Drudge Report Scoop.

[JamiesanTGrauerwolf]

The NPR reported this morning that the Drudge Report leaked news that Prince Harry was in Afghanistan.

Discuss.

[Croinc]

Drudge always scoops everyone else. It's in the rules or something. BTW this is yesterday's news.

[Ddrak]

Now they're sending him home. Congrats Drudge for fucking over a royal who actually wants to be a normal person.

Dd

[Croinc]

I thought you lefties threw a party anytime they send any troops out of Iraq or Afghanistan. I guess not.

[Embar Angylwrath]

I think any expectation that a royal is a "normal" person is, well... delusional.

[Ddrak]

Of course they aren't - does that mean they can't try?

Dd

[Embar Angylwrath]

He did try, and he failed. Its not the fault of the journalists, and I really have an issue with supposed independent media collaborating with the government, especially for something like this. All the hush-hush was for the benefit of one person who didn't have to be where he was. It was a choice, and the royals had to change the operations of several large media outlets, all so he could do a four month stint.

And all that shit about him just being a regular soldier is hogwash. I'm betting there were at least three groups of SAS escorting him.

[Croinc]

I wonder how many "ready-to-eat" meals he had........

[Ddrak]

He did try, and he failed. Its not the fault of the journalists, and I really have an issue with supposed independent media collaborating with the government, especially for something like this. All the hush-hush was for the benefit of one person who didn't have to be where he was. It was a choice, and the royals had to change the operations of several large media outlets, all so he could do a four month stint.

You mean like a supposed independent media collaborating with the government to not release planned Presidential trips to Iraq? Or any other "national security" measure in place? He didn't have to be where he was any more than GWB or any other random Senators had to fly to Baghdad for "fact finding" missions, but he felt it was his duty so good luck to him. Would you agree or disagree with the press publishing the planned route AF-1 was to take into Baghdad, or the planned route of McCain's convoy around Baghdad?

And all that shit about him just being a regular soldier is hogwash. I'm betting there were at least three groups of SAS escorting him.

Gurkhas, not SAS, and they'd be with him whether he was in Afghanistan or down the pub getting hammered. You know, like the President has the SS? If you're gonna bitch about it the least you could do is know the subject matter.

Of course he's not a "regular soldier", but at least he's actually trying to give a damn about his life and not sponging off the people the way most of those in public life tend to, at least until the media makes it impossible to do anything else. Yes - I'm all for an independent press, but I'm also for some accountability as to what is really newsworthy and what isn't. Does it really make a damn of difference whether people know Harry is in Afghanistan?

The press should print things that keep check on the government, that will actually make a difference. Printing random shit that only tears things down for no particular gain is just retarded, and pretty much why the US media is the pig sty it is today.

Also, you do know there isn't freedom of the press in the UK - several US web sites have been threatened with contempt charges for not complying with British gag orders. Interesting legal issue.

Dd

[Kulaf]

Honestly......why not use him as bait. Not physically.....but more in a "Patton is in England" sort of thing. Once his cover was blown let the Taliban mount some big offensive to try to get to him and take them out.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Comparing a royal to a head of state doesn't wash, Dd. Comparing him to a Senator doesn't wash. Why? Because the Senator and a head of state are doing those things becuase, ostensibly, they have to in order to fulfill their roles.

Harry just wanted to carry a gun and wear a uniform.

There's a big difference.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Honestly......why not use him as bait. Not physically.....but more in a "Patton is in England" sort of thing. Once his cover was blown let the Taliban mount some big offensive to try to get to him and take them out.

Because that would be using him as a military asset, and just because he's in the military, doesn't mean he's really in the military. I mean, you can only take playing soldier so far, right? Soldiers are placed in harms way all the time. Soldiers are used as bait. Harry won't be used that way.

Hence, Harry isn't a soldier.

[Trollbait]

I am usually right on board with Embar but what you folks don't know about this subject matter absolutely astounds me.

