By Jason Moore
Idon't really understand why there was such an outcry within the British military establishment when they didn't get a public thank you from Iraq hostage Norman Kember. As far as I am concerned the Special Forces who rescued him where doing their job; they train for years to carry this sort of operation and it was completed successfully. End of the story. I just think it rather sums up Britain today when everyone demands a thank you for effectively doing what they are trained to do. Don't get me wrong I don't want to belittle their efforts but if all those pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain had waited for a public thank you everytime they returned from a mission, the Battle of Britain would have lasted alot longer than the summer of 1940!. The rescue of Kember was a most complicated and dangerous operation but this is the reason why Britain has Special Forces. They are the best in the world and they prove it. Their efforts deserve praise but lets not go over board. I believe that once again the Downing Street spin merchants were behind this story and the army's chief soldier, General Jackson, should have just stayed silent and not mentioned the public thank you from Kember. Even more ridiculous is that as Britain can never mention operations which are carried out by the SAS then Kember would have probably had problems knowing who to thank in public. The SAS pride itself on its secrecy and its ability. Once again an operation which was quietly successful has been blown-out of all proportion.
A big thank you