Война в Ираке: Австралия

[Vadim]

War council signals the final countdown

March 16 2003
The Sun-Herald

...

Instead of the UN-sanctioned coalition that joined to drive Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in 1991, the US will lead a "coalition of the willing" comprised overwhelmingly of American forces and restricted in theextent to which it can use the territory and resources of other countries. Saddam Hussein is showing little sign he was about to flee Baghdad. When Russian envoy Yevgeny Primakov met Iraqi President Saddam Hussein recently, he asked about reports that he might consider exile to avert a US invasion.

The answer was calm and sharp: "I was born in Iraq and I will die in Iraq."

Meanwhile, yesterday, tens of thousands of Australian, British and American troops were massing on Iraq's borders.

At Baler in Kuwait, hundreds of US Army troops, with armoured vehicles, practised breaching Iraq's southern border defences.

A division has emerged between Australian forces and those of the other allies, over whether to attack civilian targets. US and British commanders yesterday sent the message they would not hesitate to attack schools or hospitals if they were used to conceal Iraqi military forces. But Australian forces have been ordered not to attack civilians, and have the authority to refuse missions that involve such an attack.

British commander Air Marshal Brian Burridge said Saddam would be committing a war crime if he used human shields. But he gave the clear warning it would not stop the British attacking Iraqi military forces where necessary.

...

http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/15/1047583741050.html

 

[Vadim]

Sunday, March 16, 2003. 16:41:29 (AEDT).
(ABC TV)

Iraq issue is about to come to a head: PM

The Prime Minister, John Howard says the issue of Iraq will come to a head in coming days.

And he says he spoke with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair last night.

Mr Howard says he spoke to Mr Blair for about 25 minutes.

"Mr Blair is very committed to the course of action that he's taken because he believes it's in the interests of his own country and also in interests of world order," he said.

Mr Howard says matters will come to a head this week and he has moved to refute claims that a war without United Nations backing will be illegal.

He says military action against Iraq will have adequate legal authority under existing United Nations resolutions.


Crean

Federal Opposition leader Simon Crean has moved to toughen his stance against a US-led attack on Iraq.

Mr Crean now says he will not support military action without the backing of the United Nations under any circumstances.

He says he will be asking the Labor Caucus for a shift in the party's position this week.

Labor has previously said it might consider backing US-led military action if there was an unreasonable veto by one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

But he says this was dependent on whether there was evidence linking Iraq with the September 11 terrorist attacks or if there was proof Iraq posed an immediate security threat.

He has told Channel Nine evidence has not been produced and his position has now changed.

"The only circumstances in which we'd support action is if it had a decision of the United Nations," he said.

Mr Crean says he believes Australia will join a US led war against Iraq this week.

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s808018.htm

 

[farman]

Австралия будет воевать против Ирака

Австралийские войска будут участвовать в боевых действиях против Ирака, если США начнут войну, заявил во вторник премьер-министр Австралии Джон Говард.

«Это решение было принято на заседании правительства этим утром после звонка президента США Буша, во время которого Буш сказал, что все попытки уладить конфликт дипломатическими методами исчерпаны», сказал Говард во время пресс-конференции.

Австралия уже послала 2 тысячи военнослужащих в Персидский залив, однако, до сих пор не подтверждала их участия в военных действиях.

// Reuters
- http://gazeta.ru/lastnews.shtml

 

[John]

Австралия будет воевать против Ирака

Австралийские войска будут участвовать в боевых действиях против Ирака, если США начнут войну, заявил во вторник премьер-министр Австралии Джон Говард.

«Это решение было принято на заседании правительства этим утром после звонка президента США Буша, во время которого Буш сказал, что все попытки уладить конфликт дипломатическими методами исчерпаны», сказал Говард во время пресс-конференции.

Австралия уже послала 2 тысячи военнослужащих в Персидский залив, однако, до сих пор не подтверждала их участия в военных действиях.

// Reuters
- http://gazeta.ru/lastnews.shtml

А хороший был такой континентик, мирный такой...

 

[Vadim]

Джон Хавард, Хoвард.

Как его правительство мордой-то. И то сказать, один из всего 2-x союзничков, и то не позвали на партактив, а как шестерке "дали знать" по телефону.

Ужастие в завтрашней войне практически гарантированно, так как по конституции действующее правительство принимает решения о войне и мире без согласия парламента.

