UK paratroopers blending in to Baghdad wearing US uniforms

Telegraph:

British paratroopers secretly operating in support of the SAS in Iraq are using American uniforms, weapons and vehicles as part of their cover, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

Although John Reid, the Defence Secretary, only announced this week that the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) had become operational, a company of more than 100 paratroopers has been working for six months in Baghdad. They have reportedly become so successful that American special forces have called on their help.

The SFSG was formed mainly because it was found that small groups of highly trained SAS troopers did not have enough firepower to take on large groups of Iraqi and Afghan terrorists. The unit has already seen a substantial amount of action in Baghdad.

Whenever the SAS goes on raids to apprehend terrorists in highly dangerous areas of Baghdad, the Paras are used to provide perimeter security.

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"But they don't have their hair cuts 'high and tight', don't strut around like Americans and are certainly not trying to speak with American accents. They are loving it with all the American kit, and you can't keep them out of the PX shop [US military duty-free shops]."

The SFSG is mainly based on the 500 men of the 1 Bn The Parachute Regiment supplemented by a company of about 100 Royal Marines and a similar number of men from the RAF Regiment.

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Close crop hair and military bearing must not be dear our UK allies. It reminds me of Barry P. Nunn's London Homesick Blues where he describes the reaction to his cowboy boots, "And them limey eyes, they were eyeing a prize, some people call manly foot wear." There is just no accounting for some peoples taste.