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Letter from the Left Coast: The Fat Lady Finally Gets Off Her Backside

Ian Bowater, this blog's very own LA Correspondent, with some final thoughts on the presidential race
So here it is – the last ever Letter From The Left Coast. It’s been over a month since the last one but quite frankly nothing much has happened. Oh… there was some Black Guy who got made President of the United States. I never saw that one coming. The interregnum created a power vacuum, or rather a news hole, which any number of hopefuls, has-beens, nonentities, also rans, losers and the occasional Great White Hope tried to fill. Quite frankly, Bernie Madoff’s multi-billion dollar fraud wasn’t going to do it. Once we learned that Zsa Zsa Gabor had lost eight million there were no more tears left to shed.

Whistleblower Reveals Forces Computer Virus Linked to Russia

The Ministry of Defence and a large number of RAF bases and Royal Navy ships have been hit by a computer "worm virus" that is alleged to have been sent to a Russian internet server. The allegations have been made to Conservative MP Mark Pritchard by a whistlebower inside the MoD who is concerned over its failure to take cyber security seriously. Pritchard said the official “told me he could not say whether there was any evidence of active Russian involvement but that email traffic from some RAF stations was sent to a Russian internet server.”

Gaza Attacks and Olmert's Threat to the Innocents Damage Israel

There is no doubt that Hamas has provoked Israel with rocket attacks from Gaza onto Israeli territory, but the disproportionate response unleashed yesterday will do Israel nothing but harm. Commentators have suggested that retaliation would be difficult because there is an election going on in Israel, but the unavoidable conclusion is that the election, and the tightness of the race between the candidate of the Kadima party Tzipi Livni, and the Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu, is a key factor in the decision to take such dire action. Both candidates have promised to act tough and the ironically named Operation Solid Lead means Livni is now able to claim that she can be as tough as Netanyahu.

Nigel Antony Richard Backhouse MVO - 1956-2008. A Great Loss.

I went to the funeral of a man I was proud to call a friend today. The mourners packed into the pretty church of St Giles, Ashtead, near Leatherhead, bore testament to the ease with which Nigel Backhouse made friends. There were many people there today who had lost a very good friend and will have been helped in their loss by a beautiful service. I am sure their hearts went out, as mine did, to his young family. How to explain the death of someone so young? One of the readings came from The Prophet by the Lebanese poet and philosopher Kahlil Gibran.

    On Death
    By Kahlil Gibran

You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and
expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

Nigel Backhouse, a good friend to many, a man who will truly be sorely missed.

Letter from the Left Coast: The Cabinet, the Legacy and the Law

Ian Bowater with a Christmas Special from the Left Coast

Here’s change you’re gonna have to put up with… Barack Obama ran on the left to beat Hillary in the Primary. At the general election conventional wisdom dictates that he would move to the centre to get elected. When in office he will naturally drift back to the left. The Republicans forced change on him by playing the Pinko, Commie, Socialist card. Instead of running to the middle, he stayed left because it worked for him and none of the calumnies heaped on him by the McCain campaign worked for them. Now in the transition we are learning what sort politician he will be. He is governing from the right, appeasing some pretty nasty folks while he builds his big tent. Instead of ringing the change bell there’s a load of old Clinton clangers in his first Cabinet.

A Christmas Message from a Soldier's Mum

Here's Mandy, our soldier's mum, with her annual Christmas message

ON THE 1ST DAY OF CHRISTMAS...  A fleet of military helicopters buzz the skies in the East. Gordon Santa then. On the front line. Bearing gifts? This Christmas, named parcels only are being accepted by The British Forces Post Office with the lamenting MOD citing the need to use military helicopters for operational requirements only. But it’s ok. Gordon is aware that the charity UK4U will supply all our brave soldiers with parcels. How the elves distribute them in the Sandy Land is completely up to them.

Pakistani General Murdered to Stop Him Naming Generals Who Shied Off Fighting the Taliban

General Amir Faisal Alavi, former Pakistani special forces commander, with General Bryan 'Doug' Brown, who was then head of US Special Operations Command

There is a remarkable story in today’s Sunday Times about how a former Pakistan special forces chief was murdered after alleging that senior generals were paying off Taliban leaders and refusing to fight the war on terror. Maj-Gen Amir Faisal Alavi, former head of the Special Services Group, the Pakistani equivalent of the SAS, was particularly angry about a deal with Baitullah Mahsud, suspected of being the mastermind behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Alavi had repeatedly fought inside the Pakistan Army for change and his men had led the battle against the militants bravely but there were a small number of generals who were not only trying to prevent the army taking on the militants properly but in some cases were backing them.

Soldiers Return from Afghanistan to Fine Welcome from the Prince or a Good Beating from the Police

Mandy our soldier's mum, seen here with son Ross, reports from a reception this week for the paras and their relatives on their return to Colchester after a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Emotions were high and there were tears. Of course. None more so than when Lance Corporal Tom Neathway, who lost both legs and an arm in an explosion at Kajaki, stood up from his wheel chair and walked across the parade ground. It was right and fitting the members of the Parachute Regiment were honoured for their service in Afghanistan. It was also right and proper that Prince Charles held a private audience afterwards for the families of the injured and for those that died.