1) You imply that the prince wanted to "play" at soldier. You could not be more wrong. All you have to do is take a quick peek at the history of the royal family and the British military to understand what the prince was doing. It was his duty.

2) SAS would not be guarding the prince. There is a whole other group of folks for that.

3) There are many ways to use a soldier. Especially a royal one. If you think the troops did not know he was there you would be sadly mistaken. As a point of British pride and morale the prince's presence would be inavaluable. Who the hell are you to say that a Sandhurst graduate is not a soldier. Would you say that a West Point graduate is not a soldier?

4) Claiming or implying that the safety of the prince is not a matter of national security betrays an inherant lack of understanding of both the British government and its people.

5) You are confusing American freedom of the press with the amount of control the British government has on the British press. Again showing a lack of understanding with regards to the subject matter.

I applaud Harry. I appreciate that he knows his role and that he participates in the traditions of his nation and his family.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Yah. H'ray for Harry.

How much extra resources did he drain from the regular troops?

How much did he endanger the troops around him by his presence?

Why didn't he stay once it his depolyment was revealed?

Did he have to come all the way home? Why couldn't he be reassigned to supply or administration?

It's all bullshit, Jecks. If he was a real soldier he would have been treated like any other soldier. But he was treated differently, and he's not a real soldier. He's a royal who wants to think he's a real soldier. He may wear the uniform. He may fire the weapon (with bodyguards around him). He may eat MREs. He may shit (or is it shat) in a sand hole. He may even sleep in a bunk in the BOQ (or whatever the Brit equivalent).

But do you honestly beleive that there wasn't a dedicated rescue team, medivac helicopter, and a full regiment of crack corps ready to get his ass if he fucked up and landed in enemy hands?

C'mon.. get real. Just because he graduated from Sandhurst doesn't mean he ever shouldered the risk of a mud-eating soldier.

[Ddrak]

Comparing a royal to a head of state doesn't wash, Dd.

You do realize that the royals *are* the heads of state. There's not need to "compare". They ARE the equivalent of the President. Harry is absolutely comparable to any of those I mentioned.

How much extra resources did he drain from the regular troops?

None. The Gurkhas are independent and dedicated to him anyway, whether he's in Afghanistan or not.

How much did he endanger the troops around him by his presence?

Not at all, until Drudge decided to blow his cover.

Why didn't he stay once it his depolyment was revealed?

Because it would have endangered the troops around him. Weren't you listening to the statements by the British military?

Did he have to come all the way home? Why couldn't he be reassigned to supply or administration?

He may well be - again, didn't you listen to the statements by the military and Charles that he could well be redeployed? He came "all the way home" to make a statement to the enemy that would remove the danger Drudge put them in.

As far as the British military was concerned, he was treated like any other soldier. He did the work of a real soldier. He wasn't assigned any extra military protection, didn't take any extra military assets and didn't put anyone in harm's way. You are just showing your fundamental misunderstanding of the British system and the separation of the Gurkhas and the military by your continued assumptions.

btw - you don't think the royals all take their duty seriously? Go look at what Andrew was doing in the Falklands and ask yourself if you have the stones to fly a helicopter as a decoy for anti-ship missiles?

Dd

[rodric]

I think it's hard for us Americans to appreciate the role that the British royals have in the British system (government and society).

The royal family has an exceedingly vague role in governing the country (if there is an actual role), and so by some standards, they are simply sapping the funds from a treasury already much reduced from the glory days of British Empire.

However the role of the royal family in British society and its importance to British pride and patriotism is obviously crucial, but equally obviously hard to quantify.

Rhodric

[Mukik]

They were glorified welfare recipients after the magna carta.

[Partha]

At least he's fighting. Where are Jenna? Or Chelsea? Or any of Mitt's 5?

Pretty goddamn funny watching Embar spend years justifying this war behind his keyboard and then bitching because Harry actually went and fought in it.

Ha. Ha.