News Review London -(NRL)

x.com/amuse/status/2… The Europeans are terrified of Iran because they are so militarily weak and can't project any meaningful power anymore overseas. They don't want to get involved in safeguarding the Strait of Hormuz because they don't have much left to do it with. All of the NATO navies now are basically coastal fleets with only two of them (France and the UK) having a few nuclear submarines (when they work). None of them can project any meaningful power overseas for a prolonged period of time, and even France is letting its carrier sit in the Eastern Mediterranean sunning itself rather than go anywhere near the Persian Gulf. Which all means that Europe either depends on the US to do its dirty work for it, like ridding the world of the biggest state sponsor of terror there is or count on the kindness of terrorist states for their salvation, hoping that if they appease and pay them enough, they will leave them alone. Weakness has consequences, and you are seeing it play out now with Europe.

Labour are a disaster.

Trump orders two transport planes blown up so Iranians don’t steal and reverse-engineer our technology after a wildly successful rescue mission of two American pilots deep inside Iranian territory. Biden leaves behind $85 billion in military equipment to the Taliban and over 100 military K9s abandoned at Kabul airport during a disastrous withdrawal that killed 13 service members. Take a guess which one Democrats are calling a success.

Three former soldiers will appear at Belfast magistrates court on April 20th. One is charged with a killing that took place in May 1972. He is not accused of acting outside his orders. He is accused of acting within them. The distinction no longer appears to matter. This is the reality behind Labour's Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, a piece of legislation dressed in the language of reconciliation that functions, in practice, as an engine of persecution. The state that sent these men to Northern Ireland, that gave them their orders, that relied on their judgment in circumstances no minister has ever faced, is now the state that funds the machinery pursuing them through the courts half a century later. That is not a technicality. It is the central fact. Taxpayer money flows to the lawyers challenging the actions of soldiers whose actions were sanctioned by the taxpayer. The government calls this justice. General Sir Peter Wall, who commanded the British Army for four years, calls it something without moral backbone. He is right. The operational consequences are already visible. Elite soldiers are leaving the SAS and SBS rather than face the prospect of prosecution decades hence for missions carried out under government orders. The crisis has become sufficiently acute that reservists are being brought into the regular SAS to fill roles vacated by those walking out. Britain's most capable fighting force is being quietly hollowed out by a bill whose architects appear indifferent to the result. Seven former SAS commanders have warned that the legislation is doing the enemy's work, that operational secrets exposed through inquiries give hostile states a narrative of lawless troops. Moscow, Tehran and Beijing do not need to discredit British special forces. Westminster is doing it for them. The asymmetry at the heart of this legislation is not incidental. It is structural. IRA members were released under the Good Friday Agreement. Many destroyed evidence, stayed silent, or received letters guaranteeing they would not be pursued. Soldiers kept records, gave statements, and remained traceable. Decades later, only one group remains available for scrutiny. Not because they are more culpable, but because they are more reachable. The Coagh ambush of June 1991 illustrates the logic perfectly. Three IRA men were stopped by the SAS on their way to murder someone. A coroner ruled the force used was justified. Years later a family challenged that ruling, arguing the soldier should have paused after each shot to consider whether to fire the next one. A judge described that argument as ludicrous and utterly divorced from reality. The challenge continues, funded by legal aid, heard at the Court of Appeal just days ago. No verdict ends the process. The process is the punishment. Keir Starmer has said publicly he is absolutely confident there will be no vexatious prosecutions. Three soldiers will be in a Belfast court in sixteen days. His confidence has not reached them. The government insists its bill provides robust protections for veterans. General Sir Nick Parker, who oversaw the final operations in Northern Ireland, says ministers do not understand the duty of the state to stand by those who serve it. The duty to stand by those who serve is contractual, not sentimental. A soldier who follows orders in a war the state authorised cannot later be offered up as payment for political convenience. What is being constructed here is not a legacy process. It is a permanent legal industry, sustained by public money, targeting the most traceable participants in a conflict the state itself waged. The soldiers kept their records. That is now their liability. A serious country does not behave this way. This one, apparently, does. "Keir Starmer has said publicly he is absolutely confident there will be no vexatious prosecutions. Three soldiers will be in a Belfast court in sixteen days. His confidence has not reached them."

