Home from the war... and our troops are greeted by abuse from Muslim protesters

Twice in two years they have fought in Iraq. Twelve of their regimental comrades paid the ultimate price there and in Afghanistan.

Over the past two years they have spent day after day patrolling hostile territory, where every passer-by could have a gun or a bomb.

So the 200 men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment perhaps had a right to expect a heroes’ welcome yesterday on a homecoming parade through Luton.


Venom: Faces contorted with fury, some of the Muslim demonstrator who marred the homecoming of the Royal Anglian Regiment yesterday


Returning heroes: Members of the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment parading through Luton yesterday after their tour of duty in Iraq

Instead, they were faced with the hate-filled jeers of anti-war protesters waving placards saying: ‘Anglian soldiers: Butchers of Basra,’ and ‘Anglian soldiers: cowards, killers, extremists.’

There was a furious reaction from the hundreds lining the streets to support the soldiers – known as the Poachers. Shouting ‘scum’ and ‘no surrender to the Taliban’, they turned on the Muslim demonstrators.

Police were already out in force to protect the anti-war group and arrested two men among the soldiers’ supporters.


Sickening: The protesters had printed out placards, branding the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment 'cowards' and 'killers'


Police closely monitor the anti-Army group as the 200-strong regiment passes through Luton town centre

Last night the mother of David Hicks, a captain with the Royal Anglian Regiment who was killed in Afghanistan in August 2007, called the protests ‘extremely distressing’.

‘I felt very saddened and extremely upset,’ said Mrs Hicks, of Wokingham, Berkshire. ‘I also feel a little angry. I think every mother or father who has lost somebody in Afghanistan or Iraq would feel very difficult about this.

‘It’s very easy to tarnish all the Muslim community with the same brush, but I do wonder, if the roles were reversed, if such a protest would be allowed in a Muslim country.’

Gordon Brown condemned the protests and ministers and senior politicians branded the demonstration ‘insulting’ and ‘sordid.’

Shadow Secretary of State for Defence Dr Liam Fox said: ‘This is offensive, appalling and disgraceful.


Elsewhere along the route hundreds of townsfolk turned out to clap and cheer on the soldiers


Tempers flared as pro-Army supporters took offence at the small protest and police were forced to separate the groups

'It is only because of the sacrifices made by our armed forces that these people live in a free society where they are able to make their sordid protests.’

Luton South Labour MP Margaret Moran called for an inquiry into the way police handled the incident.

She said: ‘Calling people baby-killers and the rest seems to amount to provocation of the worst kind when these lads and lasses have risked their lives for the freedom these people enjoy. It seems to me this amounted to huge provocation and was potentially racially divisive.’

But the Muslim protesters were unrepentant. Teacher Sayful Islam, self-styled leader of the Luton branch of al-Muhajiroun – the now-banned radical organisation led by Sheikh Omar Bakri – said: ‘The anger has been rising. The parade was the final insult.

‘They have killed, maimed and raped thousands of innocent people. They can’t come here and parade where there is such a Muslim community. What do they have to be proud of?’


Posters were displayed accusing the Army of maiming babies and innocent civilians in Iraq


Counter attack: A placard spells out backing for our troops

The battalion is based in Germany, but Bedfordshire is one of the areas where it recruits, along with neighbouring Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire.

Trouble flared as the soldiers marched to a meeting with the Duke of Gloucester, the regiment’s colonel-in-chief, and local dignitaries.

He said:' The anger has been rising up. The parade was the final insult.

'They have killed, maimed and raped thousands of innocent people. They can't come here and parade where there is such a Muslim community. What do they have to be proud of?'

Leaflets urging Muslims to demonstrate against the soldiers' homecoming had been distributed around Luton earlier in the week.

Under the headline 'Criminals' it railed against the troops' 'audacity' at marching though the town centre and accused them of having 'blood on their hands.'


View from behind the veil: A group of Muslim women at the demonstration


Sign of dissent: An anti-government message

It read 'Muhammad said :"He among you who sees a munkar (evil) should change it with his hand. If he can not do that , then with his tongue(by speaking out against it)".'

It finished with the words:' We urge the Muslims of Luton not to stay silent against these murderers of Muslim men, women and children and to do what we as Muslims have been obliged to do and speak against an open evil.'

Police had penned the protesters into a small area and two lines of officers separated them from a large number of local people, waving Union and St George’s flags. At one point a man climbed onto a roof and threw a packet of bacon at the Muslim group.

