Op BANNER, Counter Insurgency ends

riksavage

Banned Member
Quote: Next week, on 31 July, Operation BANNER will come to an end, the three Services (Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy) having delivered continuous support to the police and civil authorities in Northern Ireland for 38years. It will have been the longest continuous deployment of UK Armed Forces in their history.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/D...sToEndMilitaryOperationsInNorthernIreland.htm

About time too! Troops can now be released to ease the burden on rotations through Iraq and Afghanistan.

Op Banner has to be the longest running counter insurgency war in recent memory. A close second would, if we include both France and the US’s involvement, be the Vietnam war. Any other contending operations out there?
 

merocaine

New Member
Perhaps the Algerian islamic insurgency, thats at the 16 year mark and counting.

The Banner Operation is interesting, its objective was to reduce the amount of violence so that a polictical solution could be given time to develop.
In this it was a success in the end.

It also showed the dangers inherent in combating insurgencies, suspension of civil liberties( a shoot to kill policy, internment without trial) police tampering of evidence in an effort to get convictions, colusion of the army and police with death squads.

Luckly this happened in a modern democracy, even though goverment internal workings in Britian can be the most opaque of european democracies (due to the powers of the offical secrects act), people were able to challange and cast light on the excesses of security forces.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Perhaps the Algerian islamic insurgency, thats at the 16 year mark and counting.
The Moroccan deployment against SPLA/ALPS (Polisario) might be an even better contender. 31 years, and running. Active war for the first 15 years, UN-monitored Cease-fire respected since 1991 with both sides staying deployed.
 

harryriedl

Active Member
Verified Defense Pro
how about cyprus their have been UN troops depoyed their for at least 20yrs and the britsh were their during WW2
 
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