Sir Tommy
This is CNN:The presentation of an honorary knighthood to the top U.S. military commander behind the invasion of Iraq, retired Gen. Tommy Franks, has provoked a row in Britain.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon will present Franks with the honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Tuesday in a private ceremony, a spokesman for Britain's Ministry of Defence told CNN.
The honorary KBE (Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) is equivalent in ranks to British knights like Sir Richard Branson, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.
But Franks will not be able to call himself Sir Tommy because he is not a British citizen.
Alice Mahon, a leading anti-war rebel in Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party, called the award "the ultimate in bad taste."
"This is not a time to be honoring American military figures when we are being confronted almost daily with the most sickening images of abuse of Iraqis," she told the Daily Mirror newspaper.
The award is not without precedent, as an honorary KBE was given to the two U.S. military architects of the Gulf War in 1990, then-Gen. Colin Powell and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf.
Other U.S. citizens to receive an honorary KBE include Bob Hope, Sidney Poitier, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Ed Murrow, John Paul Getty II and the BBC's Alistair Cooke -- the "British" broadcaster who renounced his UK citizenship during World War II.
More recently the award -- recommended by Britain's foreign secretary and conferred by Queen Elizabeth II -- was collected by film director Stephen Spielberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Matt's Chat
A well deserved award for a most deserving man. Bravo, General!Mark's Remarks
And, Ms. Radical member of Parliament, what do you think about the rape of mothers in Africa, some as young as 13, by UN peacekeepers? What did you think about the rape and torture under Saddam? Ma'am, General Franks ended the rape and torture rooms of Saddam, and to paint the events at Abu Ghraib in the same light as what is being done by UN peacekeepers and what was done by Saddam is sickening in its stupidity. You obviously have no sense of context or even sanity if you rate Abu Gharib and Saddam's tortures on the same level. You are a disgrace to your office, for standing in the way of honoring a noble man who exemplifies courage and leadership. As you British say, p*$$ off!
