Evil Bush!

Originally Posted by Mongoose

GROUND FARCE 1 Nov 23 2003


Queen's fury as Bush goons wreck garden

Exclusive By Terry O'Hanlon


THE Queen is furious with President George W. Bush after his state visit caused thousands of pounds of damage to her gardens at Buckingham Palace.

Royal officials are now in touch with the Queen's insurers and Prime Minister Tony Blair to find out who will pick up the massive repair bill. Palace staff said they had never seen the Queen so angry as when she saw how her perfectly-mantained lawns had been churned up after being turned into helipads with three giant H landing markings for the Bush visit.

The rotors of the President's Marine Force One helicopter and two support Black Hawks damaged trees and shrubs that had survived since Queen Victoria's reign.

And Bush's army of clod-hopping security service men trampled more precious and exotic plants.

The Queen's own flock of flamingoes, which security staff insisted should be moved in case they flew into the helicopter rotors, are thought to be so traumatised after being taken to a "place of safety" that they might never return home.

The historic fabric of the Palace was also damaged as high-tech links were fitted for the US leader and his entourage during his three-day stay with the Queen.

The Palace's head gardener, Mark Lane, was reported to be in tears when he saw the scale of the damage.

"The Queen has every right to feel insulted at the way she has been treated by Bush," said a Palace insider.

"The repairs will cost tens of thousands of pounds but the damage to historic and rare plants will be immense. They are still taking an inventory.

"The lawns are used for royal garden parties and are beautifully kept. But 30,000 visitors did not do as much damage as the Americans did in three days.

"Their security people and support staff tramped all over the place and left an absolute mess. It is particularly sad because the Queen Mother loved to wander in the garden just as the Queen and Prince Charles do now.

"Some of the roses, flowers and shrubs damaged are thought to be rare varieties named after members of the Royal Family and planted by the Queen Mother and Queen.

"Other Royals had their own favourite parts of the garden as children and some of those areas have been damaged."

The Queen's insurers have told her she is covered for statues, garden furniture and plants she personally owns, but the bill for repairing damage to the lawns and the structure of the Palace will probably have to be picked up by the Government.

The Americans made alterations to accommodate specialised equipment. The mass of gadgetry meant the Royals couldn't get a decent TV picture during the visit.

Originally Posted by Mike

Like reuters is going to report that.

I looked at the reuters website & found this instead:

U.S. Troops Try to Pick Fight in Saddam's Hometown
Thu November 27, 2003 12:46 AM ET

(Page 1 of 2)
By Dean Yates
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Scanning the rooftops of the squat buildings that line the main street of Saddam Hussein's hometown, specialist AJ Hayden hopes for just one thing -- to get shot at.

Like other U.S. combat soldiers in this hotbed of anti-American sentiment north of Baghdad, Hayden and his buddies on patrol on a foggy Wednesday night want Iraqi insurgents to fight them.

"We're always try and stir them up. We drive around and try to get them to shoot at us," said Hayden, 22, a humvee driver in the 1-22 Battalion's Charlie Company and who comes from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Minutes earlier, Hayden's humvee and two others had crept along Tikrit's dimly lit streets and darkened alleys, vehicle lights off, clearly looking for trouble. Mist from heavy rain hung over the few functioning street lights, creating an eerie landscape.

Lieutenant Zach Cole sat up front with Hayden. Sergeant Mark Callihan manned a heavy caliber machine gun mounted on the back of the humvee.

Night vision goggles on, they scrutinized the abandoned or bomb-hit buildings in Tikrit's residential wasteland.

Then intelligence came in about a possible rocket propelled grenade ambush in Tikrit's main street. They rushed to the spot.

"There might be some guys with RPGs and AK-47s, get ready to fire," said Cole, from Noblesville, Indiana.

The information proved wrong, to Hayden's disappointment, but it was enough to tempt Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell, commander of the 1-22 Battalion, to swing by.

Originally Posted by krb102

Trigger happy retards. I hope they get shot, but don't get killed, just paralized for the rest of their lives.