Bedfordshire police said the Muslim protesters were later ‘escorted from the area to a safe place to disperse’.

The force said last night: ‘Everything that went on will be examined and if any offences have been committed then we will arrest them.’

An Army spokesman said the battalion, which is due to take part in a similar march in Watford today, was ‘deeply touched’ by the strong support shown by the people of Luton.

He said: ‘There is no better boost to a soldier than to see hundreds of people turn out to watch them on parade.'

The regiment's tragic roll call

The Royal Anglian Regiment has lost ten soldiers during the Afghan conflict and two during the Iraq conflict.

Those killed in Afghanistan are:

Private Aaron McClure, 19, from Ipswich, Suffolk; Private Robert Foster, 19, from Harlow, Essex; and Private John Thrumble, 21, from Chelmsford, Essex. All three were killed in a ‘ friendlyfire’ attack by a U.S. F15 fighter plane in Helmand on August 23, 2007.

Captain David Hicks, 26, from Wokingham, Berkshire, was killed on August 11, 2007, when a patrol base in Helmand was attacked by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

Private Tony Rawson, 27, from Dagenham, Essex, was killed on August 10, 2007, when his ‘attack’ patrol came under fire from the Taliban in Helmand.

Lance Corporal Alex Hawkins, 22, from East Dereham, Norfolk, was killed on July 25, 2007, by an explosion as his patrol returned to base in Helmand.

Corporal Darren Bonner, 31, from Gorleston, Norfolk, was killed on May 28, 2007, by an explosion when his convoy was attacked in Helmand.

Lance Corporal George Davey, 23, from Beccles, Suffolk, shot himself during ‘a tragic firearms accident’ in Helmand on May 20. 2007.

Private Chris Gray, 19, from Leicester, was killed during a firefight with the Taliban in Helmand on April 13, 2007.

Private Darren George, 23, from Pirbright, Surrey, was shot by a colleague who had a ‘dizzy spell’ while handling a machine gun in Kabul on April 9, 2002.

Those killed in Iraq are:

Private Adam Morris, 19, from Leicestershire; and Private Joseva Lewaicei, 25, from Fiji. Both were killed by a roadside bomb on patrol in Basra on May 13, 2006.

freedom of speech at its worst.....thanks to the UK gov
damn Brits better wake up but I think it's already too late.

I cannot stand any person who protest the return of a soldier who fought for their country.  Fucking ignorant assholes.

Good thing we don't have such despicable assholes in the US...oh wait:

Oh, but those are not the ones who are terrorists.

I get tired of hearing how they are not all terrorists, yet we constantly see this type of shit rather than the opposite.

This will end badly for the Muslims if they continue to pull this shit, and you just know they will.

That's the problem, these Muslims don't consider England their country. They want all the benefits with no commitment They want the British to adopt their ways.

The 1911 was designed to waste rampaging jihadists....  Maybe its time it was used for its intended purpose once again

Religion of Peace.

This sickens me. I make my money in your economy, because my home country's is shit. I sleep in the houses you built, because my home country has none. I am protected by your military, but it pisses me off because they fuck up my home country.

one big [b]FUCK YOU[/b].

I can't stand people who don't know how to be grateful. If you are going to live here then at least shut up, you dont have to support us but this is damn disrespectful.

Why the Middle East is not a glass-floored, self-lighting parking lot is a continuing mystery to me.

Shouldn't have clicked on this one...

just say "mah allah ak-ba, in-ta doo-dick-ee"...your god is not great, you're a man lover (according to our colloquial speaker of arabic, cut him some slack if thats wrong, he is only fluent in english and french, the other six languages he speaks are a little spotty)

What about this?



Plea in Plot to Kill U.K. Soldier

Plan Was to Seize Muslim Serviceman, Record Beheading

Parviz Khan, 37, pleaded guilty this month, prosecutors say.

By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post
Wednesday, January 30, 2008; Page A12

LONDON, Jan. 29 –– An unemployed man pleaded guilty to a plot to kidnap a Muslim British soldier in Birmingham and behead him "like a pig," prosecutors told a court Tuesday.

Parviz Khan, 37, pleaded guilty to the crime two weeks ago, but because of procedures of British law his plea was not made public until Tuesday, at the opening of the trial of two co-defendants.

