We Will Remember Them

Poppy Field by Steve Thoms

At this time of this morning I will be standing at my desk, to attention and in silence. There will this year be nobody else around but at this time of year every year I will always be somewhere where I can pay respects to the men and women who down the years have given their lives and their health to defend our nation in times of war.

We will remember them.

As I posted earlier in the month here are some famous words by which we think of them. I've added a few more languages Irish, Polish and French.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Tug fás ní bheidh d'aois, mar atá fágtha againn go bhfuil fás d'aois;

Ní bheidh feidhm ag aois bonn dóibh, ná na blianta Cáineann.

Ag dul síos na gréine agus ar maidin

Leanfaimid orainn cuimhneamh orthu.

Są one nie rosną stare,jak my, które są pozostawione zestarzeje;

Wiek nie zmęczony nimi, ani w latach potępienia.

Na zejście słońce, a rano

Będziemy o nich pamiętać.

Ils ne vieilliront pas comme nous, qui nous laisse vieillir;

Âge ne se lassera pas eux, ni le poids des années.

Au coucher du soleil et le matin

Nous nous souviendrons d'eux.

Not for Wool, or Fish, but for Oil, Latin America Stands Together

The last time the Union of the Provinces of the River Plate actually governed the Islas Malvinas was from 1820-1833, but they only installed a Governor for the Islands in 1829. Twenty eight years ago there was an long diplomatic negotiation which had been going on before on the 2 April the Argentine army invaded.

Therefore the fact that Hugo Chávez the Venuzuelan President and other Latin American leaders have back Argentina and are heading to the UN is a throw back to the 70s and early 80s. Chávez and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner the Argentine President wouldn't have been a main concern to the UK Citizens on the Falklands but when Brazil and Chile are also backing calls for a return of sovereignty. The fact is that in 1820 the Islands only became of interest to some men of the Union of the Provinces due to a French wreck on the shores. Even those early claimants were aware of a conflicting claim of Britain to the islands, whose garrison had departed in 1776 because of the American War of Independence.

Of course we long expected that more wars over oil and then war could erupt. Most people thought these would centre on the Middle East or Central Asia. Now it appears that the South Atlantic has come into play. One of the lest fought over units on a Risk board but an area of many incursions from Argentina over recent history.

Almost 30 years ago it was just a case of Argentina against the UK, although some other nations provided logistical support. This time it appears that the whole continent has reared it heads. Mind you last time it was mainly about sheep and the self determination of the people who shepherded those sheep, this time there is the inclusion of oil into the equation.

In 1983 the people of the Falklands were granted full British citizenship, though in 1989 there was a UN resolution passed for the two nations to discuss the sovereignty of the islands, though despite diplomatic relations being restored such talks have never taken place.

More Gallant Than We Recognise

There could be a lot more recognition of bravery of our troops in Afghanistan than is currently the case. But currently the chests of our brave men and women in the field are being kept emptier than their commanding officers would like by over 50%.

The issue is a Whitehall quota system that restricts the number of medals to a certain number per tour based on the number of troops in each brigade deployed. Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan says:

"The way the quota is used at the moment is very strict, the rules are very inflexible. Commanding officers are lucky to get a 50% strike rate for their medal recommendations due to the conservative nature of senior officers who sit in London and decide these things."

For example in every six months:

• Only two or three Distinguished Service Orders for outstanding combat leadership are now usually awarded to officers in each brigade.
• No more than 19 Military Crosses for bravery in each period.
• Just two Distinguished Flying Crosses for bravery in the air have been awarded.
• The only Victoria Cross awarded in Afghanistan was awarded posthumously to Para Corporal Bryan Budd who was killed in August 2006.

The same ratio was allowed for troops in the first Gulf War but the actual conflict lasted a matter of days. In Afghanistan there is year round bravery since 2003 a period that is longer than either World War, with all the troops deployed constantly on full alert.

One senior officer back in London defended the process saying:

"The fear is we will end up like the Americans and people will get a medal for putting their boots on in the morning.

"We study recommendations very carefully and always err on the side of caution."

But Colonel Kemp counters that by saying:

"Medals are good for morale. They encourage people to go that extra mile. The army is too precious.

"The opinions of regimental commanding officers and brigade commanders on the front line should carry more importance than at the moment."

So even our awards for gallantry are tied up in red tape over the individual merit of each action. What may have earned a medal in another conflict is not maybe not enough if that quota has to be factored in.

In, Out, In, Out The Togo Football Team

Despite the news yesterday that the players wanted to stay on to compete in honour of the driver, coach and press officer who died. It appears that the Togolese Government are still insisting that the team fly home.

Team coach Hubert Velud said:

"For the moment, it looks like we're leaving. But I can only speak in the conditional, because for the last three days everything changes every other hour."

Captain Emmanuel Adebayor tells that he and the team are now accepting the authority of their Government.

"This Friday at 1430, we were all dead on that bus. We sent our last messages to our families. We called our family to say our last words. I told myself: 'If you're still there on the ground in Angola, why not (play)?'

"The authorities decided we should return (home), so we will return."

He also tells of speaking to the teams of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, two of their group opponents, about the incident when his team mates and he were trapped under gunfire for half an hour on Friday.

"They expressed their support by saying they were ready to leave the competition if we did," he said.