 

[Vadim]

SAS deep behind enemy lines

March 20 2003, 3:50 PM

SAS troops will operate deep behind enemy lines in the war, Australian Defence Force spokesman Brigadier Mike Hannan said today.

The special forces task group of Special Air Service Regiment troops and commandos will be involved in deep reconnaissance work, positioned in Iraqi strongholds, far ahead of advancing coalition forces.

"Their task is to go out into areas otherwise unoccupied by our forces and to seek out and report on installations,"he said. "Their great risk is that they're quite isolated, they're a long way from support."

While the ADF agreed to give details on the role of the special forces, which also includes troops to deal with the threat of weapons of mass destruction and CH-47 Chinook troop-lift helicopters, Brig Hannan made it clear Australia's involvement in the war would remain clouded in secrecy.

During a media briefing on Australia's involvement in the war, Brig Hannan was repeatedly asked if Australians had been involved in any advance operations inside Iraq.

He continually refused to comment.

"We won't be commenting on current operations or future operations," he said.

"The location of our troops is something that we'll be guarding closely."

Brig Hannan also refused to guarantee information about future Australian action.

"Once it becomes past operations then we may or may not comment depending on the effect it may have in determining what we're doing now or in the future," he said.

The ADF refused to confirm whether Australians were involved in today's initial strikes on Iraq but Prime Minister John Howard said they had started combat operations.

Brig Hannan said wild dust storms in the Middle East - which he described as an all-enveloping brown-out - had been hampering Australian troops in the lead up to war.

"Winds have reached speeds of up to 65kph and have whipped up powerful dust storms," he said.

"Visibility has been down to as little as 70 metres and flying conditions have been tough for both fixed and rotary wing aircraft."

Brigadier Hannan said the 2,000 ADF personnel in the Persian Gulf were under the command of Brigadier Maurie McNarn and would not undertake activities without his approval.

"This system of command ensures that Australian forces continue to carry out tasks that are consistent with the Australian government policy and of course with the ADF's legal responsibilities," he said.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced Australian forces in Iraq would receive a $200-a-day tax-free allowance on top of their regular salary.

They will also receive extra leave once the war is over, a service medal and compensation and rehabilitation coverage.

AAP

Australian SAS troops training Kuwaiti special forces. February, 2003

Digging in: Australian troops reinforce their positions. 22 February 2003

 

[Vadim]

Australia's special forces engage in combat in Iraq: Howard -- AFP

SYDNEY, March 20 -- Australian special forces troops stationed in the Gulf have begun combat duties in the Iraq war, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday.

"I can inform the House and inform the Australian public in general that forces have commenced combat and combat support operations," Howard told the Australian parliament in response to a question from Opposition Labor Simon Crean.

Mr. Crean asked Mr. Howard to be more specific about the operations the forces would be engaged in, "given that every Australian person is now concerned about the welfare of our men and women in the defence forces".

But Mr. Howard said he could not be more specific due to operational and security reasons.

Briefing reporters less than an hour before the 0100 GMT US deadline for war, Australian Defense Force spokesman Brigadier Mike Hannan said Special Air Services (SAS) commandos were preparing for the attack.

"The special forces task group by this stage would have received their orders through the chain of command," he said.

"And they will be transitioning from their acclimatization and general training programs and they'll be undertaking preparation specific to the operations ahead," he said.

US President George W. Bush had set an 0100 GMT deadline for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to quit his country or face attack.

The first stages of the US-led military conflict against Iraq began around 4:35 a.m. (1435 GMT), an AFP correspondent in the Iraqi capital said.

Australia has deployed about 2,000 troops to the Gulf, including about 150 SAS commandos for the war, despite strong public opposition at home to participation in the conflict in the absence of explicit UN approval.

The Australians are a tiny part of a massive US-British deployment of some 280,000 troops for the invasion.

Australian troops start combat missions: PM
smh.com.au

March 20 2003, 3:49 PM

Prime Minister John Howard confirmed today that Australia's troops in the Gulf have started combat missions against Iraq.

For security reasons he would not comment on the special forces role but said troops have started combat and combat support operations.

Australia's naval forces were continuing their operations, mostly in combat support roles. The nation's FA/18 Hornets have also started flying missions over Iraq.

``They're conducting missions to escort high value coalition tanker and airborne early warning and control aircraft.''