British Forces Chief: "Why Our Allies Messed It Up For Us in Iraq"

Every Christmas it is traditional for the Chief of Defence Staff to address the members of the Royal United Services Institute. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup did so this evening, and since the media reports seem likely to focus on what he said about Afghanistan and Mumbai, it is worth separating off the Iraq section which is a spirited defence of British operations in southern Iraq, with a sideswipe at our allies who have been so quick to criticise the British efforts. It is well worth a read:

Thank you, chairman, and good afternoon everyone.  It’s a great pleasure to have the chance once again to speak here at RUSI; to be able to share some reflections with you as the year draws to an end, and 2008 has been eventful in so many ways. Since I spoke to you last year, 47 of our people have lost their lives on operations, and many more have been wounded, some very seriously.  2008 has seen some hard fighting, some significant military successes, and the continued development of some significant obstacles to success that will make 2009 particularly challenging. One of the biggest steps forward came early in the year, in Iraq.  Although operation charge of the knights got off to an inauspicious start, its eventual success and subsequent developments have transformed the situation in Basra.  But the operation has also attracted a degree of controversy, particularly with regard to the British role.   

The Inaugural Frank Foley Lecture, 28 November 2008

Ian Austin and Linda Waltho, the two MPs whose West Midlands constituencies cover the area where Frank Foley lived until his death in 1958, have set up the annual Frank Foley lecture. If you don't know who Frank Foley was, then you should and you will if you read this post. This is the Inaugural Frank Foley Lecture, which I gave at Stourbridge last Friday.

ON Friday June 19th, 1959, a small group of people gathered on the edge of a windswept forest near Kibbutz Harel, just outside Jerusalem. A grove of trees had been planted there to commemorate a remarkable Englishman. Each of the more than 2,000 pines had been paid for by someone he saved from Hitler's concentration camps. Contributions for more trees were coming in every day. The speakers at the ceremony included some of the most eminent members of the Jewish community in pre-war Berlin. Benno Cohn, chairman of the Zionist Organisation of Germany, reminded those present that they had gathered to pay tribute to a British official who had saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. "He was the Pimpernel of the Jews," Cohn said. "Day and night he was at the disposal of those who sought help. In those dark years, he restored to many of us our faith in humanity." A memorial stone place in front of the grave read simply: "Major Francis Edward Foley, England, Memorial Grove."

Letter from the Left Coast: So Will Obama Be The Real Deal Or Not?

Ian Bowater hopes for a new New Deal from Barack.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. All across West L.A. thousands of newly emboldened, well meaning Liberals held hands around a family table laden with an unlikely mélange of savoury and sweet dishes along with the obligatory vegan alternatives for the exceptionally uppity. Where do they find the strength on tofu and pulses? After apologizing to the Native Americans – the original hosts of this Turkey fest – they gave thanks for Barack Obama. The President-Elect has been beatified, canonized, lionized and deified on an upward spiral of hyperbole since the day he won the election. He has simultaneously restored America’s faith in itself and returned it to Number One in the world. That’s the word on this one. America is Barack – America is Back!

It Wasn't Like That in My Day! The Renewed Relevance of the Remembrance Commemoration

As the number of British troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan hits the 300 mark, Chuck Unsworth, our self-confessed 'Old Fogey' reflects on the continued willingness to celebrate a day that stemmed initially from the Armistice at the end of the First World War but yet continues to have a special importance.

This week Remembrance Day Parades have taken in towns and villages throughout Britain, and they have been held in many other countries, too.  As usual I paraded with the other old fogies at our local war memorial, being pleased to see large numbers of young people taking part and with a decent sized crowd watching.  This year it was rendered particularly poignant as an old military friend has very recently died.  He was John Leslie (Lofty) Collyer – Lofty by name and by stature - a man who had entered the Army as a boy soldier, working his way up through the ranks to Regimental Sergeant Major and thence onwards as a Commissioned Officer.  I’ve known him for well over forty years.  A Sapper through and through, with all of those old-fashioned qualities of a fine and honourable soldier, he was known and respected by thousands.  He’ll be missed by his large family and by the very many in the Royal Engineers Association, of which he was a stalwart.

How Many More Fallen Soldiers Will We Celebrate?

Her son might be back from Afghanistan but Mandy is still incensed at the way in which politicians put their own "rights" above those do the dead.

Seems, while Ross has been away on holiday, there’s been a bit of a turf war going on. No! Not in Glenrothes, where the Labour Party celebrated a tactical success, putting the Scottish National Party to bed by bailing out Halifax/Bank of Scotland and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Down in Dorset, where a mayor is getting hot under the collar over a perfectly respectable attempt to honour our dead.

Afghanistan - Are We Heading for Another Inglorious Failure?

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, has spoken out against sending more troops to Afghanistan. I’m reminded of CJ, a character in the soon-to-be-revived Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. CJ is Perrin’s boss at Sunshine Desserts, an organisation inhabited by yes men. He begins every homily with the words: “I didn’t get where I am today by… ” Stirrup didn’t get where he is today – outlasting all his subordinates with an apparently endless term as the forces’ top man - by telling politicians, who are desperate to cut defence costs, things they don’t want to hear.