"(But) at the end of the day, we realised that they were ready to continue. It is still a continent where a World Cup will take place in South Africa.

"If we speak of the dead, the competition should have been cancelled. But the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has decided otherwise.

"We're going back and we wish good luck to those who will remain, especially to Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Ghana.

"What I have told their leaders is that they may be attacked at any time in Cabinda. I hope they will be cautious."

Togo Government Withdraws From Africa Cup of Nations - Team Play on Updated

The armed attack on the Togo team coach yesterday, in which the driver, a press officer and assistant coach were killed and 2 players injured has led to their withdrawal from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Both the Angolan government and tournament officials spent the day persuading the players to stay for their group matches. But clearly the half hour under fire on their way the players are not prepared to play as their first choice keeper said:

"None of the team is ready to play, we're all devastated, everyone wants to go and see their family.

"We came here to take part in a festival of African football, but it's as if we've gone to war."

Team captain Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor said:

"It's a football game, it's one of the biggest tournaments in Africa and a lot of people would love to be in our position but I don't think anybody would be prepared to give their life.

"If I am alive I can still play football tomorrow and in one year maybe even another Cup of Nations but I am not ready to pass away now."

The Angolan Prime Minister had met with tournament officials and he office issued a statement which said:

"The prime minister considers the incident in Cabinda as an isolated act and repeated that the security of Togo's team and the other squads is guaranteed."

However, the problem is that although the civil war in Angola ended eight years ago the northern area of Cabinda still has an active guerrilla group. The oil rich region is where the Group B games featuring Togo Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Burkino Faso where to take place. The group Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda have taken responsibility for the attack, so the players comments that they have gone to war is sadly close to the truth.

FIFA are obviously concerned about the incident with happened 15 minutes after the Togolese coach entered Angola from Congo. They have issued the following statement:

"Fifa and its president, Sepp Blatter, are deeply moved by today's incidents which affected Togo's national team, to whom they express their utmost sympathy," said a statement.

"Fifa is in touch with the African Football Confederation (CAF) and its president, Issa Hayatou, from which it expects a full report on the situation."

However, despite the Togolese manager calling for the entire tournament being called off it looks like it will be carrying on as scheduled tomorrow.

Meanwhile World Cup boss Danny Jordann is allaying fears that the June show piece in South Africa will also be affected. He says:

"It's nothing to do with it and I think everybody understands it has nothing to do with South Africa," he said.

"When there was a bomb in London no-one said we should not have 2012 in London so we cannot have double standards."

He is quite right of course the domestic incidents on one country of the World have nothing to do with another most of the time. An association by proximity is totally wrong.

UPDATED Whilst the Togolese government had withdrawn the team, the team themselves have decided that they want to stay in Angola to honour the three members of their party who died. Nantes striker Thomas Dossevi said:

"We are all heartbroken, it is no longer a party, but we want to show our national colours, our values and that we are men.

"It was a decision taken nearly unanimously by the team which met during the night after having been reassured by the Angolan authorities."

Adding to this comment Grenoble midfielder Alaixys Romao added:

"We have just had a meeting of the whole delegation and we will be on the pitch on Monday to face Ghana."

Originally posted 9 January at 19:51

Tories to Scrap Limited Tuition Fees

While it must be applauded that the Conservatives are going to pay college fees plus £5,000 towards living costs of our fallen heroes it is only small fry in terms of higher education commitments.

This would lift (at an average of 2.4 children) 1411 children for the 558 fallen soldiers killed in service since 1990 out of tuition fees. But the Liberal Democrats remain committed to scrapping tuition fees for all first Higher Education degree qualifications. Further than that the Lib Dems will offer full funding for off-the-job training costs for apprenticeships, improve access to HE for under represented groups, and reform the bursary scheme more fairly across universities.

So while the war heroes memorial bursary that the Tories are going set up is good, it only goes so far as far as fairness goes. The Lib Dems will lift all students out of the first need of this scheme. The second part is a worthy cause for the sons and daughters of our noble dead, something that is due consideration.

The Enemy Within

One common thread links the shooting of 5 British servicemen in Afghanistan and 12 13* Americans at Fort Hood in Texans all seventeen were killed by an enemy within. However, there the similarity ends.

In Afghanistan Guardsman Jimmy Major, Warrant Officer Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Cpl Steven Boote and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith were shot by a rogue policeman they were training. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the incident in what was clearly an act of terrorism against the occupying forces. The American incident was carried out by US Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan who had been fighting his impending deployment to Iraq.

While Major Hasan is of middle eastern ethnicity that shouldn't make his case a reason for anti-Muslim sentiment. He appears to have been struggling possibly from pre-traumatic stress disorder. The man had treated those who have returned from the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan and didn't seem to want to face the psychological conditions that those that had returned had gone through.

With the shootings in Fort Hood taking place at a personnel and medical centre where troops go for last minute checks before deployment it could well be that this was a last ditch attempt for one mant to avoid his own deployment. Sadly there are twelve thirteen* fatal victims of his selfish act and a further 31 30 injured.

The most sad thing about the involvement of Major Hasan is that if even those that are trained to deal and help others cope with the mental pressures of living on the front line of these conflicts, how are others meant to cope. We now recognise post-traumatic stress disorder, and though it is not clear if Major Hasan had partaken on a previous tour of duty from reading the reports his mental state may indicate an anticipatory disorder. But I've already mentioned one Star Trek episode in the title there is need to use another 'Who watches the watchers?'.

