Sydney Titans Fanatic
11-09-12, 11:32 AM
Prince Harry's the number one target for the Taliban as he begins a four-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
A spokesman told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location it wanted the royal either kidnapped or killed.
Last time he was deployed it was a secret. This time, it was announced it beforehand.
Right now, the prince is in Helmand, one of the most dangerous places on the planet. He is joining the mission amid a huge upsurge of so-called "insider attacks", when Afghan soldiers turn their weapons on their coalition partners.
"The real worry is that somebody tries to infiltrate into the base, somebody who is appearing as a civilian worker on the base," says Stephen Ganyard, retired US marine commander.
For the next four months, Prince Harry - or Captain Wales as they call him - is giving up his swanky lifestyle for the front seat of an Apache attack helicopter, so lethal it can fire more than 600 rounds a minute.
"This is not just a mission where its just a royal being pushed off to the side in a non-dangerous sort of mission," says Ganyard. "He is right in the thick of it. He is doing the most important job that any pilot in the coalition can do in Afghanistan."
But that mission comes with serious risk. ABC News obtained footage of a helicopter crash last week. In the past month alone, four coalition helicopters have crashed, killing fifteen foreign troops. The Taliban claims to have shot them all down.
"Any time you spend a lot of time with bad guys shooting at you there's always a danger of being brought down," says Ganyard.
But the prince is no stranger to life on the edge. His recent late night romp in Vegas may have even made him "The People's Prince", spawning a rash of lookalike photos by fellow soldiers showing their support - and nearly everything else
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Taliban-sets-its-sights-on-Prince-Harry/tabid/417/articleID/268803/Default.aspx#ixzz267XhTkMf
A spokesman told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location it wanted the royal either kidnapped or killed.
Last time he was deployed it was a secret. This time, it was announced it beforehand.
Right now, the prince is in Helmand, one of the most dangerous places on the planet. He is joining the mission amid a huge upsurge of so-called "insider attacks", when Afghan soldiers turn their weapons on their coalition partners.
"The real worry is that somebody tries to infiltrate into the base, somebody who is appearing as a civilian worker on the base," says Stephen Ganyard, retired US marine commander.
For the next four months, Prince Harry - or Captain Wales as they call him - is giving up his swanky lifestyle for the front seat of an Apache attack helicopter, so lethal it can fire more than 600 rounds a minute.
"This is not just a mission where its just a royal being pushed off to the side in a non-dangerous sort of mission," says Ganyard. "He is right in the thick of it. He is doing the most important job that any pilot in the coalition can do in Afghanistan."
But that mission comes with serious risk. ABC News obtained footage of a helicopter crash last week. In the past month alone, four coalition helicopters have crashed, killing fifteen foreign troops. The Taliban claims to have shot them all down.
"Any time you spend a lot of time with bad guys shooting at you there's always a danger of being brought down," says Ganyard.
But the prince is no stranger to life on the edge. His recent late night romp in Vegas may have even made him "The People's Prince", spawning a rash of lookalike photos by fellow soldiers showing their support - and nearly everything else
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Taliban-sets-its-sights-on-Prince-Harry/tabid/417/articleID/268803/Default.aspx#ixzz267XhTkMf