Middle East Build-up

From Iraq to Syria from Diego Garcia to Iran and from Turkey to Israel, a nasty picture is emerging.  One by one, events are taking place that seem destined for an inevitable confrontation in the Middle East.

Since 2003, when no WMD were found in Iraq, there has always been speculation that they'd been sent to Syria.  Now it seems there are satellite photos which support that assertion.

Turkey also seems to be positioning itself with PM Erdogan making all kinds of war-like noises.  Not only is he preparing another flotilla to challenge Israel's  blockade, to be escorted by armed Turkish warships, but he's apparently said he himself might be on board.

The prime minister's office in Ankara is forking out millions of dollars to the IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi), the Istanbul-based terrorist group linked to al Qaeda and Hamas, with orders to purchase 8-10 large ships for a formidable fleet to challenge the Israeli Navy and its enforcement of the 20-mile blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The PM has also

... shored up his intelligence ranks ahead of his planned showdown with Israel, replacing professional directors for the first time in modern Turkish history with civilians, radical Muslims close to him personally.

Erdogan has also built up Turkey's forces in Northern Cyprus but was apparently warned off from accompanying the last Gaza flotilla by Obama and Sarkozy.  Perhaps he sees himself as another  Ataturk, father of his people?  Something's definitely going on with him but there are better, more peaceful ways he can get his name into the history books.

Two footnotes: Turkey still carries out human rights violations against the Kurds and Cameron's Conservatives still want Turkey in the EU.

UPDATE:  With thanks to Ian P-J in the comments, for the latest news:  Iran is also offering to provide military escorts

"Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort  the peace and freedom convoys to Gaza with all their powers and  capabilities," Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's representative inside the  Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr  news agency.

Cross-posted

Middle East Build-up

More Questions than Answers

This is not justification for war, yet also I am no pacifist.

Why did Major Hasan do it????



On 5 November, Major Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people at a military base.

In the US, this event has already become deeply and divisively political.

But why???

Its still not entirely clear what his motives were. Some stress that he was an Islamic religious extremist. Others that he was angered by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and may have been victimised for this faith.

Some broad thoughts:

Militant religious extremism regardsless of the religion and I am not pointing fingers directly at Islam, can find a grievance if it wants one.

If its not Iraq, or Afghanistan, its East Timor, or Chechnya, or Palestine, or the Sudan, or forced marriage, or circumcision, or divorce, or headscarves, or heresy, or apostasy, etc.

But wars can very powerfully energise ideologies.
Clearly, radicals can be motivated even if we are not ‘over there’ en masse.
Yet that doesn’t mean the current wars are irrelevant. It seems highly unlikely that being at war is irrelevant to the momentum and will of people who kill for ideology..

Does that in itself mean that we shouldn’t fight these wars? I have always been uneasy with this line of argument. By definition, being at war does invite hostility on oneself. Australia could have forestalled Al Qaeda’s anger by not supporting East Timorese independence. We in Britain could have prevented the carnage of the Blitz by reaching a diplomatic settlement with Hitler, but that doesn’t mean it should have or that it would have been wise or prudent.

What however we should not do though is fight a war based on lies and mistruths.
And sadly that is an issue we face today.

If armed force is one necessary way to disrupt and weaken the capability of highly seasoned and expert killers who are at large ‘over there’, then it isn’t necessarily wrong to wage war, even if one cost is that it fires up radicals at home.

The question being was Afghanistan really a harbour for terrorism to spread to the West, to our soil.
This we will never actually full know but I feel Pakistan dos have several questions itself that need answered.

The overwhelming majority of attempted terrorist attacks on home soil fail or are prevented. Would it be better not to fight abroad, leaving domestic radicals less angered, but the most hardened terrorists far more free to operate? There are difficult tradeoffs here.

Whatever one thinks about that problem, it still seems clear that expeditionary wars do bring this cost attached, and that this must be factored into our decisionmaking. As a matter of causation, war does often radicalise, and not being at war in these countries would probably have made Major Nidal Malik Hasan less likely to carry out this killing. Not impossible, but less likely.

