This brings PN P-3C fleet up to 10

Yep, but the two P-3C Orions that Pakistan already own have been out of service for at least five years, possibly longer.

This Portuguese news item confirms that OGMA have been contracted to “re-activate” those two at Karachi. It states they’ve been out of use since 1994:

OGMA subcontratadas para recuperarem P3-C paquistaneses

As OGMA – Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal foram subcontratadas pela empresa norte-americana Lockheed Martin para recuperar dois aviões P3-C da Marinha do Paquistão.

Segundo a edição desta terça-feira do Correio da Manhã, o contrato, assinado pela ex-secretária de Estado Maria do Rosário Ventura, presidente da Empordef, a holding que detém as OGMA, foi celebrado ao abrigo de um acordo entre os EUA e o Paquistão, que incluirá o fornecimento de mais oito aviões P3-C da Marinha dos Estados Unidos.

A recuperação das aeronaves, que se encontram paradas desde 1994, será feita por técnicos paquistaneses, sob supervisão das OGMA, numa base da Marinha paquistanesa, em Karachi.

O contrato para inspecção dos P3-C atinge os 5,3 milhões de euros.

As far as I’m aware, those two are P-3C Update II.75 (i.e. II 3/4) but it’s been mentioned that the 8 ex-USN being proposed are all Update I aircraft. I would guess though, given the price tag of $970M, there must be plenty of upgraded sensors and other equipment being fitted to them. I would hope so anyway at over $100M a pop!! These will be airframes of around 1970 vintage if they are P-3C-I as rumoured.

Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News

If you’re in a war, and one of your buddies is blown up while checking out a supposedly dead body, you’re going to be very wary the next time you see someone FAKING being dead.

Just a day or two before this incedent, one of the marines friends was checking out a supposed;y dead body, and it exploded, killing him. Either it was booby trapped, or the guy had been faking it, and was merely wounded, waiting for the marines to get close before blowing himself up. Regardless, knowing this has JUST happend to this marine, can you not expect him to kill someone who is not deaD, BUT IS TRYING TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT THEY ARE DEAD?!?!

If that happened to me, I’d kill anyoe I saw pretending to be dead. When it comes down to it, he had to make a decision in a fraction of a second. When faced with the current situtation(same situation before resulted in one dead friend), he acted to ensure he an dhis friends did not end up dead. It’s war, war is this ugly. Every time they are faced with the enemy, they have to make this decision to pull the trigger, and it’s never easy. With all the evidence, I think he did the right thing.

Embedded reporters have done good for the US, they showed the world how we conducted the war. considering that this reporter sent the video to the news and not the governemnt, and somehow Al Jezerra is now broadcasting this marines name and face on the airways…I have to say, that this reporter should be removed from the area. He’s going to get fragged if he isn’t.

Can anyone explain to me why everybody posting here that’s in favour of shooting unarmed prisoners of war are basing all their arguments on events that they seem to have invented in their own heads? What Pluto, Comet and Minidoh have stated their opinions over isn’t how it happened. Read Damien’s post and you’ll at least have an idea of the timeline of events.

If this was a 19 year-old grunt from Trailertown, West Virginia that was filmed being executed and broadcast on Al Jazeera you’d be calling the perpetrators “scum”. So get real and face facts. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Conveniently you left out the last paragraph of Amnesty’s statement:

Insurgents are also reported to have violated rules of international humanitarian law: “Commanders and fighters of armed groups in Falluja also have an obligation to respect fundamental rules of international law. Acts such as booby trapping dead bodies are also war crimes,” Amnesty International said.

Their October 29th statement specifically mentioned Margaret Hassan, amongst others.

Iraq: Amnesty International appeals to armed groups for the safety and release of all hostages

Amnesty International is gravely concerned at the threats made by armed groups in Iraq to kill hostages. The organization condemns the use of hostages as bargaining chips in Iraq and urges armed groups to respect minimum standards of international humanitarian law, justice and humanity in their actions. The taking and killing of hostages is prohibited under principles of international law. Amnesty International calls on armed groups to comply with these principles in all circumstances.

‘Twould seem to me that, quite contrary to your assertion, Flood is basing his opinion on an eyewitness report and film/audio footage. If you can’t stomach that, then that’s your problem.

The US pool reporter, who broke to the world the killing of a wounded, unarmed Iraqi prisoner by a marine, further revealed that more prisoners were shot dead though they did not appear threatening in any way.
NBC correspondent Kevin Sites was quoted by the Associated Press Wednesday, November 17, as saying that US Marines killed three more unarmed and wounded Iraqi prisoners in a Fallujah mosque Saturday, November 12.

He added the wounded had been left in the mosque for others to pick up and move to the rear for treatment. No reason was given why that had not happened.
The shooting in the Fallujah mosque became public Tuesday, November 16, with the airing of the footage taken Saturday by Sites.

In his report, Sites said the man who was killed didn’t appear to be armed or threatening in any way, with no weapons visible in the mosque.

Sites said he saw the marine raise his rifle and fire point blank at the head of a man, who was slumped against a wall in a mosque.

US networks and television channels in other countries have widely shown Sites’ footage, taken Saturday, but halted it in the second before the shot was fired.

The marine has been suspended from duty and, IMHO will be charged with murder sometime in the future.

What else do you need to know?

As for remarks such as “one less of them”, I would suggest that the complete opposite was true. Think about it from an “Arab” persepctive and not a “white western” one like Dis obviously is.

Steve

But The War Against Terrorism (pun 2, :dev2: ) definately is a War on Drugs (and that’s number 3 😀 )

Nice one, Art :p

When did TW@T become TWoT actually?!? I guess someone must have realised the gaffe.

To my mind the worst US blue-on-blue was the shooting down of the two Black Hawks over Iraq.

From 10th November, 2004:

A-10 from Whiteman drops training munition in field

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE — An A-10 fighter jet from the 442nd Fighter Wing here accidentally dropped a small training munition Monday in Kansas.

No one was injured, and no property damage was reported, an Air Force spokesman said.

The munition was dropped about nine miles south of Smoky Hill Tower, just outside the Smoky Hill range facility near Salina, Kan., said 1st Lt. Charles E. Gulick, deputy chief of public affairs for the 509th Bomb Wing.

The accident sparked a grass fire. The aircraft safely returned to WAFB, where it was being inspected to find the cause of the accident.

The aircraft was on a training mission to the Smoky Hill range.

The dropped munition, a BDU-33, is a roughly 20-pound training aid that emits a smoke charge to gauge the accuracy of practice bombing missions.

A board of officers will investigate the incident, according to Lt. Gulick.

Almost a regular incident in the past few weeks…..

Steve