LONDON, 22 March 2003 — Britain yesterday mourned eight commandos killed in a helicopter crash in the first stages of the war in Iraq, a day after Prime Minister Tony Blair appealed for national unity as US-led forces pushed into southern Iraq.
In a live television statement from Kuwait, monitored in London, the Royal Marines confirmed that eight of its commandos, plus four US airmen, were killed in the crash of a US helicopter near the border with Iraq.
“None survived the crash. There is no evidence that the helicopter crashed due to enemy fire. Our mission continues,” said spokesman Lt. Col. Ben Curry.
Despite the shock of early morning crash, Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon claimed “significant success” in an allied thrust into the Fao peninsula, as the Iraq war entered its second day.
Blair expressed condolences to the families of eight British and four US servicemen, who died in an overnight helicopter crash in Kuwait to become the first coalition military casualties since the start of the war.
“These were brave men who, in order to make us safer and more secure, knew the risks, faced the risks and had the courage to serve their country and the wider world. We owe them an immense debt of gratitude,” an exhausted-looking Blair said. “(The crash) underlines the dangers facing our forces as they carry out their mission to bring down Saddam Hussein’s regime and disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.”
Blair warned yesterday that the war in Iraq would not end “overnight” as he praised the bravery of the first US and British casualties claimed by the drive to unseat Saddam Hussein.
In his first press conference since war broke out, he also accepted condolences from French President Jacques Chirac, welcoming the fact that “we can all come together in a spirit of sympathy” despite bitter differences over Iraq.
The prime minister cautioned there might not be a quick end to the campaign but added: “Let me repeat, however, that the course of action we are taking is the right one and we must see this mission through to the end.”
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, speaking to BBC radio from a European Union summit that opened Thursday in Brussels, mourned the dead Royal Marines, from the 3 Commando Brigade.
“Those service people who lost their lives, and their loved ones, are obviously uppermost in our minds at the moment,” Straw said.
In a televised address to the nation, aired late Thursday, Blair called for national unity, despite the fact that a substantial portion of public opinion was opposed to war without a fresh UN Security Council resolution.
“Tonight, British servicemen and women are engaged from air, land and sea. Their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction,” said Blair in his somber five-minute speech.