This isn’t about our intentions. I agree that the US and its allies do want to leave behind a stable, democratic and prosperous society in Iraq and Afghanistan, that this isn’t intended to be some kind of bloody-minded assault on Islam. The reasons for this may well be economic for the West, but a reason non the less.

A glance at the history books shows that the UK and America has very often fought on the side of Muslim populations against their enemies, and a country that was determined to annihilate Islam would not go to the trouble of extensive humanitarian effort, from earthquakes in Pakistan to tsunami relief to billions in aid to Egypt, nor would it take in so many Muslim immigrants, many of whom have made proud lives.

And yet it is easy for radical clerics and propagandists to portray the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as unjust attacks on Islam. There is so much footage to be manipulated, so much unintended killing of civilians, so many images of foreigners patrolling foreign soil. Whether we like it or not, this is a propaganda dream.

Back to Major Hasan......

Does this mean there is a domestic insurgency underway in the United States?

People will disagree on definitions. But one horrific shooting spree does not make an organised, sustained armed uprising. I base this not only on the assumption that concepts like ‘insurgency’ should be delimited to have coherent meaning. Its also on the assumption that the vast majority of Muslims are strongly against blowing people up. So before we rush to the excited conclusion that this is evidence of a domestic revolt, lets beware of characterising a mass of ordinary, unremarkable, human beings in our midst as potential fifth columnists.

The real difficulty with this case is that it has so quickly been wrapped up in the toxic politics of the ‘culture wars’, the ongoing and bitter struggle over the nature of American society, and the origins of violence within and against it. The simple question, ‘why did he/ they do it’ is now so ideologically loaded, that it is hard to tackle in a cold and analytical way.

I dont think we will ever know.
But the propogandists will continue to feed.

Cross posted from my own thoughts.

More Questions than Answers

By Their Words Shall Ye Know Them

The idea of the Government handing out bonuses to public sector workers at a time when private sector workers are facing wage freezes, bonus cuts, shorter working hours etc is bad enough, but for the Government to be handing out bonuses to MOD staff at a time when many brave and selfless British troops are fighting and dying to prop up a corrupt regime in a foreign land we have no business being in is nothing less odious.

For Alan Johnson to come out and say that the pen-pushers in Whitehall deserve these bonuses because they're 'on the front line' is an incredible statement that shows where this Government's priorities lie. For the briefest of nano-seconds I actually felt some pity for Gordon Brown after the Sun's attack on him, but that's gone now.

For God's sake, what on Earth has happened to this country that this Labour government places more worth on civil servants than it does on the soldiers who it sends to war? Only yesterday Peter Mandelson tried to defend Gordon Brown against the Sun's attack by saying the newspaper was portraying the Government as the enemy, not the Taliban. Well this hideous distortion puts Mandelson's weasel-words fairly and squarely into perspective.

We don't need change in this country, we need a f***ing revolution!

By Their Words Shall Ye Know Them

Armed Forces Compensation.....A Scandal

In another example of scandalous government policy it has transpired that a young Marine is fighting to have his compensation increased as a result of injury he received in Afghanistan.

Marine Ben McBean, of 40 Commando Royal Marines, lost an arm and a leg in a landmine explosion while on routine patrol in Helmand Province in February last year.

He also suffered multiple shrapnel wounds and burns that have scarred his body.

The Ministry of Defence had offered the 22-year-old compensation for only eight of his injuries - and for six of those he was awarded the minimum tariff.

He was initially awarded £161,500, but this was raised to £281,150 after a public outcry.

Now lets put this into perspective shall we.

£281,151.00 for that level of injury.
And that after the public got involved.
6 of the injuries he received got him MINIMUM payout..........MINIMUM.
Legal experts believe a civilian court would have awarded him more than £1m if he suffered the same injuries.

Recent civil cases brought against the MoD have resulted in much bigger payouts including £2m for an Iraqi teenager paralysed by a British bullet and £484,000 for an RAF typist who suffered repetitive strain injury. Nearly twice what Ben received........TWICE.