The Left is crying about Trump losing equipment saving an American… Here is a video of the Taliban having a military parade with BILLIONS in US military equipment left behind from Biden’s horrific Afghanistan withdraw. They didn’t care.

Iran rescue successfully accomplished losing 2 transport aircraft but no casualties...

@z649278 @Arrogance_0024 Equipment can be replaced! Also yes the airman's family & the US wouldn't have to put up with the incessant Iranian propaganda of the captured pilot.

@Arrogance_0024 Pilots get shot down/have mechanical problems during a war. The fact that we can conduct a rescue mission like this, denying the enemy the propaganda victory of capturing an American pilot, is what sets us apart. We don’t leave our people behind.

Lose all this to rescue 1 pilot and call it your greatest military success of all time.

The US F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over southwestern Iran on April 3 during the ongoing conflict. Its two crew ejected; one was quickly recovered, but the second evaded Iranian forces for ~24 hours in the mountains near Kohkilouyeh. US special operations forces executed a high-risk combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) op deep inside Iran: air support (including A-10s) suppressed threats, helos inserted under fire, and the airman was extracted alive. Two US transport aircraft later broke down at a remote landing site inside Iran and were deliberately destroyed by SOF to prevent capture—costing millions in equipment but zero American lives. President Trump called it one of the most daring SAR missions in US history: "We got him." No US casualties reported.

@project_omnis @EricLDaugh Equipment can be replaced! Also yes the US & the airman's family now wouldn't have to put up with the incessant Iranian propaganda of the captured pilot paraded about.

@EricLDaugh Nobody will remember the destruction of 3-4 aircraft by tomorrow, but if the pilot had been taken prisoner by Iran, the reputational damage would have been enormous. So the operation was worth carrying out.

🚨 JUST IN: Foreigners are INCAPABLE of understanding why the United States of America would sacrifice millions of dollars in military equipment for one American hero inside Iran That’s OK. They’ll never understand it, we don’t care. God bless America! IT’S ALWAYS WORTH IT 🇺🇸

@pulse_trump @EricLDaugh @TheJudge96 Equipment can be replaced! Also the airman's family & the US wouldn't have to put up with the incessant Iranian propaganda of the captured pilot.

@EricLDaugh @TheJudge96 Millions in equipment vs. One American Life. 📈 The choice was easy. 🛡️⚖️ While Iran offered a $60k bounty, we spent whatever it took to bring our hero home. Drones, fighter jets, and Special Forces just pulled off the "Easter Miracle." God Bless our troops! 🗽👊

Absolutely disgusting from @waitrose and not the first time. They fired @benonwine for social media posts.

@beevans56 @tag4UK @RalphWOlly Whoever takes over from Labour will have years of mess to deal with!

@tag4UK @RalphWOlly The EU and France in particular, do not like us. Starmer gives them our fishing waters for 12 years for nothing. Why? He’s sold us out so he can blame them when he’s destroyed our country!

I've got a very bad feeling that dumping America for France is not going to serve us well. This is a mistake, we're making a very big mistake.

@EricLDaugh x.com/i/status/20405…

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump just confirmed the DEATH of many Iranian leaders in this huge strike FAFO! 🔥 “Many of Iran’s Military Leaders, who have led them poorly and unwisely, are terminated, along with much else, with this massive strike in Tehran! President DONALD J. TRUMP” And he could do even more soon 👀🇺🇸

This is my favourite photo taken by Artemis II so far.

Security tags on a block of cheese. This is where Britain is now. When basic food needs anti theft devices, it’s not just crime, it’s a collapse in deterrence and standards. A serious country doesn’t tolerate this.

5 police watching from back of crowd, doing nothing as this feral mob smash way into Sports Direct on Oxford St

Bexley Council has spent £14,130 on removing our 🇬🇧 and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 flags, which is the most found to have been spent by any council. The average cost to repair a pothole is £72, meaning Bexley could’ve repaired almost 200 potholes instead. Vote Reform. @ReformBexley | @policylaila

Swedish father: "My son has been robbed 3 times. Twice by Somalis, once by Arabs. He's 19 and marked for life. He doesn’t dare to go out on his own anymore. If I had a daughter, I’d follow her with a loaded gun." No one should have to live like this.