He would not comment further on operational matters.

He reiterated that he had no doubts about the legality of the war and said Australian forces would operate within the rules of law they were bound to.

He said while there was always a risk of casualties, he hoped that all members of the defences forces would return safely.

He said a military briefing would be given each day at 11am.

defence.gov.au -- Middle East Imagery

 

[Vadim]

Первая австралийская жертва в войне, первая атака с автомобилем, начиненным взрывчаткой - погиб оператор ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). День назад с корреспондентом они через несколько стран, в облет, добрались воздуxом из Омана кажется в Кувейт.

Last Update: Sunday, March 23, 2003. 12:50pm (AEDT)
Australian cameraman killed in car bomb attack

ABC cameraman Paul Moran was killed in a car bomb attack in northern Iraq. (ABC TV)

An Australian cameraman on assignment for the ABC in northern Iraq has been killed by a car bomb.

Freelance cameraman Paul Moran, 39, and ABC correspondent Eric Campbell had gone to the northern town of Sayed Sadiq where there had been some fighting between Kurds and Iraqi militants.

Mr Campbell says Mr Moran had gone ahead of him to do some filming.

He told ABC TV news, Mr Moran was filming final shots for their story, when a taxi sped up alongside him and exploded.

He has described events leading up to the bombing.

"Paul was getting one last shot of some peshmergas who were running towards the base and he walked about 50 metres in front of me to get this shot, and a taxi just screamed up beside him and exploded and, we were thrown back, and Paul was dead," he said.

"He knew this area backwards, he'd been here many times before, had very good contacts, he was just a great resource for being here and for working around the clock in this coverage we were doing."

Mr Campbell said he and Mr Moran were doing everything they could to protect themselves in Iraq.

"Both Paul and I have newborn babies and we sort of decided when we came across the border we'd be as careful as we could and we were.

"We always wore flak jackets and checking where everyone else had been and where was safe and we just thought we were okay and just out of the blue this awful thing happened."

Mr Moran, 39, who was originally from Adelaide, worked extensively in the Middle East from his base in Bahrain, before moving to Paris last year.

Mr Moran is survived by his wife and baby daughter.

Loss

The ABC's Managing Director, Russell Balding, says Mr Moran's loss is deeply felt by all at the corporation.

Mr Balding has extended his deepest sympathies to Mr Moran's family.

He says Mr Moran was pursuing a profession he deeply loved and for which he was greatly respected.

The ABC's international editor Bronwyn Kiely says he had the ability to gain access to people and places that others simply could not match.

"In fact one of the most important stories Paul did for us was a world exclusive interview with an Iraqi defector, that is believed now to have contributed much of the information which the US has based their attack on Iraq now, so it's a strange irony that Paul was so involved in that story, he created that story himself for the ABC," she said.

Prime Minister John Howard has expressed his condolences and has passed on his sympathies to the ABC.

"I rang the managing director of the ABC Russell Balding to express the sympathy of the Government to the ABC and also to inquire as to the welfare of Eric Campbell," he said.

"Arrangements are being made to assist Paul Moran's family, and the Department of Foreign Affairs is assisting the ABC in relation to that."

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer say the group apparently responsible for the attack has links to Al Qaeda.

Mr Downer has told Channel Seven it was probably an act of retaliation.

"The suicide bomber came from an Islamic extremist terrorist organisation called Ansar al-Islam, which is active in northern Iraq and has been for some time," he said.

"There have been in recent times attacks on Ansar al-Islam. This is an organisation which is linked very closely to Al Qaeda."

However Senator Hill says it is not clear whether it was a reprisal attack by the Islamic group Ansar al-Islam.

"Well it is being suggested because it sounds logical but the time frame is such that it may not be so, because it's happened so soon thereafter, but it'll take some time obviously to put the pieces together," he said.

Defence Minister Robert Hill has also expressed his regret.

Others injured

Nine other people were injured in the bombing.

Security officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said they believed the Ansar al-Islam group, which Washington has linked with Al Qaeda, was responsible for the bombing outside the village of Khurmal.

"We consider it a terrorist operation by Ansar," said a PUK security official. "It seems the car belonged to a member of Ansar."

The village is in a mountainous area that is the stronghold of Ansar close to the border with Iran.

Three Kurdish peshmerga fighters also were killed and another journalist wounded.