Marine McBean's lawyer is expected to argue that the MoD only looked at his injuries individually and did not take into account the disabling affect of the sum total, nor the potential for deterioration over time.

The Royal British Legion is representing Marine McBean at his appeal at a tribunal at Plymouth Magistrates' Court.

It said there is a need for MoD payouts to be "interpreted in a spirit of gratitude and generosity, not with an anxious eye to the Treasury".

The charity's director general Chris Simpkins said: "It is terribly sad that this brave young Royal Marine should feel dissatisfied with his compensation for injuries incurred in selfless service to his country.

"We're going to do our best for Marine McBean, but we need to be realistic - the appeal tribunal's decision will be limited by the Armed Forces' Compensation Scheme and we believe this scheme is unfair."

Under the MoD's existing compensation scheme, lump sum payments for the most serious injuries are capped at £570,000, although the scheme is being reviewed.

I am stunned by this story...............I can not get my head around his award and the award to the typist.

Brown.......Ainsworth.......how the hell do you actually sleep at night......HOW?


Ben initially came to the fore as he was returned to the UK on the same flight as Prince Harry.

Cross posted from myself

Armed Forces Compensation.....A Scandal

Afghanistan: roll call of British deaths since 2001

Further to GOT's Troops tribute post, here is a roll call of the British service personnel who have died since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001.



2002

APRIL

:: Private Darren George. The Royal Anglian Regiment.

AUGUST

:: Sergeant Robert Busuttil, 30. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Corporal John Gregory, 30. The Royal Logistic Corps.


2004

JANUARY

:: Private Jonathan Kitulagoda, 23, from Plymouth, Devon. The Rifle Volunteers.


2005

OCTOBER

:: Lance Corporal Steven Sherwood, 23, from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. 1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry.


2006

MARCH

:: Corporal Mark Cridge, 25. 7 Signal Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Peter Craddock. 1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment.

JUNE

:: Captain Jim Philippson, 29, from St Albans, Hertfordshire. 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery.

:: Captain David Patten, 38. The Parachute Regiment.

:: Sergeant Paul Bartlett, 35. The Royal Marines.

JULY

:: Corporal Peter Thorpe, 27, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The Royal Signals.

:: Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, 24, from Birmingham. The Intelligence Corps.

:: Private Damien Jackson, 19, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear. 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

AUGUST

:: Captain Alex Eida, 29, from Hooley, Surrey. 7 Parachute Regiment The Royal Horse Artillery .

:: 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Johnson, 24, from Windsor. The Household Cavalry Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Ross Nicholls, 27, from Edinburgh. The Blues and Royals.

:: Private Andrew Cutts, 19, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Private Leigh Reeves, 25, from Leicester. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Lance Corporal Sean Tansey, 26, from Newcastle. The Life Guards.

:: Corporal Bryan Budd, 29, from Ripon, North Yorkshire. 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Jonathan Hetherington, 22, from Salisbury, Wiltshire. 14 Signal Regiment.

SEPTEMBER

:: Ranger Anare Draiva, 27, from Fiji. 1 Royal Irish Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead, 29, from Bearley, Warwickshire. 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment.

:: Flight Lieutenant Steven Johnson, 38, from Collingham, Notts. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Lieutenant Leigh Mitchelmore, 28, from Bournemouth, Hants. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Lieutenant Gareth Nicholas, 40, from Redruth, Cornwall. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Lieutenant Allan Squires, 39, from Clatterbridge, Merseyside. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Lieutenant Steven Swarbrick, 28, from Liverpool. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Sergeant Gary Andrews, 48, from Tankerton, Kent. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Sergeant Stephen Beattie, 42, from Dundee. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Sergeant Gerard Bell, 48, from Ely, Cambs. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Sergeant Adrian Davies, 49, from Amersham, Bucks. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Sergeant Benjamin Knight, 25, from Bridgwater, Somerset. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Sergeant John Langton, 29, from Liverpool. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Sergeant Gary Quilliam, 42, from Manchester. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Lance Corporal Oliver Dicketts, 27, from Wadhurst, East Sussex. 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Joseph Windall, 22, from Hazlemere, Bucks. Royal Marines.

