MIDDLE EAST

  • Caught in the middle as al-Amarah explodes

    Caught in the middle as al-Amarah explodes0

    Gethin Chamberlain, in al-Amarah, Iraq, for The Scotsman, 19 April 2004 WE were almost out of al-Amarah when we heard the first gunshots. A couple at first, as we crossed a bridge out of the town, enough to focus the attention of two soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who had their heads and

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  • The soldiers who fear they are fighting a forgotten war

    The soldiers who fear they are fighting a forgotten war0

    Gethin Chamberlain in Az Zubayr, Iraq, for The Scotsman, 20 April 2004 IN THE darkness by the side of the road, Robert Grieve’s Land Rover rolled over and over, bullets ripping through it and out the other side. The rocket-propelled grenade had hit the tyre and bounced off, but the force of the blast had

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  • Black Watch commander: how the MoD let us down in Iraq

    Black Watch commander: how the MoD let us down in Iraq0

    • NEWS
    • January 22, 2004

    EXCLUSIVE Gethin Chamberlain in Fallingbostel, Germany, for The Scotsman, 22 January 2004 BLACK Watch troops were sent into battle in Iraq without the equipment they would have needed to survive had Saddam Hussein decided to use chemical or biological weapons against them. Yesterday, Lieutenant Colonel James Cowan, the commanding officer of the Black Watch, one of

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  • Firepower and fear rule on the road to Basra

    Firepower and fear rule on the road to Basra0

    Iraq’s south, once safe, is now fraught with peril for troops Gethin Chamberlain, in Basra, for The Scotsman, 20 April 2004. “ALI Baba,” said the man standing at the checkpoint, drawing his finger across his throat and gesturing to the road ahead. “Ali Baba,” he said, his arms stretched out towards the soldiers imploringly. In Iraq,

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  • Blair’s case for taking us to war was built on sand – and now it’s shifting

    Blair’s case for taking us to war was built on sand – and now it’s shifting0

    Is the prime minister the last person to believe the intelligence on WMDs? Gethin Chamberlain for The Scotsman, 31 January 2004 FIRST there were weapons of mass destruction that could be launched within 45 minutes, posing a threat to mainland Europe. But they became battlefield WMDs which could threaten only troops attacking Iraq. In time,

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  • Colonel dons a tam-o’-shanter and leads his troops on a friendly foray into town

    Colonel dons a tam-o’-shanter and leads his troops on a friendly foray into town0

    The Black Watch’s commanding officer shuns armour to find out the views of Iraqis on the streets of Zubayr. Gethin Chamberlain, in Iraq, for The Daily Telegraph, 2 April 2003. TAM-o’-shanter perched atop his head, pistol secured in its holster on his belt, steel-rimmed glasses pushed back on to the bridge of his nose, Lt Col

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  • 2,200 casualties: the true cost of the war in Iraq

    2,200 casualties: the true cost of the war in Iraq0

    Gethin Chamberlain for The Scotsman,  24 April 2004 THE true scale of British casualties in Iraq is revealed today after the Ministry of Defence confirmed that more than 2,200 injured British military personnel have been flown home from the Gulf since the start of the campaign. With the security situation in Iraq deteriorating, The Scotsman has

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  • His name was Ahmed Hameed. A wrong turn in Baghdad cost him his life.

    His name was Ahmed Hameed. A wrong turn in Baghdad cost him his life.0

    Gethin Chamberlain, in Baghdad, for The Scotsman, 17 September 2004.  HIS name was Ahmed Hameed and he was 36 years old. He had taken the wrong turning up to the checkpoint on the July 14 Bridge which spans the Tigris on the south-eastern edge of what used to be known in Baghdad as the Green

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  • They poured out of their Warriors and let fly with grenades, guns, everything

    They poured out of their Warriors and let fly with grenades, guns, everything0

    Gethin Chamberlain of The Scotsman with the Black Watch, Iraq, 26 March 2003 JUST after dawn yesterday the Warrior crashed through the wall of the house tucked away down a side road in the Iraqi town of Al Zubayr, west of Basra. The first inkling those sleeping inside had that anything was wrong was when it

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  • Iraq and ruin

    Iraq and ruin0

    Gethin Chamberlain, for The Scotsman, 18 March 2006 IT IS 9 APRIL, 2003. Muhannad Hussam is at home in Baghdad, watching television as the 20ft statue of Saddam in Ferdoos Square is hauled down by ordinary Iraqis. About 3,000 miles away in Aberdeen, Walter and Diane Douglas are also watching TV, hoping that this event signals the

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