Is a book about an eight man group, men of 22 SAS who were in Iraq during Desert Storm to look for missile launchers or attack them or....... ? Truth or fiction. It depends who you believe. I go with Michael Asher ex 2 PARA, ex 23 SAS Regiment who speaks Arabic and went over the ground. He wrote The Real Bravo Two Zero while McNab [ a pseudonym ] wrote Bravo Two Zero. Perhaps the key problem for this operation was lack of knowledge, a feel for the realities of the desert and its inhabitants.
The Real Bravo Two Zero [ RB20 ]
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This review is from: The Real Bravo Two Zero: The Truth Behind Bravo Two Zero (Paperback)
Having served in the Army, I'm suspicious of accounts like this, even one by a Para and SAS veteran like Michael Asher. But to be honest, I was already suspicious of the previous accounts by B20 patrol members McNabb and Ryan. So I bought this book, and overall, I'm glad I did, though saddened by some of what Asher seems to have found......This book now leaves it hard to avoid the conclusion that the patrol members' books did a lot more "sexing up" of their already-dramatic stories, for publication. Main weakness of this book, I think, is that Asher sets out with an agenda - to prove that patrol member Sgt Phillips didn't merit Ryan's unfavourable portrayal - even tho it's a noble agenda, starting with one can cloud judgment....
But the point is, that the Arab/Bedouin accounts just ring more true. The more so, because they don't in any way denigrate the performance of the patrol on the ground, or your admiration for their utter tenacity. In fact, at one point, his Bedouin hosts seriously slag off Asher's Iraqi army minder when he puts down the patrol, the Arabs saying they were brave men and good soldiers. Amen to that.
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A fair review from a man who knows something about these things.
RB20 page 12 - UK Special Forces went to law in New Zealand to prevent Mike Coburn publishing Soldier Five to set right claims in The One that Got Away. The CO of 22 SAS [ Peter de la Billière? No ] said in court that McNab lied.
RB20 page 30 - In 1987 Iran made the fatal mistake of attacking Kuwaiti oil tankers, annoying the Americans who cut off weapon supplies. This is why Iran had to sue for peace in 1988, ending the Iran versus Iraq war.
RB20 page 33 - Schwarzkopf saw American special forces bungling in Vietnam and Grenada.
RB20 page 44 - In 1942 the Long Range Desert Group did OPs on an MSR [ main supply route ] in North Africa which authenticated Enigma decrypts at Bletchley. 21 SAS and 23 SAS did similar OPs during the Cold War. It was their main peace time task.
RB20 page 53 - 60% of the SAS are ex PARA
RB20 page 55 - The patrol radio, the PRC 319 uses burst transmission and automatic(?) encryption. They use OTP and vocabularies, [ a Slidex variant perhaps ] which are slow; see RB20 on the point. See Crypto Museum or 319 Review which both say it cost $21,000. Horrifying but entirely likely, another major rip off.
The One that Got Away
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This is a great tale of evasion and escape in a hostile environment when the real God of War( Murphy, not Mars or Sun Tzu! ) catches up to this SAS team. It tells the rest of the "Bravo Two Zero" story and fills in the details after the unit inadvertently split-up. Ryan's trek out of Iraq to Syria in the worst weather, over difficult terrain and with enemies all around, is a true epic and a testament to the courage and fortitude of the SAS, and to Chris Ryan in particular.
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The comments come from a philosopher. The real God of War is Murphy, the man who said: If it can go wrong it will go wrong. The author is on the make.
Bravo Two Zero
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Their mission: To take out the scuds. Eight went out. Five came back. Their story had been closed in secrecy. Until now. They were British Special Forces, trained to be the best. In January 1991 a squad of eight men went behind the Iraqi lines on a top secret mission. It was called Bravo Two Zero. On command was Sergeant Andy McNab. "They are the true unsung heroes of the war." -- Lt. Col. Steven Turner, American F-15E commander. Dropped into "scud alley" carrying 210-pound packs, McNab and his men found themselves surrounded by Saddam's army. Their radios didn't work. The weather turned cold enough to freeze diesel fuel. And they had been spotted. Their only chance at survival was to fight their way to the Syrian border seventy-five miles to the northwest and swim the Euphrates river to freedom. Eight set out. Five came back. "I'll tell you who destroyed the scuds -- it was the British SAS. They were fabulous." -- John Major, British Prime Minister. This is their story. Filled with no-holds-barred detail about McNab's capture and excruciating torture, it tells of men tested beyond the limits of human endurance... and of the war you didn't see on CNN. Dirty, deadly, and fought outside the rules.
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You can fool some of the people all of the time or all of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time, especially if they have served for real.Tesco pays £4.5m for McNab’s e-book software
The supermarket giant has extended its reach into digital businesses with the acquisition of Mobcast, founded by Andy McNab