:: Private Craig O'Donnell, 24, from Clydebank, Dunbartonshire. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

:: Corporal Mark Wright, 27, from Edinburgh. 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Luke McCulloch, 21. 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment.

OCTOBER

:: Marine Gary Wright, 22, from Glasgow. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

DECEMBER

:: Marine Jonathan Wigley, 21, from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Richard Watson, 23, from Caterham, Surrey. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Lance Bombardier James Dwyer, 22, from South Africa. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.


2007

JANUARY

:: Marine Thomas Curry, 21, from east London. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Lance Corporal Mathew Ford, 30, from Immingham, Lincolnshire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

FEBRUARY

:: Marine Jonathan Holland, 23, from Chorley, Lancashire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Scott Summers, 23, from Crawley, West Sussex. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

MARCH

:: Lance Bombardier Ross Clark, 25, from South Africa. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Lance Bombardier Liam McLaughlin, 21, from Lancashire. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Marine Benjamin Reddy, 22, from Ascot, Berkshire. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Warrant Officer Class 2 Michael Smith, 39, from Liverpool. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

APRIL

:: Private Chris Gray, 19, from Leicester. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

MAY

:: Guardsman Simon Davison, 22, from Newcastle upon Tyne. 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

:: Lance Corporal George Davey, 23, from Beccles, Suffolk. 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Guardsman Daniel Probyn, 22, from Tipton, West Midlands. 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

:: Corporal Darren Bonner, 31, from Gorleston, Norfolk. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Corporal Mike Gilyeat, 28. Royal Military Police.

JUNE

:: Lance Corporal Paul Sandford, 23, from Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters.

:: Guardsman Neil Downes, 20, from Manchester. 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards.

:: Drummer Thomas Wright, 26, from Ripley, Derbyshire. 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters.

:: Captain Sean Dolan, 40, from the West Midlands. 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters.

JULY

:: Sergeant Dave Wilkinson, 33, from Ashford, Kent. 19 Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Guardsman Daryl Hickey, 27, from Birmingham. 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

:: Lance Corporal Alex Hawkins, 22, from East Dereham, Norfolk. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Guardsman David Atherton, 25, from Manchester. 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

:: Sergeant Barry Keen, 34, from Gateshead. 14 Signals Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Michael Jones, 26 from Newbald, East Yorkshire. Royal Marines.

AUGUST

:: Private Tony Rawson, 27, from Dagenham, Essex. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian.

:: Captain David Hicks, 26, from Wokingham, Berkshire. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment

:: Private Aaron McClure, 19, from Ipswich, Suffolk. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Private Robert Foster, 19, from Harlow, Essex. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Private John Thrumble, 21, from Chelmsford, Essex. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Senior Aircraftman Christopher Bridge, 20, from Sheffield. 51 Squadron RAF Regiment.

SEPTEMBER

:: Private Damian Wright, 23, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Private Ben Ford, 18, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Sergeant Craig Brelsford, 25, from Nottingham. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Private Johan Botha, 25, from Pretoria in South Africa. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Ivano Violino, 29, from Salford. 36 Engineer Regiment.

:: Colour Sergeant Phillip Newman, 36, from Coventry. 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment

:: Private Brian Tunnicliffe, 33, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

OCTOBER

:: Major Alexis Roberts, 32, from Kent. 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

NOVEMBER

:: Lance Corporal Jake Alderton, 22, from Bexley, Kent. 36 Engineer Regiment.

:: Captain John McDermid, 43, from Glasgow. Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

DECEMBER

:: Trooper Jack Sadler, 21, from Exeter, Devon. The Honourable Artillery Company.

:: Sergeant Lee Johnson, 33, from Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland. 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.

