World News 22-10-2004 Black Watch Join US Cordon who: Black Watch Troops what: To provide support to US in siege of rebel city where: Fallujah, Iraq when: snippet: "The decision to send 850 British troops to an Iraq danger zone close to Fallujah at the request of the US sparked fury with MPs and soldiers` families yesterday," says The Mirror. "Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secrtary, told the House of Commons yesterday that there was `a compelling military operational justification` for sending the 650 Black Watch troops, with 200 others in support," reports The Scotsman, "and that the deployment entailed a `militarily acceptable level of risk for UK forces`." "Tony Blair is a f****** liar," is the response of James Buchanan, whose two sons Gary, 32, and Craig, 27, are in the Black Watch regiment. "Both him and Geoff Hoon. He`s putting our boys` lives in jeopardy." The troops will be based at Iskanderiyah, 25 miles south of Baghdad, for a maximum of 30 days and The Telegraph says "the Americans agreed that British commanders would have total control over tactics". Meanwhile, The Times reports that 2,000 British Territorial Army reservists "were sent to serve in Iraq even though they had failed a basic weapons test". Reporter ** says that according to Army regulations, the reservists were so inept they "had been graded as a high safety risk" and "should not even have been allowed access to a firing range". [... more]

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