Mick Smith - Times Online - WBLG

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.

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.

My Son's in Afghanistan: Not Any More Thank God!

Mandy, our soldier's Mum, celebrates his return, while thinking of the mothers whose sons came back early

Ross stuck his head round the stairwell, looked at me and said, “That fire needs more coal mum!” Oh my lord! Oh my god! War! What war? He just laughed! We hugged and kissed and hugged and bawled our eyes out. Well ok. I did. He just grinned. Beenie was dancing. Tom just kept talking and the dog fell down the stairs. Again.

My Son's in Afghanistan: But at Last He's Coming Home!

Mandy, our soldier's Mum, is beginning to get a touch hysterical at the thought of him coming home!

Maybe, god love him, there was no room at the inn. Maybe it was just a moment. Maybe I was so busy choking into my bucket during that full on eyes-closed smackeroonie that I almost missed it. You know that bit where Gordon Brown decided not to mention the war.  Alastair Campbell must have warned him to mind his manners.

My Son's in Afghanistan: Another Boy's Dad's Never Coming Back

Our soldier's Mum Mandy is counting the days to do and they finally are getting few!

Ross is back in Kandahar. He’d said it was a big one! And boy was he right? The phenomenal success at Kajaki, where the 1st 2nd and 3rd Battalions of The Parachute Regiment, fought together for the first time since Arnhem, along with thousands of other soldiers, to deliver the 200 tonne turbine to Kajaki, is something that is now a part of our family history. This is the very thing that Ross signed up to do. To make a difference. To do something. To be counted. I am so, so proud. Of  them all. It might take years yet before the electricity is flowing to the people that need it. And the Taliban will almost certainly continue to scam the villagers into paying ‘taxes’ for it. Ding-Dong!  Our government have been cheating us out of taxes for years.

Ross and Flannegan at Kajaki.

My Son's in Afghanistan: Feeding his Nose to a Camel Spider

Mandy, our soldier's mum, is back, and she isn't any fonder of Gordon!

On his terribly convenient stopover in Afghanistan, Gordon Brown, en-route to the Olympic Games with his family, told his neatly arranged audience in British Camp Bastion that “they were all heroes, worthy of any medals won by our athletes.” Oh really? He went on to tell the soldiers, “You know that you are on the front line in the fight against the Taliban.” Oh! I see now. In a podium, competitive, sporting sort of way do you mean Gordon?  “And you know that by what you are doing here you prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain." Oh come on! Walk down any street in the UK, on your own, and open your eyes.

My Son's in Afghanistan: Six Weeks Left To Do!

Mandy, our soldier's mum, on the "sheer bravery" of our troops in Afghanistan

Ross has been back in Kandahar for well over a week. We have linked up with him a number of times, via skype, and it is just the most amazing experience to see his face as we speak. There he is, joking about with his friends next to him in the Naafi, some of them we know. Three or four gathered round his laptop and Tom couldn’t resist teasing them by opening a can of ice-cold beer! I learnt a new swear word and I think someone got slapped!  Ross noticed that Tom was wearing his brand new ‘T’ shirt and gave him jip! Someone produced a can of Becks, just to get their own back, and Tom, being Tom, spotted the ‘alcohol free,’ on the side of the can, producing yet more back slaps and banter.  To see them, all so very far away, clowning around and laughing is just what we needed. It is so much better than a phone call.

My Son's in Afghanistan: I'm So Proud, and So Scared

Ross has just flown back to Afghanistan when his mother Mandy hears that a soldier from his unit has been killed.

The dog was barking like crazy! I heard the window being pushed up and, even though it was the very early hours of the morning, I wasn’t worried. Ross was just doing his “I’ve lost my key and don’t want to waken you” routine. Again! He also lost his driving license in the ATM machine, (but didn’t mind waking me to borrow money when it hadn’t worked!) he lost his shoes, phone and countless games of golf. The house was completely Rossed and bursting every night with his friends. They occasionally played Call of Duty on his laptop, using a plate of his body armour as a mouse mat and it felt like a miracle at times, that no-one was sectioned. He had a brilliant time. We all did.

My Son's in Afghanistan: The Sheer Joy of R+R!

Mandy, our soldier's mum, gets to see her son back from Afghanistan on R and R

When Ross pulled up in the car, Beenie fled upstairs. He looked so skinny, so tired and so damn beautiful. “Alright mum,” he yelled, “got that tea on yet?” He was straight off the plane and still in his uniform. We just hugged and hugged. “Ok...ok, let go...will you,” he laughed, “ let me at least put this body armour down, it weighs a ton!” I blubbed like a baby.