2008

JANUARY

:: Corporal Darryl Gardiner, 25, from Salisbury, Wiltshire. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

FEBRUARY

:: Corporal Damian Lawrence, 25, from Whitby, North Yorkshire. 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.

:: Corporal Damian Mulvihill, 32, from Plymouth. 40 Commando Royal Marines.

MARCH

:: Lieutenant John Thornton, 22, from Ferndown, Dorset. 40 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine David Marsh, 23, from Sheffield. 40 Commando Royal Marines.

APRIL

:: Senior Aircraftman Graham Livingstone, 23, from Glasgow. The Royal Air Force Regiment.

:: Senior Aircraftman Gary Thompson, 51, from Nottingham. Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment.

:: Trooper Robert Pearson, 22, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire. The Queen's Royal Lancers.

MAY

:: Trooper Ratu Babakobau, 29, from Fiji. The Household Cavalry Regiment.

:: Soldier James Thompson, 27, from Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.

:: Marine Dale Gostick, 22, from Oxford. 3 Troop Armoured Support Company Royal Marines.

JUNE

:: Private Nathan Cuthbertson, 19, from Sunderland. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Daniel Gamble, 22, from Uckfield, East Sussex. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Charles David Murray, 19, from Carlisle. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal James Bateman, 29, from Colchester, Essex. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Jeff Doherty, 20, from Southam, Warwickshire. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Corporal Sarah Bryant, 26, from Cumbria. The Intelligence Corps.

:: Corporal Sean Robert Reeve, 28. The Royal Signals.

:: Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, 39.

:: Paul Stout, 31.

:: Sergeant Major Michael Williams, 40, from Cardiff. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Joe Whittaker, 20, from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Warrant Officer Dan Shirley, 32, from Leicester. 13 Air Assault Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Lance Corporal James Johnson, 31, from Chatham, Kent. 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

JULY

:: Corporal Jason Barnes, 25, from Exeter, Devon. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

:: Lance Corporal Kenneth Michael Rowe, 24, from Newcastle. Royal Army Veterinary Corps.

:: Sergeant Jonathan Mathews, 35, from Edinburgh. The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

:: Private Peter Cowton, 25, from Basingstoke, Hants. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

AUGUST

:: Signaller Wayne Bland, 21, from Leeds. 16 Signal Regiment.

:: Corporal Barry Dempsey, 29, from Ayrshire. The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.

SEPTEMBER

:: Ranger Justin James Cupples, 29, from County Cavan, Ireland. 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment.

:: Warrant Officer Class 2 Gary O'Donnell, 40, from Edinburgh. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Private Jason Lee Rawstron, 23, from Clayton-Le-Moors, Lancashire. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Nicky Mason, 26, from Aveley, Essex. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

OCTOBER

:: Trooper James Munday, 21, from Birmingham. D Squadron, The Household Cavalry.

NOVEMBER

:: Yubraj Rai, 28, from Khotang district, eastern Nepal. 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

:: Marine Robert McKibben, 32, from Westport in Co Mayo. The UK Landing Force Command Support Group.

:: Marine Neil Dunstan, 32, from Bournemouth. The UK Landing Force Command Support Group.

:: Colour Sergeant Krishnabahadur Dura, 36, from Lamjung district, western Nepal. 2nd Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles.

:: Marine Alexander Lucas, 24, from Edinburgh. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Tony Evans, 20, from Sunderland. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Georgie Sparks, 19, from Epping, Essex. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

DECEMBER

:: Lance Corporal Steven 'Jamie' Fellows, 26, from High Wycombe. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Sergeant John Manuel, 38, from Gateshead. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Corporal Marc Birch, 26, from Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Damian Davies, 27, from Telford. Landing Force Support Party, Commando Logistic Regiment.

:: Lieutenant Aaron Lewis, 26, from Rochford, Essex. 29 Commando Royal Artillery.

:: Rifleman Stuart Nash, 21, from Sydney, Australia. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Corporal Robert Christopher Deering, 33, from Solihull, West Midlands. Commando Logistic Regiment Royal Marines.

