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Row Over Marines' Afghan Role
Tuesday, May 21, 2002
(14.27PM BST)
ITV.com

"This article underlines how the Government's mishandling of the presentation of the publicity surrounding this deployment not only affects the morale of the armed the forces, but underlines how ministerial incompetence has undermined Britain's reputation abroad."

The American forces' magazine Stars and Stripes has suggested the Royal Marines' contribution to the fight against al-Qaeda has been "disappointing".

The article criticised British troops for their "empty-handed" missions and failing to engage with Taleban or al-Qaeda fighters.

It cites Operation Snipe "which left US troops snickering about 'Snipe Hunt' jokes for days", said the piece.

In American slang, 'snipe hunt' means a hoax - the target is taken to a remote spot and told to hold a sack ready for all the snipe his companions are going to shoot - but in fact they all go off, leaving him there to his own devices.

And it quoted US Marines who questioned why they had been left out of Operation Condor, the Royal Marines' mission to help Australian forces who were under attack from enemy gunfire.
(More: ITV.com News Source)
2002 © ITV Network Limited.

Dan