Who was looking out for the psychiatric well being of Major Hasan? Who was making sure he was in a fit mental state to be shipped out? Had there been signs of a shift in his mental state that could have forewarned this? Or as someone who is trained to spot such signs had he masked any signs?

The strains of these conflicts are really telling in our troops, not just in the body count or visible injuries that they carry back. Many of the young men we are sending off to fight will no doubt come back with mental conditions, many of which may not surface for years to come. This may not be the last such incident of this kind, that is something that is a worry.

*Just as I pressed publish the official death toll was increased.

N...N...N...Nineteen

I've just recieved the following and thought I'd share it with you all.

The average British soldier is 19 years old. He is a short haired, well built lad who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears and just old enough to buy a round of drinks but old enough to die for his country – and for you.

He’s not particularly keen on hard work but he’d rather be grafting in Afghanistan than unemployed in the UK. He recently left comprehensive school where he was probably an average student, played some form of sport, drove a ten year old rust bucket, and knew a girl that either broke up with him when he left, or swore to be waiting when he returns home. He moves easily to rock and roll or hip-hop or to the rattle of a 7.62mm machine gun.

He is about a stone lighter than when he left home because he is working or fighting from dawn to dusk and well beyond. He has trouble spelling, so letter writing is a pain for him, but he can strip a rifle in 25 seconds and reassemble it in the dark. He can recite every detail of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either effectively if he has to. He digs trenches and latrines without the aid of machines and can apply first aid like a professional paramedic. He can march until he is told to stop, or stay dead still until he is told to move.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation but he is not without a rebellious spirit or a sense of personal dignity. He is confidently self-sufficient. He has two sets of uniform with him: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his water bottle full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never forgets to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes and fix his own hurts. If you are thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food is your food. He'll even share his life-saving ammunition with you in the heat of a firefight if you run low.


He has learned to use his hands like weapons and regards his weapon as an extension of his own hands. He can save your life or he can take it, because that is his job - it's what a soldier does. He often works twice as long and hard as a civilian, draw half the pay and have nowhere to spend it, and can still find black ironic humour in it all. There's an old saying in the British Army: 'If you can't take a joke, you shouldn't have joined!'

He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and he is unashamed to show it or admit it. He feels every bugle note of the 'Last Post' or 'Sunset' vibrate through his body while standing rigidly to attention. He's not afraid to 'Bollock' anyone who shows disrespect when the Regimental Colours are on display or the National Anthem is played; yet in an odd twist, he would defend anyone's right to be an individual. Just as with generations of young people before him, he is paying the price for our freedom. Clean shaven and baby faced he may be, but be prepared to defend yourself if you treat him like a kid.

He is the latest in a long thin line of British Fighting Men that have kept this country free for hundreds of years. He asks for nothing from us except our respect, friendship and understanding. We may not like what he does, but sometimes he doesn't like it either - he just has it to do.. Remember him always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

And now we even have brave young women putting themselves in harm's way, doing their part in this tradition of going to war when our nation's politicians call on us to do so.

Support those who are not having their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers or lovers coming back, and those that have been missing loved ones for years. Please give through either of the clicks below.

Let MSP's Remember Them and How Fortunate They Are

This Blog doesn't often do requests though Subrosa did raise this point with me earlier today. She herself has blogged 0n the subject of the Scottish Parliament's Corporate Board (SPCB) allowing MSPs to claim the cost of Poppy Wreaths that they lay.

I suspect from the history of Subrosa's posts I assume that she like me comes from some line of military involvement. The last occasion I laid a wreath personally was on behalf our our Boy's Brigade Company on the same morning as the Enniskillen bombing.

There are two points of view to take on this, on the one hand is Jeff's take on this that the MSPs are laying the wreath on behalf of the population of all their constituents. On the other is the one that Subrosa herself takes that on the salary that MSPs earn there is more than enough money to pay for the basic poppy wreath at £16 for however many ceremonies they are capable to attend throughout the year. (Not all remembrance services occur on Remembrance Sunday some memorials relate to certain conflicts, battles etc and have ceremonies to match). The war memorial back home for example also marks the Battle of the Somme, and in the hills above Bathgate is the Korean War Memorial as just two examples.

So is essence what Jeff is saying that if a MP is asked to lay a wreath at a School, War Memorial, Hospital or whatever other public location he or she may be called upon to lay a wreath it is a civic duty. Looking at the uniformity with which our BBC newsreaders an presenters receive their pristine poppy's provided by the wardrobe department before going on, a bit like a Blue Peter badge. It doesn't show a personal commitment or affiliation to the Earl Haig Fund, or the Scottish Poppy Appeal.

Having gone wreath in hand, stood in silence, marched forward placed the wreath on behalf of fallen Old Boys of the Company, I would tend to side with Subrosa in this situation. The reason being is the many widows, former soldiers, or other family members who also lay their own wreath. Many of these are paid for out of a widow or army pension where £16 goes a lot further than from an MSPs salary.