:: Lance Corporal Ben Whatley, 20, from Tittleshall, Norfolk. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Corporal Liam Elms, 26, from Wigan. 45 Commando Royal Marines.


2009

JANUARY

:: Serjeant Christopher John Reed, 25, from Plymouth. 6th Battalion The Rifles.

:: Royal Marine Travis Mackin, 22, from Plymouth. UK Landing Force Command Support Group, operating as part of 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Captain Tom Sawyer, 26, from Hertfordshire. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Corporal Danny Winter, 28, from Stockport. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Acting Corporal Richard Robinson, 21, from Saltash, Cornwall. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Corporal Daniel Nield, 31, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

FEBRUARY

:: Marine Darren Smith, 28, from Fleetwood, Lancashire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Lance Corporal Stephen Kingscott, 22, from Plymouth. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Acting Lance Corporal Paul Upton, 31, from Looe, Cornwall. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Corporal Tom Gaden, 24, from Taunton, Somerset. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Jamie Gunn, 21, from Monmouth. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Marine Michael Laski, 21, from Liverpool. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

MARCH

:: Lance Corporal Christopher Harkett, 22, from Pontardawe in Swansea. 2nd Battalion, Royal Welsh Regiment.

:: Corporal Graeme Stiff, 24, from Grimsby. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.

:: Corporal Dean John, 25, from Port Talbot. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.

APRIL

:: Lance Sergeant Tobie Fasfous, 29, from Bridgend, South Wales. 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

MAY

:: Corporal Sean Binnie, 22, born in Dublin. The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

:: Rifleman Adrian Sheldon, 25, from Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottingham. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Sergeant Ben Ross, 34, from Bangor, Wales. 173 Provost Company, 3rd Regiment, Royal Military Police.

:: Corporal Kumar Pun, 31, from the Parbat district of Western Nepal. 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

:: Lieutenant Mark Evison, 26, from Dulwich, south-east London. 1st Battalion The Welsh Guards.

:: Marine Jason Mackie, 21, from Oxfordshire. Royal Marine Armoured Support Group.

:: Fusilier Petero ''Pat'' Suesue, 28, from Fiji. 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: Sapper Jordan Rossi, 22 from West Yorkshire. 25 Field Squadron, 38 Engineer Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Martin Richards, 24, from Betws-y-Coed, North Wales. Armoured Support Group Royal Marines.

:: Lance Corporal Kieron Hill, 20, of Nottingham. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters).

:: Lance Corporal Nigel Moffett, 28, from Belfast. The Light Dragoons.

:: Corporal Stephen Bolger. The Parachute Regiment.

JUNE

:: Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher, 19, from Reading. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Private Robert McLaren, 20, from the Isle of Mull. The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

:: Lieutenant Paul Mervis, 27, from London. 2nd Battalion the Rifles.

:: Major Sean Birchall, 33, from Guildford, Surrey. 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.


JULY

:: Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, 39, from Kirtlington, near Oxford. 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

:: Trooper Joshua Hammond, 18, from Plymouth. 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal David Dennis, 29, from Llanelli, South Wales. The Light Dragoons.

:: Private Robert Laws, 18, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Dane Elson, 22, from Zimbabwe. 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

:: Captain Ben Babington-Browne, 27, from Maidstone, Kent. 22 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers.

:: Trooper Christopher Whiteside, 20, from Blackpool. The Light Dragoons.

:: Rifleman Daniel Hume, 22, from Maidenhead, Berkshire. 4th Battalion The Rifles.

:: Private John Brackpool, 27, from Crawley, West Sussex. Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment attached to 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

:: Corporal Lee Scott, 26, from King's Lynn, Norfolk. The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.

:: Corporal Jonathan Horne, 28, from Walsall, West Midlands. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman William Aldridge, 18, from Bromyard, Herefordshire. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman James Backhouse, 18, from Castleford, Yorkshire. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Joseph Murphy, 18, from Castle Bromwich, West Midlands. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Daniel Simpson, 20, from Croydon, south London. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Aminiasi Toge, 26, from Suva, Fiji. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Corporal Joseph Etchells, 22, from Mossley, Greater Manchester. 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: Captain Daniel Shepherd, 28, from Lincoln. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Guardsman Christopher King, 20, from West Buckland, Devon. 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards.

