Well, While We're Here...

[liadnan]

Is pissing around on the Iranian side of the Shatt al-Arab really a particularly clever thing for the Royal Navy to be doing in the current climate?

Comments

[rparvaaz.livejournal.com]

Not terribly clever, no. But people seem to have stopped worrying about things like that these days...

[gmh.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing it's entirely likely to be due to a near-rerun of that time we invaded Spain (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1827554.stm).

("No, Warrant Officer, you're reading that map wrong, it should be *this* way up"

"If you say so, sir...")

Another great day in the annals of British military history.

Gideon.

Another great day in the annals of British military history.

[rparvaaz.livejournal.com]

*g*

Till today, when cannons are fired in the Indian army, one jawan walks off 20 paces and stands there with his back to the cannon. The reason dates back to the colonial times, when the cannons were moved by horses. It was necessary to to keep them at a distance in order to avoid spooking them....
The tradition has survived the modernisation of the army...

[liadnan]

Yes, I suspect you're right, cockup rather than conspiracy. And I read that the Shatt al-Arab is a very complex area, in both physical and political geographical terms. But we could really do without this, particularly right now...