My personal view is that if elected I would continue to attend remembrance services either at the war memorials or in the churches, but the costs for the wreaths I laid would come from my own pocket. My constituents who wish to honour the fallen will have already given what they can afford to wear their own poppy, I'm not not going to take any more of their money even if it is just a fraction of a penny from each to pay for my act of remembrance, even if I am a civic representative. For years part of my subs as a boy and officer went towards that wreath laid for the fallen of 4th Bangor Company.

I was actually quite proud that on meeting Ruaraidh Dobson and Kieran Leach on Haymarket's platform on Saturday one of the first things they asked was 'is it the time to wear a poppy?' it prompted me to donate to my third of the year (I always have a workday one and one for the acts of remembrance fresh and unsullied) since I was wearing the wrong coat. The next generation after me is sadly as aware of war as the one above me was. We shall remember them as those that come after us seem to be going to do with their own.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Laurence Binyon from For the Fallen

Israel Unhappy as UK Correctly Fails to Oppose Resolution

The UN is on the point of getting tough on Israel over the Gaza offensive against Hamas earlier in the year, but Israel are threatening to pull out of the Middle East peace plan as a result.

The UN Human Rights Council are on the point of endorsing a report which condemns Israel of war crimes over its Palestinian neighbours in Gaza in January. The vote on the Goldstone Report is to take place in Geneva today, condemns both Hamas and Israel but the latter most for targeting civilians in the conflict in which 1000 Palestinians died compared to 13 Israelis. It calls for both sides to hold its own investigations within six months or face referral to the International Criminal Court.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, is not happy either with the UKs decision to abstain on the vote or with the possibility of their soldiers facing charges of war crimes. He has made it clear that in his opinion no Israeli soldier or official will be prosecuted for war crimes over the offensive Speaking the Knesset he said:

"Israel will not take risks for peace if it can't defend itself."

The wording of the resolution had still to be resolved last night but barring the inclusion of Israel's right to self defence the UK and other EU countries are poised to abstain.

Netanyahu has been on the phone to Gordon Brown urging his UK opposite number to oppose the motion. In the "robust exchange" Netanyahu pleaded for the UK to oppose the motion or else it would derail the peace process. But Brown has returned back that if the authorities in Israel carry out their own investigation as laid out they can avoid censure.

As I blogged at the time action needs to be taken in this situation, Robert Frost may well have written "good walls make good neighbours" the problem with the Israeli walls is that they are bad walls and encroaching into their neighbours territory stealthily trying to grab back what was once theirs. I'm glad that the UN appear to be finally ding something about it and are recognising that Israel aren't entirely blameless, while they do have a right to self-defence they should not be the aggressor, act over proportionately, target civilians and crush/choke the life out of their opponent beyond the point of submission. It really is time for Netanyahu to face up to the facts that in January his commanders overstepped the mark.

Yigal Palmor, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that adoption of the resolution would wreck the peace process: "It will make it impossible for us to take any risks for the sake of peace. What sort of peace process will there be?"

To be honest I think Israel really needs to reach forward a hand of friendship and settlement with its Arab neighbours to maintain a long term peace rather than reach for the sabre at every opportunity. The best first line of self-defence is not to have to in the first place. So to answer Mr Palmor I'd think there would be a far more constructive and sustainable peace.

Young Soldier - In Memorium

Reading today that eighteen year old Rifleman James Backhouse was about to return home when he was one of the five soldiers killed in Helmand Province on Friday cast my mind off to Wilfred Owen. Owen the First World War soldier and poet was killed in the Battle of Sambre on 4 November 1918, a week later that war ended on Armistice Day.

Of course Rifleman Backhouse and other nine in the last fortnight who have lost their lives may not have been reaching the end of their days of war. At eighteen if he’d survived he would have faced several more tours in whichever war zone the 2nd Battalion of the Rifles found themselves. However, he was close to some much needed reprieve of the ravages of war. Some time with his loved ones in the normality of life.

You may know that Owen was sent away from the front with shell shock but Scottish, and indeed other, readers may not know that his recuperation took place in Edinburgh at Craiglockhart War Hospital. Here it was that a chance meeting with Siegfried Sassoon which shaped some of his later work. However, after recovery of course he was back at the front from where news of his death only reached his mother as the Armistice was being declared.

However, as the unfortunate soldiers in Antrim learnt, earlier in the year, life in a DMZ isn’t always a more secure place than facing the daily dangers of the job you have trained for. For them it was the eve of departure to the war zone for Backhouse almost the eve of returning. War is no respecter of anyone’s own personal timetable. Many on the D-Day beaches fell to the first angry fire they had ever encountered.

The Telegraph today also published excerpts of the all too short journal of Lieutenant Mark Evison who was killed four short weeks after his arrival in Helmand. In it he say:

'It is disgraceful to send a platoon into a very dangerous area with two weeks' water and food and one team medics pack. Injuries will be sustained which I will not be able to treat and deaths could occur which could have been stopped. We are walking on a tightrope and from what it seems here are likely to fall unless drastic measures are undertaken.'

So in honour of Rifleman Backhouse and Lieutenant Evision and all the soldiers, young and old, who have lost their lives here is Wilfred’s poem The Young Soldier as a reminder of the absurdity at times of war.