:: Bombardier Craig Hopson, 24, from Castleford, West Yorkshire. 40th Regiment Royal Artillery (The Lowland Gunners).

:: Warrant Officer Class 2 Sean Upton, 35, from Nottinghamshire. 5th Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Trooper Phillip Lawrence, 22, from Birkenhead. The Light Dragoons.


AUGUST

:: Craftsman Anthony Lombardi, 21, from Scunthorpe. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

:: Corporal Kevin Mulligan, 26. The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Dale Hopkins, 23. The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Kyle Adams, 21. The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Jason Williams, 23, from Worcester. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Captain Mark Hale. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Daniel Wild, 19, from Hartlepool. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Lance Bombardier Matthew Hatton, 23, from Haxby, North Yorkshire. 40th Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: An unnamed British soldier from The 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh Regiment.

:: An unnamed British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: An unnamed British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: An unnamed British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: An unnamed British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.



Tragic

Afghanistan: roll call of British deaths since 2001

Richards Sets The Tone

I don't think General Sir David Richards, who becomes Chief of General Staff on 28th August, has made a promising start:

“I believe that the UK will be committed to Afghanistan in some manner — development, governance, security sector reform — for the next 30 to 40 years. “We need now to focus on the expansion of the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police. Just as in Iraq, it is our route out militarily, but the Afghan people and our opponents need to know that this does not mean our abandoning the region. We made this mistake once. Our opponents are banking on us doing it again, and we must prove them wrong,”

"Of the Taleban, he said: “We can and are outfighting them.”

Maybe I'm being a little unfair but in this self-penned article, it sounds like he's gone native. What's more, a thirty or forty-year commitment, whether in troops, money or expertise, isn't one the British people want but I bet the oil pipeline & mineral exploration companies do.

Click to enlarge

UPDATE: With thanks to one of Sub Rosa's commenters for pointing up this article which shows the American administration are trying to learn from parallels with Vietnam, in particular bogus elections and the standing of President Karzai.

Richards Sets The Tone

On War

One of Cato’s favourite books is ‘The Prince’ by Niccolo Machiavelli. It is one of those books into which one can dip, read a paragraph or two and come away feeling that one has read the whole book. There is always something new to be learned from within its pages.

The Prince and another epistolary, The Art of War by Sun Tzu are of singular relevance in the ongoing venture in Afghanistan.

There are two passages, one from each book, which seem to Cato to have a great bearing on the way in which we conduct warfare in this country.

The first is from ‘The Prince’ Chapter Three: Concerning Mixed Principalities……“therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge”.

The second, from The Art of War, runs thus…..”There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare”.

Now bearing in mind that Sun Tzu was writing in the 6th Century and Machiavelli in the 16th it might be considered that they were both, in today’s parlance, ‘pretty switched on’.

And this is precisely where they differ from our modern day politicos. Cato, would argue that if war is inevitable then it must be both swift and violent for exactly those reasons quoted above. It must be swift because of the cost to this country in monetary terms and it must be violent to put ourselves in such a position that we fear no repercussions.
Why then do our leaders fear to perpetrate such swift violence?

This country has been engaged in Afghanistan for some seven years and there seems no end in sight to the sufferings endured by our servicemen and the ordinary Afghan people. We have spent billions of pounds in pursuing this pointless venture which could have been dealt with in a much more simple manner.

To argue that this country was ever at great risk from Al Quaeda is a non sequitur. There was and indeed is some risk but it could have been negated quite easily by the imposition of extremely rigorous border controls; had the EU allowed us to do so. And there is no such risk from the Taliban.

Furthermore, some years ago, this country interned terrorists in Northern Ireland. Such internment could have been reintroduced even in the face of opposition from the Civil Liberties lobby.

Swift and violent….shock and awe!

On War