Protesters and planespotters greet B-52s
By Paul Daley, Herald Correspondent in Fairford, England
March 27 2003
The massive black aircraft lets out a deafening scream as the pilot thrusts
its eight engines into reverse and the huge yellow parachute unfolds behind it.
The crows take to the air and, around RAF Fairford in England's Cotswolds,
children, police and even soldiers cover their ears as the wheels of the
B-52 hit the ground.
On the perimeter fence, a mixed gallery of protesters and planespotters log
the comings and goings of the sinister-looking aircraft, whose giant
sloping wings and distinctive jet trails have symbolised America's air
power since they entered service in 1955. Each B-52 has been refitted to
carry 30,000 kilograms in its hatches and clusters of cruise missiles on
its wings.
Protester Drew Withington, a 38-year-old care worker who has been there for
two weeks, said: "There's not really any pattern to their take-offs and
landings."
He believes the protesters can make a difference, "but we all know that
whenever they take off people die at the other end, and we're staying right
here until they stop bombing Iraq".
Standing alongside are those who engage in that most curiously British
pursuit, planespotting.
They don't protect their ears - their sweaty hands are too busy clutching
the binoculars which show without doubt that the latest bombing sortie over
Iraq has delivered yet another full payload.
For much of the past week, 14 American B-52s have been participating in the
coalition bombing campaign of Iraq with daily and nightly missions.
These B-52s are usually based at Diego Garcia, a tiny island in the Indian
Ocean, but the British Government has given the United States permission to
base them at Fairford during the war.
Their movements are being covered around the clock on some British
satellite television services and were reportedly being monitored by Iraqi
diplomats in Britain until their expulsion earlier this week.
Baghdad residents, and the Iraqi military, need only determine the take-off
time of the B-52s from Fairford to prepare themselves for the terror of the
cruise missile strikes.
It takes a fully-laden B-52 - which has a range of about 10,000 kilometres
- seven hours to be in striking distance of Baghdad, about 3300 kilometres
away, and just six hours to return without its cruise missiles.
The local community remains divided over the presence of the bombers. In
front of some of the homes closest to the runway are signs which read "End
the War" and "No to War".
Other residents seem happy to treat the planes - and the
packed-lunch-and-thermos crowds they are drawing - as a welcome curiosity.
Dozens of police, many carrying cameras, patrol the perimeter of the air
base 24 hours a day, while inside the razor wire a Gurkha regiment is on
hand to deal with intruders.
Last weekend up to 3000 peace activists marched on Fairford and at any time
about 20 are camped outside one of the base's main gates.
"We are staying outside until this war is over. This war is unjust and we
do not agree with it," Mr Withington said.
http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/26/1048653751208.html