The case caused a sensation in Britain when Khan was arrested in Birmingham last January and details of the charges against him were leaked to the news media. Britons have become more accustomed to the threat of homegrown extremist violence in recent years, but the notion of a British soldier being killed on British soil in that way shocked many people here.

Details of the charges against Khan, described in court by prosecutor Nigel Rumfitt, largely confirmed accounts made public a year ago –– including Khan's plans to post a video of the soldier's death on the Internet.

Rumfitt said Khan was a "fanatic" who was angered that Muslims were serving in the British armed forces, which have units in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Khan planned to target a Muslim serviceman and abduct him in the popular Broad Street entertainment area of Birmingham, Rumfitt said.

"He would be taken to a lockup garage, and there he would be murdered by having his head cut off like a pig," Rumfitt said. "This atrocity would be filmed . . . and the film released to cause panic and fear within the British armed forces and the wider public."
ad_icon

The prosecutor said authorities broke up the plot after Khan's "activities came to the attention of the security services" and they planted a listening device in his house.

Rumfitt also told the court that Khan had pleaded guilty to sending large shipments of night-vision equipment, sleeping bags, walkie-talkies, computer equipment and other gear to Pakistan to be used in extremist activities. Khan shipped goods in 2005 and 2006, claiming they were medicine, clothes and other aid for earthquake victims.

Rumfitt said British authorities stopped Khan in July 2006 on his return from Pakistan. He was found to be carrying a notebook containing "a shopping list from terrorist contacts of materials they wanted sent back in the next delivery."

Khan was placed under surveillance, and in December 2006 he attempted to go to Pakistan with family members, Rumfitt said. But officials searched his luggage and found more walkie-talkies and other equipment. Later they found similar materials at his house waiting to be packed and shipped, the prosecutor said.

Two other men –– Zahoor Iqbal, 30, and Amjad Mahmood, 32 –– have pleaded not guilty to charges that they assisted Khan or knew of his plot and did not report it to police.

In court Tuesday, Rumfitt said a police search of Iqbal's home turned up "disturbingly violent" books and videos, including a "mujaheddin poison book" and a computer disk titled "Encyclopedia Jihad." He also had U.S. Army field manuals, Rumfitt said.

"This man was in possession of material that goes way beyond a healthy interest in world affairs from a Muslim viewpoint and indicates an unhealthy interest if not obsession with extremism," Rumfitt said.

Three men –– Basiru Gassama, 30, Mohammed Irfan, 31, and Hamid Elasmar, 44 –– have pleaded guilty to helping Khan or failing to report his plot.

I'm right there with you.

It's one big COC Violation waiting to happen.

There was a time that the British would not have stood for this type of behavior. It is long past time for the west to actively start to expel foreign trouble makers. For England it should start with the forced removal of all muslims from their shores. If they don't they will be taken from within. I also think it's about time to do the same here. If you emigrate to the USA, then if you don't like the way things are done here go back to the third world shit hole you came from!

UK fucked themselves by shipping these scumbags over. I just hope the few level headed brits still there can turn things around.

ungrateful bastards.

Go to the Daily Mailand read some of the comments left. 151 so far.

here's one gem

Whilst we all support freedom of speech, if you amended the placards to complain about Muslims the police would be arresting you for inciting hatred yet these people can get away with anything here.
Click to rate     Rating   2395

- James Brown, Swansea Uk, 10/3/2009 16:40

Almost sounds like home.

I wonder how many of these shitstains are on UK goverment assistance...

I hesitated.  I knew I would be pissed before it was over.

Instead of protesting, why don't they just pack their shit and move to Iraq?

PARADE, FIX SWORDS, RIGHT TURN, CHARGE!!

Fuck the muslim scums...all of them...

so.....close....to.....a........COC.......violation..............

Told


You


So

Bastards.

Time for the King's Rifles to be put to good use.

All those centuries of colonialism are now coming back to bite them in the arse, unfortunately....time to make a stand and cut the umbilical cord.

Scumbags.

Notice in the pic of the dirty hippies in the USA, there's the requisite limp-wrist with ghey shorts and the videocamera (to tape folks like me who throw whatever we have at hand, at them; or my fave, swerve for them & run over their signs when they scatter to avoid being runded-over).

In the UK though don't they have laws the restrict "Pro-Nazi" speech?

It seems like the UK, like all socialist nations, has a very uneven application of the law that in the end only makes them looks absurd. At least in the United States you could say "yeah, they have freedom of speech and freedom of assembly."  The same justification can not be used in the UK.

