First reaction I had was one of surprise, then thinking “Gs, GW’s dropped a real brick on this one!”
Now, though, the paranoia is creeping in and I’m thinking “What do they know that we don’t, to issue such a proclamation right now?”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4673987.stm
Normal procedure for Abnormal situation..thats all
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam
US Servicemen Banned From London
Thousands of American servicemen and women based in Britain have been banned from entering London in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
Members of the US Air Force stationed at two RAF bases in Suffolk were instructed not to go within the M25 until further notice.
Matt Tulis, a spokesman at RAF Mildenhall, said the directive was issued to 10,000 personnel in the aftermath of the bombings and was considered the most effective measure to protect their troops.
“We are are concerned about the safety of our folks and are trying to do what we can to protect them,” he said. “This is the best course of action right now.”
Mr Tulis said the instruction was also issued to give the British authorities and officials the chance to “do their job” in the aftermath of the atrocity.
The instruction involved around 5,000 servicemen based at RAF Mildenhall and a further 5,000 based at RAF Lakenheath.
Staff Sgt Jeff Hamm, at RAF Lakenheath, said: "Because the attacks were so recent there is an uncertainty as to the reasons why and how imminent the threat is right now.
“Obviously it is in the interests of the air force to ensure its personnel are as vigilant and as safe as possible.”
Asked whether he thought the directive may send out a negative message to Britons, he insisted the US military did sympathise with them, particularly having experienced the September 11 terrorist outrage.
“While it’s important for some to carry on business as usual, the interests in keeping the air force out of harm’s way until we have a bit more knowledge about about what has happened is greater than the need to send them back into the city,” he said.
The directive was issued to all active servicemen and women at the two bases but their families were also “highly encouraged” to follow the same guidelines, Mr Tulis said.
There has been talk of last week’s attack being the first of a series based, I think, on the fact that the Madrid bombers had other targets. If anybody really knew, arrests would have been made already. They might have received warnings. It’s worth remembering, though, that just before the Bali bombings the US issued a hightened alert that the Australian Government didn’t pass on. The alert was for Indonesia, not Bali specifically, but Bali is the place in Indonesia most frequented by westerners.
Al Queda doesn’t seem to be a tangible group these days; I myself doubt the extent to which it ever was. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who trained with bin Laden are now scattered around the world, some will have formed cells which have very flat organisational structures and there is no reason to believe that any are in communication with the others. The radical mosques have been infiltrated so I’d assume the terrorists are now one step ahead of the infiltrators.
Whatever, Bush really seems to have dropped the ball here. Those fighting in Iraq are supposed to form an alliance, for heaven’s sake. This undermines the famous Londoner determination. If he knows something, he’d better tell London quickly.
I doubt that the English Govt. is dull enough to not be aware of the reasons for this proclamation. Maybe I’m giving everyone more credit then they deserve. How did Bush drop the ball on this one?
The impression from London news is “hmm, that’s rather odd” and now they’ve moved on to five residential houses that are being searched for bombs today.
Well, GW is the Commander-in-Chief, and it looks like the US military commanders in the UK have acted autonomously and in direct contradiction of the President’s speech:
“In this difficult hour, the people of Great Britain can know the American people stand with you.”
Well, if the order was given on Thursday (understandably) it should have been rescinded on Friday. It’s now the following Tuesday, and the order is still in place.
What signal does this give to US citizens in London? Imagine you’re Redwolf, on a school trip, in London, and you learn this morning that US military commanders have placed an exclusion zone around London, ordering thousands of US servicemen and women (and their families) to stay out of the city “for safety’s sake”… how would that make you feel?
It’s hardly a show of ‘solidarity.’ Of course, the criticism here can only be levelled at the military commanders, and of course that means, ultimately, the Commander-in-Chief. I’m sure that US servicemen and women, their families, and all US citizens in the UK are probably as puzzled and confused (and perhaps a little dischuffed?) by this order as any Brits might be.