Witnesses said the journalists were waiting to enter the village when a taxi drew up beside them and exploded.

Some witnesses said the taxi driver escaped before the blast.

Khurmal is a base of the mainstream Komala Islami Kurdistan (Islamic Society of Kurdistan), which was targeted by cruise missiles early Saturday at the same time as the hardline Ansar al-Islam, which is allegedly linked to the Al Qaeda terror network.

British TV crew missing

Meanwhile, British TV company ITN says three members of one of its television crews are missing after coming under fire in southern Iraq - possibly from British artillery.

The crew, which unlike most journalists covering the war was unattached to any US or British unit, had come under fire at Iman Anas, near Basra, while driving towards the port city in two vehicles.

One crew member who escaped said the firing was coming from the direction of British forces' positions, and in London the Ministry of Defence said they could have been caught in crossfire.

ITN Chairman Mark Wood told Reuters: "One of the crew, Daniel Demoustier, was injured but was able to get to safety. He was not able to see what happened to his colleagues and at present, they are still missing."

Mr Demoustier, a cameraman, who was with the three missing journalists - correspondent Terry Lloyd and colleagues Fred Nerac and Hussein Othman from the ITV News unit of ITN - said they were being followed by two Iraqi vehicles when the firing started.

"I had to duck down straight away -- windows were exploding inside the car. I looked to my right side and the right door, where my correspondent (Lloyd) was, was open and he was not there anymore," Demoustier, who had a black eye and cuts to his face, told the ITV news channel.

He said the car fell into a ditch and then burst into flames. When asked where he thought the gunfire came from, he said: "From the right hand side, the British side. I'm not saying it was coming from the British.

"There are two possibilities. It's that they were trying to take out Iraqi cars and I happened to be in the way.

"Secondly, maybe there were Iraqis ditched down on the right hand side. It would surprise me actually because there were lots of Brits there."

Warnings

The Ministry of Defence said the ITN crew had gone through several checkpoints where they had been told to turn back.

A spokesman said the journalists were between US and British forces and Iraqi troops when they were hit.

"It's quite possible they were caught up in some sort of crossfire," the spokesman told Reuters.

"They went into an area against the advice of the military. We wouldn't deliberately target journalists."

ITN's Mr Wood said he was unable to verify an agency report that the three had been found and taken to a hospital at Safwan, near the border with Kuwait.

"We have a group going to Safwan first thing tomorrow to check," he said.
Dozens of journalists are accompanying British and US forces across the various war fronts. Others are in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, which the US-led forces have been bombing and intend to capture.

The US military, citing unconfirmed reports, said three journalists covering the US-led invasion were killed or injured during hostilities in southern Iraq on Saturday.

US Army General Guy Shields, director of the Coalition Press Information Center in Kuwait, said he had reports that reporters came under fire in four separate incidents while operating independently of US or British forces.

And in northern Iraq a car bomb exploded close to the border with Iran, killing an Australian TV cameraman and one other person.

Kurdish officials blamed the attack on Ansar al-Islam, an Islamist group the United States accuses of having links to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda.

Mr Lloyd, ITV's award-winning correspondent, has reported extensively from Iraq, Cambodia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s813802.htm

 

[Vadim]

In Northern Iraq
An Edgy Place, a Suicide Bombing and a Near-Miss

By Karl Vick
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 23, 2003; Page A20

ZALIM, Iraq, March 22 -- After daybreak today, a U.S. fighter-bomber swung by with a payload of bombs, following a night when about 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles tore into the headquarters and radio station of Ansar al-Islam, a local Islamic extremist group dug into the Halabja Valley in northeastern Iraq.

A smiling Kurdish general announced 100 dead or wounded -- none of them civilians, he said. To assay the damage for ourselves, a convoy of U.S. journalists drove up a hillock that commanded a view of the corner of the valley.

Though profoundly local in outlook, the band of about 900 fighters had embraced al Qaeda and given refuge to militants seeking a new home after the defeat in Afghanistan of the ruling Taliban movement, which had sheltered al Qaeda. U.S. intelligence teams who came to the Kurdish region to prepare the way for an assault on Baghdad pinpointed Ansar as a target for attack.

"They are terrorists," a Kurdish political leader said Friday evening in Sulaymaniyah. Four hours later, the first cruise missiles arrived in the valley, near the Iranian border.