Letter from the Left Coast: Hey World - Meet the New Boss

Ian Bowater, with a post-Obama reflection on the day that Americans welcomed in a new president, although how sincere they all were is a matter for debate.

I admit to having a nostalgic fondness for elections. It probably goes back to the fifties when, as a nine year old, I helped my dad leaflet the Hillsborough ward in Sheffield for Alf Meade, our local councillor. Alf was no Barack Obama but then I didn’t need to be inspired. I was always a tribal politician who followed my dad’s lead and the family legacy. I love Election Day itself even more, despite not having had much experience of working on a winning campaign in my adult years. So, I was looking forward to last Tuesday with some trepidation. I’d actively participated in the Obama Campaign if only for research purposes. I might be the common loser factor. I hadn’t bothered with the local McCain headquarters because I’d been told there was no one was home.

Letter from the Left Coast: Vote for Obama, says Ian the Leftie!

Our man in LA Ian Bowater does his bit for the Obama campaign Los Angeles-style - by the infinity pool

Regardless of whether Barack Obama gets an historic victory on Tuesday and the much-vaunted new era begins, the American Century ended last Friday with the death of Studs Terkel. Journalist, activist, oral historian, Studs chronicled the twentieth century from the perspective of the working man. Sadly, he lived long enough to see the American Worker parodied and disparaged in the shape of Joe the Plumber, John McCain’s new-found friend from the campaign trail. Joe is everywhere except when he forgets to turn up. Offering opinions on subjects as diverse as the tax plan and Israel, Joe has a scared story for every occasion. No matter that he has no experience, not even of campaign strategy meetings. Joe says what he wants and the further off the reservation he gets the more Mr. Maverick loves him.

Tracking Russian Ships More Vital than Providing Intelligence for British Troops Fighting Taliban

The Russian Nuclear-Powered Cruiser Peter the Great on its way to the Caribbean for naval exercises in US backyard

Problems with the fuel system on the Nimrod MR2 aircraft continue despite the decision to suspend air-to-air refuelling. Britain was forced to pull its Nimrod spy planes off operations in Afghanistan a few weeks ago and has not been able to replace them yet. The reason the two aircraft had to be pulled out differs depending on who you talk to but it is clear that there were continuing problems. The reason they were not replaced was that the other serviceable Nimrods were required for a very old-fashioned Nimrod job, tracking the Russian Navy!

Letter from the Left Coast: Now Come the Really Dirty Tricks!

The blog returns from holiday with Ian Bowater our leftie in LA still adamant that having run one of the worst campaigns in political history McCain could still find ways to cheat a victory

The now famous McCain grab-ass photo from the final presidential debate was probably best rendered by “Berliner Zeitung”. It was almost exquisite in its symbolic detail. The background was a Prussian blue. In Europe we always associate blue with conservatism whereas it is the colour of the Democrats in America. Red states are Republican as in red meat and redneck. Barack Obama is left of the frame with his head slightly bowed, lips tight looking dignified. He could be an artist’s study for an eventual slavery memorial. McCain takes centre frame. He is a slavering homunculus like the grasping capitalist from a scathing Otto Dix print. Together the two images look like elements of the evolution man with Obama as homo erectus and McCain an ill-formed primitive, grasping at stature. The title is simply “Endspurt”, which sounds like the money shot from a cheap porno movie. It means, in fact, final spurt or push as in a race. But here it will forever mean a last desperate grab.

It Wasn't Like That in My Day! A Tragic Loss of Historic Scottish Regiments, But One Lives On!

The Atholl Highlanders, Britain's only private army

Anyone who has ever served in the forces will know that they are full of fiercely nationalistic Scots. Here Chuck Unsworth, our resident army veteran, is north of the border musing on the loss of the distinctive Scottish regiments and wondering if Alex Salmond might bring them back.

Autumn – a truly grand time to re-visit the Highlands.  The summer crowds of tourists are dispersing rapidly, the colours of the hills and glens glorious, and the low-angle bright sunlight brings the landscape into sharp relief, contrasting with crystal clear blue skies.  Ah yes, ‘now’s the day, and now’s the hour’ to see and tour Scotland at its very best – for at least the next few weeks before the weather really closes in.

Letter from the Left Coast: McCain Support for Veterans is a Fallacy

Ian Bowater, our old-fashioned leftie lost in LA, looks at McCain's poor record on backing the military and laughs at suggestions the financial crisis means we're all socialists now. 

Let'€™s talk about political certitude. Remember the old saying '€œsafe as houses'€? It'€™s the houses that are the problem. Politicians, left and right, were dead set against the bailout right up the moment they were for it. The coin was tossed and came down on the other side, just like that. Remember when HDMI was a socket on your new flat screen TV? Who knew it was a Hybrid Derivative Monetary Instrument. Banks and bankers thought they were great right up the moment they turned toxic. Then they became sceptics. Everything is certain right up to the point of flux. The Dow and the FTSE went in a tailspin. Stock Exchanges stopped being accurate barometers of economic performance and became upper class bingo halls.