It is not death

Without hereafter

To one in dearth

Of life and its laughter,

Nor the sweet murder

Dealt slow and even

Unto the martyr

Smiling at heaven:

It is the smile

Faint as a (waning) myth,

Faint, and exceeding small

On a boy's murdered mouth.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly of the Torture Memorandae

Barack Obama has released the memos that shows the US Justice Department and the CIA arguing around the legality of torture. Good.

Barack Obama is going to spare every official complicit in preparing this position and carrying it through. Bad.

Of course the fact that one of his first executive acts was to end these practises was praised the fact that nobody is going to be held to account for them is a poor show. Yes if somebody was merely following orders at the low end there is a possible case for leniency but what about those who were issuing those orders.

The fact is that once you let torture be used by your own forces what happens when you send your own into combat situations? What happens should they be captured? Somebody somewhere in the USA has not only realised that certain International Treaties do no apply to them as they are not signatories but also that they can circumvent the laws of human decency for the excuse of expediency.

It's a shame that Obama is not going to take this further merely exposing the wart is not enough in the eyes of most of the world on this issue.

Paddy Ashdown: The World Will Never be the Same

Yesterday evening Paddy Ashdown gave a lecture at Edinburgh University entitled The World will never be the Same.


There was poetry, a song, accents of Northern Ireland and Somerset, an Afghan war revisited, Bosnia and Herzagovina, China, Obama, India and Africa all visited. Plus the introduction of Ashdowns 3rd Law*. There was also a look at the cover (the inside is embargoed) of his new Autobiography A Fortunate Life which two lucky people will be winning a signed copy of. However, after retiring from the campus to a Indian meal with the man himself, some of the students, Fred Mackintosh and Simon Clarke, then moving on for a few drinks after Paddy had left I didn't get around to writing this up until now.

The Scotsman reporter who was present gave a brief overview. This is my recollections with the aid of my copious notes of what was said.

On the idle hill of summer,
Sleepy with the flow of streams,
Far I hear the steady drummer
Drumming like a noise in dreams.
Far and near and low and louder
On the roads of earth go by,
Dear to friends and food for powder,
Soldiers marching, all to die.

From On the Idle Hillside A.E. Houseman 1896

Paddy started by telling us that after periods of stability we often tend to end up in periods of conflict and blood. (Well actually he started with some light hearted banter about introductions but the crux of the matter was as stated). There is a shift of power from the West to the East that is coming. There are things in the economic instability in the West that mean a that the West cannot achieve a solution by themselves.


There is the beginning of a sea change of economic power. China will be going through the turmoil from being a Liberal Economy to being a liberal society. China has gone through such changes in the past and to ignore the possibility that they are capable of doing so again in disingenuous. India and others in Asia will also rise up as economic powers as the West lies helpless from its own excesses.


Some will say that the American economy has gone past its zenith and is in decline. But those that show resistance to change are those that have past their zenith. America over the past 40 years has shown that that they are still open to change but Europe is faltering on this score. For the next 10-15 years Paddy said he sees the USA as still being the most powerful nation in the world, but after then what?


We're moving away from the premise of having a single Super Power to having different centres growing, more in line with Europe’s 19th Century Concert of Power. When there five great powers who between them, mainly because of the UK, kept the peace more or less in tact. The European existence as a prime mover on the world stage is also something that is liable to be diluted as the new powers come to the fore. You only have to look at how the Obama regime started out with its foreign policy. Paddy said they looked across the Atlantic [sic] to Japan and Hillary went to China these are relationships that are seen as important to the USA now. Of Europe of course Britain is still the pre-eminent but what of the rest. They are losing their significance as Obama and America are looking at how best to effect the change that the world can believe in.

Of those emerging there is an assertive Russia, a rising China and a prospering India. Of these Russia's strength is also their biggest weakness. Paddy said that their criminality and acceptance of criminality was potentially their undoing. They also don't have the population to man their domain, let alone defend it and are heading back to be like the 19th century feudal Russia.

Now as never before power is shifting not just laterally but also vertically. Out of the institutions. Unto the global space. But the global space is a lawless space we do not have the means in place to control what happens in that global space. Lawless spaces always help the powerful for a bit. Our multinationals have taken advantage of this but eventually the lawless space becomes more helpful to the destroyers. International terrorism, international criminality these are things that use the prosperous for their own devices then retreat back into that lawless space where they cannot be touched. As Paddy pointed out 89% of the funds that went to fund the 9/11 attacks had passed through the institutions that had offices housed in the Twin Towers.

We are heading to another time of change like in the middle of the 19th Century. The Liberals in Britain foresaw that and brought in the 1832 Reform Act to allow for that power shift in the UK. Unlike our European neighbours, this ended up resulting in the 1848 revolutions. Governance of that global space is the challenge of this age. We need to establish institutions to bring law to that global space. If we fail the consequences are going to be like nothing never seen before.

However, it may not happen through the UN institutions. Good though it has been in maintaining some semblance of peace over the last 50-60 years is it not good at taking executive and swift action. Treaty based organisations may be the way forward. Organisations like the World Trade Organisation working for trade, Kyoto working for the climate, the expansion to the G8 to the G20, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. All of these are treaty based organisations that have and are seeking to make a change.

(Personal comment here)

Next week as the G20 meets in London the anti-globalisation protestors are going to argue that the big businesses move into the global space, which Paddy has talked about, has been a bad thing. They are ignoring that fact that many of our issues are no longer confined to national boundaries and therefore there is a need to work across those arbitrarily draw lines in the sand. But more of that is a bit back to Paddy.