But we could not tell what the missiles had hit. We needed witnesses, and we divided into two groups to look for them. Washington Post photographer Jahi Chikwendiu and I checked Halabja's crowded cemeteries, looking for funerals. But the victims had already been buried.

So we proceeded to the T-junction of two asphalt roads, one of which leads toward the valley where Ansar has dug bunkers and from which it lobs mortars daily at the lightly armed Kurdish militia that surrounds it but is unable to move across mined meadows.

Civilians were pouring out of the Ansar villages, their belongings piled into the backs of trucks, whose cabs brimmed with women in head scarves. They told of a military headquarters crushed and bodies carried away.

But the junction seemed extraordinarily edgy. Until a few hours earlier, the little cement- block hut where Kurdish sentries bid approaching vehicles to stop had been manned by an Islamic group -- not Ansar, but a more moderate group vaguely allied with the militants. The group had surrendered the junction to the Kurdish militiamen who now wheeled up to their prize aggressively in their pickups, then roared away just as suddenly.

I waved down a truck driven by a middle-age man who gave his name as Ayub Araf. Climbing hurriedly from behind the wheel, he answered some simple questions, setting an elbow on his knee as if getting comfortable, then suddenly heading back to the cab.

"It's very dangerous in there," said an Arab television journalist who had just ventured down the road toward Ansar, heard shooting and hurried back again. We agreed it was not a good place to be.

Jahi and I climbed into the back seat of the Nissan Patrol and told the driver to head backtoward Halabja. Gaining speed as we passed back through the junction, I saw a journalist I did not recognize standing in the middle of the slowing traffic, looking down into his video camera as if it was a Brownie. It occurred to me to ask the driver to stop, call over the journalist and advise him to leave. But the Nissan was gaining speed, and getting away from there suddenly felt urgent.

I turned to Jahi, who had arrived in northern Iraq less than two days earlier, and said, "They do do suicide bombings." The explosion came at that instant, a period on the sentence. We both pitched forward, more in self-defense than from any force from behind. When I raised my head to look back a moment later, a fireball was still visible in front of the cement block hut and the driver was going very, very fast. He had seen a little Toyota sedan go up in the rearview mirror.

My satellite phone rang a few miles down the highway. Everyone on our day trip was fine, but five people died. It took me 15 minutes to remember the man in the road. He was a cameraman for the Australian Broadcasting Corp. His name was Paul Moran. He was 39.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11937-2003Mar22.html

 

[Vadim]

Israel thanks Australia for its role in the Iraq conflict

CANBERRA, March 26 (AFP) - Israel's Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom thanked Australia Wednesday for sending troops to help protect Israel from missile attacks during the conflict in Iraq, the two countries said Wednesday.
During a telephone discussion with his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer, Shalom expressed his gratitude for the efforts of Australia's 2,000 troops, who are the third force along with Britain, in the US-led coalition.
"The Israeli foreign minister did take the opportunity to express very warm thanks to the Australian government and to the Australian people for the deployment of Australian troops as part of the coalition effort," Downer told the national parliament here.
"And he explained that this was something that was not only noted in Israel but was enormously appreciated."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement detailing the conversation between the two ministers and praising Australian troops.
"During the conversation, Shalom expressed his gratitude for the active participation of Australia in this offensive against Saddam Hussein," the statement said.
"The action of Australian forces was aimed at eliminating the risk of Scuds being fired at Israel from western Iraq."
Downer said he had urged his Israeli counterpart to repeat the restraint shown in the 1991 Gulf War when Israel was hit by 39 Iraqi Scud missiles but did not retaliate.
"I did take the opportunity to urge him to ensure that Israel did not become involved in the military action in Iraq," Downer said.
Downer said he had been told that only in the most extreme of circumstances would Israel become involved in the war.
"I did assure the Israeli foreign minister that Australia and the coalition more broadly are well aware of the threat that Iraq's missiles pose to Israel," Downer said.
"Very substantial efforts are being made to inhibit or neutralise Iraq's ability to attack regional countries and that clearly does include Israel."
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak arrived in Australia on Wednesday for a six-day visit to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra.
Barak, the dovish former Labour leader and Israeli defence force chief, held talks with Prime Minister John Howard and Downer, as well as Opposition Leader Simon Crean.
Barak, who was beaten by hawkish Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001, is in Australia on a private visit to speak to Jewish groups.
jt/mmc

Iraq-war-Australia-Israel
AFP 260639 GMT 03 03

 

[Vadim]

Australian SAS 'holding Baghdad road'

Australian SAS troops are in control of a major highway to Baghdad and are some of the closest coalition forces to the Iraqi capital, according to an American journalist fleeing the city.

