Monday, March 2, 2009

Col Iron & the Charge of the Knights

Iron...is an unusual officer. He joined the army in 1975 and graduated from staff college near the top of his year. Two episodes in his career were decisive to his conduct in Basra. As a young captain in the 1980s, he served for two years in Oman. He describes this as the “key experience” since he learned how to speak Arabic and to “respect Arabic culture and the Arab way.” Then in the early years of this decade he was sent to Sierra Leone as an expert military witness for the country’s special court. He spent months in the jungle with the Revolutionary United Front and other ex-guerrillas, learning how insurgency movements think and operate.

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=10635

Slightly flawed story - why was Col. Iron, fascinating as he is, pivotal to the success of Operation Charge of the Knights? But a very interesting article nonetheless.

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