(Go on Paddy)

Not just is our power globalised but so are our problems too. In Africa Oxfam say 16m people currently live in uninhabitable space. They rely on aid from those of us who have to allow them to carry on existing in those spaces. However, with the credit crunch how much of that aid will be cut leading to starvation. If global warming continues the amount of habitable space in the region shrinks many more will come to rely on those limited sources of aid. Worldwide there is estimated to be 50m people living in uninhabitable space.

We are living in a completely interdependent world. Lehman Brothers collapses and the world economy spirals out of control as a result. We are more connected now than at any time in history both internally and externally.

The world now operates as a network. The structures we have created thus far are vertical but the reality is that our connectivity in networked and interlinked. This is why those structures we currently have in place have been unable to cope.

Twenty or thirty years ago when you were talking about defence you knew who to turn to the MoD. But now the defence minister has to be interconnected. He has to talk to the Dept. of Health about the threat of a pandemic being released, the Dept. of Agriculture about the security of our food, Industry about our companies and businesses being infiltrated, the Home Office because of our connection to so many through immigration. The capacity of our country to make us secure depends on everything being able to connect.

Paddy asked us if we knew of Lord Roberts of Kandahar. There were nothing but blank stares. Roberts was the man who in 1879, some 30 years after the massacre in Kabul, led the British force in to Afghanistan. It was one of the few successful campaigns by anyone into the Afghan lands. But in those 30 years the preparation had been laid, mainly through working to bring together the tribal forces in the Helmand provinces.

Accounts of his exploits don’t mention the importance of the poppy fields. They were there but they weren’t the issue. No was there mention the need to suppress of mad Jihadists living in caves in the southern hill country, though there was also one of those the Wali of Swat. Nor was there concern of collateral damage, though there was plenty of that two, it wouldn’t get reported back home for 6 weeks.

The important lesson from that parallel to today in its not what you do that matters but what you do with others. This Paddy said was Ashdown’s third law.

The age of unilateralism is over, George W. Bush tried it and we have seen where that left him. We have a need to reach out for new allies and some of those will be uncomfortable, but we need to work with them, make compromises and work for the common good. One of those we will need to work with is Iran. The key to the solution in Afghanistan is not our western allies but moderate Muslims. 25% of Afghanistan is of the Shia sect so we will need to get moderates from Iran the epicentre of Shi-ites. The phrase that we use that we are protecting our values ignores the facts that Christianity, Judaism and Islam share many of the same values.

"No man is an island, entire of itself; everyman is a piece of the continent, a
part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea,Europe is the less, as well
as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own
were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and
therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for
thee."

John Dunne from Devotions upon Emergent Occasions 1624

Paddy then moved on to talk a little about what he is currently doing in Northern Ireland. He’s working with Sinn Fein and the DUP and others in trying to resolve the contentious issue of parades. The thing about what is happening in Northern Ireland that is different from the Israeli/Palestinian issue and the fundamentalist Muslims and the West is that both parties have realised they have a shared destiny. There is something there they need to work at. Israel need to realise that and progress will not be made until they remove the occupation settlements from Palestinian territory which make it impossible for a Palestinian state to operate even if other things weren’t in its way. Cross all the main roads and access points is a mean of subverting that ability to reach for a shared destiny.

He finished he talk near the heart of Midlothian quoting the words of another great Liberal spoken not too far away in Dalkeith during his 1879 Midlothian Campaign.

"Remember that the sanctity of life in the hill villages of Afghanistan
among the winter snows, are as sacred in the eye of Almighty God as are your
own. Remember that He who has united you together as human beings in the same flesh and blood, has bound you by the law of mutual love, that that mutual love
is not limited by the shores of this island."

William Ewart Gladstone

*Nobody in questions afterwards dared ask about one and two.

US Use of Bully Boy Tactics

It's the sort of threat used by paedophilic abusers, "Don't tell or we leave you exposed," threatening worse than is already experienced. But it is just the sort of thing that the USA has apparently be doing to the UK.

That would be the country that somehow has stood unwaveringly with the US on its war on terror every step of the way. Yet apparently if the UK reveals the alleged torture that Binyam Mohammed underwent at Guantánamo Bay the US have threatened to take away their intelligence sharing which would leave the UK heavily exposed. So like a victim clinging to its abuser because somehow there is a need the UK Government is keeping mum (mom) about the US's abuses because it can't afford to live without what it gets from the relationship.

If this is true what exactly has the US got to hide? Of course the use of torture on Prisoners of War is outlawed in the Geneva Convention not that the USA seems to pay much heed to that at times. If it is true why is the UK protecting the US? Is there some sense of self preservation?

Maybe David Miliband's statement that, "We never condone or authorise the use of torture," isn't all that close to the truth. If that is the case we need to know just what the UK did know, and when they knew it? Did we know before, during or only find out after? Who knew anything and what was their reaction?

The fact that the US are trying to suppress makes it all the more important that this does get an airing. Even if that means a trip and stay in the Netherlands for a few high profile people.

A Lib Dem Looking at the Israeli Point of View

I notice that Iain Dale Tory vers 1.0 is whizzing around the Lib Dem Blogosphere saying to any of us with an opinion on the subject of Gaza/Israel that we're not seeing it from a Israeli perspective. Well being up for that sort of challenge here goes.

