would be a major coup for al Qaeda.
I can apperciate that he wanted to go.. he has decided to become a career soldier, his regiment is being deployed, his mates are going, it will be frustrating not to go…. BUT it he would be a liability in an already dangerous region. Dannat’s decision was the correct one at the end of the day.
It was interesting that on the BBC they were doing interviews with people in a town and everyone thought that Harry was getting special treatment except a serving soldier who said that Prince Harry would make life more dangerous for himself and those around him. The soldier had two Iraqi tours behind him.
I think it was the right decision, but then I’ve been in war zones and know what happens when you get VIP visitors – violence always spikes.
If Harry really wanted to go then the powers that be have everything at their disposal to have made it possible; without the media being informed and poking their noses in and thereby ‘creating’ the security problem for the rest of his regiment. It’s been done before, get a double, create smokescreens, etc so that no-one knows that Hal went to Iraq, you can’t convince me that they are unable to do this, and certainly at the top level this is very possible.
Either Harry or the royal family are to blame for this. If Harry is not just a toy soldier then he will be very miserable with army life and with not being taken seriously. Perhaps he should leave and find another outlet that’s safer for him to pursue.
I don’t support the Iraq war in any case and I wish that everyone would just get the hell out of there.
Actually, he may go and this is a smokescreen.
I think this was a PR thing from the start on the part of the government. Charles wandered around without much in the way of protection a couple of times, so it’s not an impossible mission.
The Army hates the whole idea. They are at war within the MOD with some loving the PR bits and others just wanting to do their job without the PR. Dannatt has done a couple of things that make me believe he is not a PR general and he is trying to keep the Army as an institution whole.
Harry suffers from being relegated to number two, and he would like to do something to stand out on his own. I would make a wild guess that he’s drawn to the Army because he thinks it will allow him to make a few decisions of his own.
Maybe they can post him to Afghanistan with no one being the wiser until he’s out.