Sorted Issue 36 Sep_Oct 13_Layout 1 05/08/2013 15:25 Page 8
MOD photography used under the Open Government Licence v1.0
ACTION that when it turned up we meant business. We joined up with UN and Kosovar Police patrols and the mix proved very effective. The Warrior just gave the edge to push local police authority and we were able to ensure freedom of movement for both Albanians and Serbs.’ Later, when serving in Iraq, Andy helped establish the Reconciliation Initiative in Coalition HQ, Baghdad. “Sadr city was a very deprived area of Baghdad. It covered about 20% of Baghdad and housed almost 80% of the population; a breeding ground for terrorists. Establishing control of Sadr city was vital to bringing Iraqi‐led law and order back to the streets of Baghdad. “Here my faith had a huge impact on my work. At the heart of this initiative was establishing dialogue with the enemy. The Americans had lost a lot of guys fighting for Bagdad and many felt like they were betraying their lost friends by talking to the insurgents.”
“I shared an example from the Bible of what happens when you choose to end dialogue and it seemed to give my US colleagues freedom to enter into talks openly, rather than through gritted teeth.” After lengthy talks, coalition troops entered the most feared area of Bagdad without a single shot fired. “I mean that is a miracle,” Andy says. “We put a lot of prayer into it, and He didn’t let us down.”
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Colonel Smith has spent a great deal of his military career pursuing peace, including five tours in Northern Ireland, two in Kosovo and two in Iraq. He has supported UK efforts in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Ghana, and has just returned from a year of peace and reconciliation work in Jerusalem, demonstrating that, above all, the ‘warrior within’ fights for peace. n Flight Lieutenant Jonny ‘JP’ Palmer has flown the Hercules C‐130 J for the Royal Air Force since 2010. He lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and three children near RAF Brize Norton. He is a member of the Armed Forces Christian Union and is passionate about making Jesus known in the military.
AHMAD AL‐RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images
“THE BRITS HAD A REPUTATION FOR THEIR NO-NONSENSE APPROACH; THEY KNEW HOW WE USED THE WARRIOR AND THAT WHEN IT TURNED UP WE MEANT BUSINESS.”