Only rifle regiments call the bayonet a sword.  Everyone else calls them bayonets.  This may be attributed to the Baker rifle that had a sword type bayonet.  Post-Napoleonic Baker rifles had a more conventional bayonet but the tradition remained. BTW, this minor point set aside, I wouldn't object to those brave lads taking on those domestic cowards.  Deport the bastages!

Hey shitheads...there's the exit....feel free to use it and avail yourself of the wonders that await you in your family's country of origin.....

Those bastards are lucky the cops were there to protect them, or they would have taken an ass beating.

Ummm...what are there, 20 or 30 of those nuts here in the US, total?

While there are 20,000 or 30,000 in the UK.

And the ones in the UK will slit throats, given the chance.

Video from the BBC covering the event

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pRNmLWhtO4&feature=related

Why is this allowed? In WW2 we wouldnt have allowed people dressed up like Nazis to stand at the docks and jeer heckle and curse the troops... why do we allow it now?

HAHA...classic.

They should all be arrested and charged with "inciting racial hatred". That's illegal over there (thanks to them).

Jesus what a bunch of pig fucking pieces of shit.

I'd just let the soldiers loose on the motherfuckers.

Fuck them and the third world heritage they came from.

British muslims explain why they are justified hating British soldiers returning from service in Iraq

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x73gtR7joEk

...says everything I need to know.

Hot Linked

It's the plague of every Western Nation.  Why are we allowing our Nations to be invaded by scum?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I came to America for freedom. I love this country, it's values, it's history and it's traditions. Why would I move here to change such a wonderful nation that rescued me from the brutality in the DPRK.

But people who move from countries just to take advantage of better living conditions than their native countries, will not appreciate why those standards of living occured in the first place. How can someone who doesn't desire freedom in their hearts ever cherish the very freedoms that make a nation great? That is why they brag about exploiting the right to free speech. Not because they believe in it but because they see it as a weakness to use against their enemy. They are not fleeing tyranny and injustice. They are spreading tyranny and injustice.

I believe in the freedom of speech but I have to wonder, what sane person holds signs that threaten during a protest against cartoons?

Read the sign five posts up-

"Europe, you will pay.
Your extermination is on its way."

The protestors should have been bayoneted. Sorry, I know that's anti-freedom, but so is allowing a malignant minority culture to conquer your culture from within.

There is no free speech in the land of beheadings, hand chopping, burquas and female genital mutilation.

The burden of living in a free society is that you have to protect the inalienable rights of all...even pieces of crap like that.

That said, you sure as hell don't have to let anymore of those scumbags into your country.  That would be a good start for the Brits.  Why the west keeps letting a bunch of fundamentalist pricks from the Middle East into their midst and granting them citizenship is beyond me.  I think when the guy shows up on the dock with his subserviant wife in tow dressed in burka, that should have been your FIRST clue that his kind was not compatible with the freedom loving society you intended.

They're finally starting to come around. I was in London in 2001 when this "mullah" who lived in Britain at the time was advocating the bombing of the United States on the BBC. I watched it in the hotel lobby while I was checking in. He temporarily left the UK last year and when he tried to get back in, they denied his visa. This Sheikh was promoting the killing of Americans in the fall of 2001, which was right after 9/11 and years before Iraq invasion ever occured. That's why their claims of anger about Iraq ring hollow to me.



http://al-amana.net/home/2008/02/13/qaradawi-denied-uk-medical-visa/

Feb 13, 2008

CAIRO — Prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi has been denied a visa to get medical treatment in Britain.

“The British Embassy in Doha earlier Wednesday sent a fax to Sheikh Qaradawi informing him that his visa mobile application for treatment has been refused,” sources close to him told IslamOnline.net.

“The fax said the application contradicts with article 41 without specifying what the article said,” they added.

Sheikh Qaradawi, the president of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, had applied for a medical visa almost a year ago.

He was discharged from the Hamad hospital in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday, November 24, 2007, after recovering from a minor vertebral column crack he endured from a slipped disc.

Because of his illness, Qaradawi, 81, had been absent from several Islamic gatherings, the latest of which was Al-Quds International Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier the same month.

Late August, Qaradawi was hospitalized in Algeria after suffering from a stomach ulcer.

Glad to have you!  

Tell your like minded friends still over there to come join us as well if they can make it.

It's refreshing to hear from immigrants who come here to join the march of freedom.