You make it sound as if having fewer American soldiers in town is a bad thing… 
Clever.
GW must’ve heard us. According to the Beeb, at 12 o’clock the order was rescinded. 
Yeah, once he knew C&F were on the case the order had to go. Now we’ve just got to convince him to start playing the whistle.
It did just kind of vaguely give the general impression that it was OK for UK citizens (plus US and other countries’ visitors) to risk their lives, but US Military personnel and their families were too prescious. Kinda.
But I’m sure that was not the intention.
More at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4673987.stm
Along with a cross-section of the feelings the order generated this morning.
I rather suspect that there are some red faces in the military’s “middle management” around about now, and some new career opportunities about to open up in the Arctic circle.
I think all this falls into the "closing the the barn door after the horse has escaped catagory..
Horrible events, instantly shared around the world, inspire well-meaning officials to have the need to do something. Hopefully silly responses will be quickly reversed. Others become routine. My favorite is the shoe bomber. He is real and he did have explosives in his shoe and he did try to light them. Now we all take our shoes off and have them xrayed before we can board a plane. I don’t mind, but I suspect it does nothing to make us safer.
I should add that on two occassions in the last year I’d forgotten and left a standard sized pocket knife in my carry-on bag and only realized it when I arrived at my destination (Washingotn DC both times)
I see what you mean. I must have had a reading comprehension problem this morning.
I suspect that it was just someone in the US Embassy in London who spotted a PR disaster and chewed a piece of airforce ear.
And of course a mere Lieutenant was pushed out to deliver the about-face.
One of the books that I read that most influenced my thoughts on matters military was “The psychology of military incompetence”. 
Man, this thread shows how eager many are to take a dark, cynical view of what was probably an attempt at preventing any spontaneous violence, either by Muslim fanatics or US-haters. If there is an iota of chance that the US forces would cause any violence, why send them there? I can just hear the recriminations were something like that to happen.
I find it especially absurd to drag Red’s kids into the argument. The idea that somehow the US SOLDIER’S presence is helpful in LONDON is just over the top. We are not talking about Mogadishu, fergawdsake.
Of course, it’s not that safe in SFO either, because as you all know, it’s the police’s fault that African children go hungry:
http://www.kron.com/global/story.asp?s=3573694&ClientType=Printable
I don’t think the ban was aimed solely at people wearing uniforms - I heard a woman being interviewed on the radio this morning, who was the wife of a US forces guy. Families were included in the ban. I can’t recall ever seeing a US uniform being worn in London. Remeber, this was presented as a ban, not a recommendation.
It’s hard to get the feel and flavour of the thing, Weeks, from your side of the pond, online articles don’t really carry the message fully. Maybe you can hear some BBC Radio 4 interviews from their website.
The whole thing came across as “On the one hand the British Public are saying ‘We won’t let terrorists change our way of life, or the way we act’ and on the other hand this ban says ‘We of the US Military Forces are changing what we would normally do, in the wake of the recent bombings, because we are scared our people might get killed’.”
Yeah, I’m not there, tis true.
Best wishes to you all who are.
Yeah. Maybe someone just wanted to wait until the initial crisis was over before our boys went back to screwing British mums for chocolate and nylons.
Wait . . . . that was a different generation.
Never Mind.
I’m certainly no apologist for the current administration and I’m normally on the other side of thing politically than Weeks is, but I’m with him all the way on this one.
Martin’s right, the U.S. folks don’t go running around in uniform, so their presence wouldn’t provoke more trouble, but still, there was no forsaking our English brethren here.
Also, regarding the U.S. civilians, the U.S. government can’t ban them from running around London if they so choose (yeah, I know, we don’t let them go to Cuba). I’m pretty certain though that the Dept. of State advisories were highly encouraging our folks not to go there, though.
Your right Weeks- I’m sure that the presence of Red’s kids in London is really bolstering the Brits spirits and sending shivers to those responsible for the bombing.
All the Best, Tom