"They were clearly at the very front lines of reconnaissance and they were calm. There was no fear in any of their eyes," US correspondent Nate Thayer told Sky News.

The elite soldiers were the first significant military force encountered by Thayer as he drove out of Baghdad, he said.

Thayer's report is the first on the location of the SAS but he has promised them he will not reveal their exact location.

"But I will say that they were very professional. They were what you would expect a highly mobile forward unit to be - they had many vehicles but they were fast-moving vehicles," said Thayer, who is among journalists expelled from Baghdad by the Iraqi Government.

"They were very professional, they detained me at gunpoint and the others that were accompanying me, ordered us on the ground, determined who we were and debriefed us.

"They obviously were not forthcoming with what units they were or [for] what purpose they were there, but they were very close to Baghdad."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s820036.htm

 

[Vadim]

US Navy loves Aussie-built ship
news.com.au 5 April 2003

AN Australian catamaran that used to be a ferry in New Zealand is delighting the American navy with its versatility in the treacherous waterways around the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.

The 96-metre Joint Venture, built by Hobart company Incat, has been operating as a mother ship to a fleet of US Navy gunboats, landing craft and helicopters.

"We've never had 14 small boats operating independently of the big navy for seven days, un-resupplied," Lieutenant Commander Tom Rancich, who heads future operations for the Naval Special Warfare Task Group, told the New York Times.

Joint Venture, which used to do the Cook Strait crossing as Top Cat but has had some of its passenger accommodation removed to make way for a helicopter pad, is one of two Incat catamarans chartered to the US military for about $US5 million ($8.33 million) a year.

The other, the 98-metre Spearhead which only left Incat's Hobart shipyard in January, is also in the Gulf, Incat said today.

 

[Vadim]

На замену HMAS Anzac и HMAS Darwin сегодня со своей базы в Сиднее вышел HMAS Sydney, также собираются заменить команды на двуx действующиx в Заливе Орионаx.

Сегодня на ежедневном брифинге МО сообщили, что SASR, действующие возле Багдада, останавливали на досмотр "подозрительную" колонну русскиx дипломатов, покидавшиx Багдад.

 

[Олег Грановский]

Фрегат "Сидней" взял курс на Персидский залив

08.04 04:51 MIGnews.com

Родственники и друзья моряков, служащих на фрегате "Сидней", собрались для трогательного прощания перед отплытием их близких в зону ведения боевых действий против режима Саддама Хусейна.

Фрегат, несущий на своем борту управляемые ракеты, вышел в плавание в 10:00 утра по австралийскому времени. Его провожали члены правительства Австралии во главе с премьер-министром Джоном Говардом и министром обороны Робертом Хиллом.

Помимо новейшего оружия на корабле несут фахты 23 моряков.

При отбытии корабля в районе военно-морской базы на Гарден Айленд близ Сиднея дежурили усиленные наряды полиции, чтобы избежать выступлений протестующих против военных действий на территории Ирака.

********************

Помимо новейшего оружия на корабле несут фахты 23 моряков.

Чего-чего?

 

[Magnum]

Помимо новейшего оружия на корабле несут фахты 23 моряков.

Вахты, наверное. Но даже с вахтами фраза гениальная!

 

[Трижды рядовой]

Хм. Мне кажется, что где-то в соседней теме видел почти то же самое, только там таки были вахты, зато моряков на вахтах - аж 260 ! Вах-вах-вах-ты...

 

[Олег Грановский]

Если так, то наверное речь идёт о том, что его экипаж 260 человек.

У американских фрегатов УРО "Оливер Х. Пери" экипаж "13 Officers, 287 Enlisted":

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/ffg-7.htm

А "Сидней" - фрегат УРО типа "Аделаида" - те же "О.Х. Пери", только местной постройки.

 

[farman]

А что за цифра 23 ( фахтсмена )?

 

[Олег Грановский]

Ну так об этом и речь - это по видимому сильно изменённое 260 - экипаж.

 

[XB]

А что за цифра 23 ( фахтсмена )?

Может яхтсмена? Хорошо под парусом по морю!