The Israeli state since its inception has bee back against the wall, or should that be the Mediterranean, with Lebanon to the North, Syria to the North East and Egypt to the South West, plus the threats of Iraq and Iran as well they are on a constant state of military readiness. To use playground parlance (which I will carry on in) they are the odd kid out, who has joined midway through the year, and indeed as many of Israeli's citizens have returned the the land of Abraham from exile, they are the outsider tyring to fit in.

So in a sense they have been bullied for year. Whether it be Syria raking through their stash of conkers in the Golan Heights or the constant bickering with Egypt over just how many Top Trump cards need to be placed and on which bits of the Sinai Peninsula.

But when the new kid came along he was automatically teacher's pet. Teacher in infant school was English and saw the youngster mature and gain its own independence. Then it moved on to the big school where the American headmaster realised that the bullying hadn't ceased and did all it could to help Israel fend off the bullies, and even engaged both sides in discussions in his office or while on camping trips.

However, behind all this support for the bullied one kid in the class did get somewhat overlooked. He used to sit in the seat that Israel was put in on his first day in class. And no matter how much he tried to get the teachers attention he was told to accept his new place and shut up. There where the times that that other kid was put out of the room, and left on the naughty step, teacher despaired of ever trying to get the two kids to get along.

However, as they matured they did attempt to get together to sort things out. The head was greatly relieved and did all he could to help both parties. Of course many of Israel's cousins lived near the head so he may have shown a little partiality that way. An agreement was made where Israel and Palestine would share the same desk peacefully. Palestine was given one corner and a chunk in the middle. But the bulk of the desk was given to Israel. Things started out fine under the new arrangement. But Israel started to but up his pencil case, books and other items to mark just where Palestine part of the desk should be. For some projects Israel needed Palestine to help out on his part of the desk, but Israel controlled when and where these trips took place.

Palestine wasn't too happy. But knew that Israel had many thing he could hurt Palestine with ruler, compass point catapults, paper darts, but Israel didn't want Israel to have any of these. Palestine snuck some of these things of the desk of Egypt who sat next door. But Israel didn't like this and took action. Israel started to inflict a lot of pain on Palestine for a couple of weeks and only suffered a few scratched himself in the process. Finally teacher saw what was going on and called all the other staff together. They agreed to ask Israel to stop it, so they could sit down and talk about it. They knew that Palestine wasn't entirely blameless and that would be something they would talk about but Israel really was going too far. Taken parts of Palestine's space, destroying bits of his work and not letting he do anything in peace.

It was like the kid who once was getting bullied had found a tinier kid in the playground to pick upon. They both wanted to sit at the same desk and they were going to have to sort out how to do that peacefully. It would require give and take on both sides. But Israel should really go the the teachers first and not always take things into its own hands.

Gaza: UN Calls Halt While America Procrastinates

The UN Security Council has passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

The resolution is also looking for unimpeded humanitarian access and intense diplomatic efforts for peace. The UN Aid agency Unwra has already had to withdraw its aid to the Palestinians during the 13 day conflict because although the Israeli army know of the locations of their operations and co-ordinates with their movements Unwra installations have been hit. One of their workers was killed yesterday and two injured yesterday when their fork lift truck was fired on by an Israeli tank at the Erez border crossing in the north of the Gaza strip. The International Red Cross is also accusing Israel of not assisting wounded civilians affected by their attacks and incursions.

With 770 Palestinians dead (independent observers saying upwards of 300 being women and children) to 14 Israelis the UN has recognised Israel as the aggressor in breaking the 3rd ceasefire since the turn of the millennium Egypt is trying to broker a long term and permanent ceasefire.

America were the lone abstention on the vote in the Security Council with Condoleezza Rice saying they wanted to see the outcome of those Egyptian efforts. So why the reluctance to call for a ceasefire, withdrawal and sitting on the fence? It isn't so much a positive abstention as a continuation of America's cowardly hand in this situation. America want to be the world's peacemakers, peacekeepers, but when it is one of their allies that breaks the peace they do not want to appear to be coming down too hard. The Bush Administration history in the region is liable to end with this chapter, this abstention. With the humanitarian crisis plain to all to see it was cowardly of the US not to back this end to hostilities.

Why is it important to wait and see the outcome of mediation efforts in the words of Rice when innocent civilians and even aid workers are suffering. The diplomatic terms she used to explain her do not hide the fact that the US were prepared to do nothing, just yet. Didn't feel an urgency to call a halt.

The resolution does say there is a need to look at the smuggling of weapons into Palestine, the border crossings controls of Israel into Gaza and humanitarian aid. There was acknowledgement that both sides need to make efforts. It wasn't a one sided totally anti-Israel as some have said but realised the immediate goal and necessity whilst setting out the longer term goals.

Facebook for Gaza

Dear reader if you are also a Facebook user may I direct you to two groups.

The first is that like Zimbabwe foreign journalists are being banned from the Gaza strip. A very dear friend of mine has a friend who is currently on a year out teaching in Palestine. With the media blackout and all that is going on even the Westerners, and yes there are some, who are in Palestine are being cut off. Unlike Zimbabwe from what we can gather the Palestinians want to allow foreign press in to see the other side of the story. One wonders why that is it is because the Egyptian border is permanently sealed and Israel control the only border crossings into Gaza.

Therefore please join the group calling to end the ban on international journalists reporting from Gaza.

The second I know may not bode well with all my readers. But whether you view Israel as the aggressor or the persecuted I trust that any sane individuals will agree that neither one, two or three wrongs make a right. The casualties in this conflict are heavily on the Palestinian side. With no escape route they men, women, the frail and call have to remain close to potential death or injury at all times. The USA, UK and Europe are being slow to cast blame at anyone treading too carefully. However, in the UK one political leader,Nick Clegg, has spoken out calling the west to stop arming Israel.

There is a lot of bad blood flying around the Blogosphere of late over this conflict. Neither the approach of my fellow Lib Dem Irfan Ahmed or Iain Dale the Tory Blogfather are doing the real victims any good. By carrying on a flame war and using deliberately inflammatory language about each other on the Internet they are deflecting from the issues at hand. Both are being subjective rather than objective as in unbefitting them trying to get a salient point across.

Israel Nuclear Plant Under Threat! What Plant?

Now who on earth in one of the almost most continuous war zones of the last 60 years would put a "top secret" nuclear plant within missile range of your most volatile neighbours. Israel that's who.

The fact that the Times has got hold of the information of this top secret facility is one thing. That Israel has one is another and that it is within range of the rockets, which have shocked Israeli intelligence as to their sophistication and range is another.

The problem is that Israel despite ceding land to the Palestinians have tried to maintain a tight grip on things. The repressive border controls, including the wall and preparedness for war with their nearest neighbours does not make for good international relations. When Robert Frost wrote that "Good wall make for good neighbours" he was being somewhat ironic. While they are essential in the countryside they lead to all sorts of disputes in urban or international settings.

How many of us know of some dispute over boundaries in a urban setting near us? Which have arisen as land has been sub-divided into smaller and smaller clumps. Internationally the Iron Curtain epitomised by the Berlin Wall has been down these last 20 years. We've been relying on communist China for financial assistance in the West over recent years. Even the wall between the USA and Cuba (who celebrate 50 years of the revolution) may be on the verge of being broken down.

Yet the siege mentality that the Israeli state have been in since their inception 60 years ago is not doing them many favours. It brings us to the point that Israel had a top secret nuclear plant. The USA most have known about this yet in North Korea or Iran they come down hard on such things. Yet in the volatile Middle East, their good friends the Israelis appear to have developed one. Top secret nuclear facilities generally mean one thing armaments. If we don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons to be able to launch on Israel why have we been allowing Israel to work on the same it just doesn't make sense.

But then when over recent years has US foreign policy made sense? Step up to the plate Barack and give us a change.

Independence Day

As I sit here drinking tea I'd like to raise a cup to American Independence on this fourth of July. You seen American once upon a time was a colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland but as a result of some rebels trying to make a giant pot of tea, without putting warm water in first, out of Boston harbour a little war broke out and General George Washington and the settlers in the new world told George III (before he went mad and lost his regnal numerals to Holywood) they wanted nothing more to do with him or his country.

Now sadly if only that were the case in reverse. Tony Blair acted as a loyal poodle to Gen. Washingston successor when requested to take our country into this war on terror. Unfortunately he could tell a little lie and somehow he didn't get chopped down with it or somehow was an axe little or otherwise.

Then we had a super-prudent Chancellor, according to J.G. Brown Esq of Fife. However, despite being super-prudent he apparently forgot to save for a rainy day. Well the storm came because the banks in that 'Independent' land decided to over extend, themselves and not be prudent who who they set up mortgages for. After all every Englishman's home may be his castle, but in the land of the free every one should be able to buy their own home. So Mr Brown ended up buying a bank for the nation which we don't seem to be benefiting from.

Now as regular readers will know people from the independent states over the pond are interfering in what is shown on the motherland's television screens. Just because the company happens to have been founded over there. The company says it understands different cultures, yet somehow gives in to the first narrow minded culture that objects.

So happy Independence Day America and having many good American friends who get the whole concept of there being a world outside the 50 states I'm speaking to the rest. You're Independent you didn't want anything to do with the UK, can you please stop interfering in our domestic issues or we can welcome you back into the Union under the old arrangement if you wish.

Carry On Upping Khyber Troop Numbers

George W. Bush is in the UK, possibly seeking sanctuary from the attacks from John McCain and Barak Obama. However, with the American President in the area Gordon 'Tim'rous Beastie' Brown took the opportunity of his moral support to announce an increase in British troop numbers in Afghanistan; as is typical of such announcements under Labour the House of Commons will only get their announcement from Defence Secretary Des Browne later at 15:30.

The announcement will take UK troops in Afghanistan to their highest since deployment following 9/11 and shows a sort of pendulum effect as Gordon Brown has been cutting numbers in Iraq. However, it doesn't make it any easier on our forces who will still be being deployed with regularity between the two theatres of conflict. As the commander of our troops in Helmand province said last year we are facing a 30 year marathon mission in Afghanistan.

When you consider that both World Wars took a total of ten years and not even Northern Ireland took 30 years to come to a peaceful settlement it makes you wonder just who is winning this so called war on terror.