Mick Smith - Times Online - WBLG

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.

My Son's in Afghanistan: Can't Wait 'til He Comes Home on R+R!

Soldier's mum Mandy is looking forward to her son coming home on R+R

When Ross told us that he was back at base in Kandahar and would remain there till his R+R, we all danced around the house. But then we heard nothing at all from him. Seems he is up to a hell of a lot more in the mountains with the Quick Response Team. Immediately after dropping them off, their Chinook was forced to land when one of the rotors clipped the mountain side. “Mum, we just stood back and watched in horror as this huge helicopter fought desperately to negotiate the terrain before finally landing. A Sea-King was rapidly deployed, with a team of mechanics on board, and to see such a little thing take over was pretty amazing.”

My Son's in Afghanistan: Maybe It Might Be Doing Some Good?

A telephone call from her son has set our soldier's Mum Mandy wondering if there might not be a reason to be in Afghanistan

“Oh mum!……Listen to this. I’m standing right in front of a ferris wheel, near a small fun fair, and slap bang in the middle of a city. I can’t say where, over the phone, but I could be in London! Well, apart from the heat….it’s still a killer. There are about twenty children hanging off my legs, all laughing and joking, and one of them, he’s about Tom’s age, speaks perfect English. I’m stopping people in cars and he’s translating for me. I really can’t believe it! And the kids here mum, they go to school! It’s how the whole of Afghan could be.”

My Son's in Afghanistan: Making Designer Sofas Out of Sandbags

Another snatched satphone conversation with her son in Afghanistan for our resident soldier's mum Mandy

The sun did not shine this week. Not a moment has passed when thoughts of the families, friends and comrades of those five soldiers from 2 Para weren’t clouding my head. The guilt that I feel reflects their pain, because today it is them…

Life just fell apart. Laura left home. Tom couldn’t face school. Beenie decamped to her and Ross’s room. She had spoken to two of the soldiers on her Facebook site. And for a while I lost my footing. To Daniel, the beautiful busker who sat with me for a while in Parliament Square on Sunday night, I just want to thank you. Your words meant a lot. Sometimes, it’s all too easy to lose sight of what you have.

And then, so unexpectantly, Ross phoned me.

My Son's in Afghanistan: Any Para Killed and I Think It's Him, or One of His Mates

Mandy, the mother of a para currently serving in Afghanistan and a regular contributor to this blog, describes what it's like when any British servicemen is reported killed in Helmand.

Ross's girlfriend Beenie burst through the door with the news just after 11.30pm on Sunday night. “Mandy… Three Paras have been killed…there may be more! A suicide bomber.” She’d been across the road and a friend from her British Airborne Wags Facebook network had just called. “She doesn’t know any more, just yet…” Oh god! My knees just went and I wanted to be sick. Beenie was crying and all hell seemed to break out...

In Memoriam: A Tribute to The British Servicemen Killed in Afghanistan in Our Name

The recent spate of UK deaths in Afghanistan takes the number of British servicemen killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 109, of whom 100 died in action, in the south since British troops deployed there in April 2006. Unlike the MoD's list, this blog includes anyone killed in combat even if they are officially deemed to have been killed in non-combat related incidents, as in the case of the 14 servicemen killed when their Nimrod aircraft exploded over Kandahar province. They all died in action. An additional nine servicemen have died elsewhere in Afghanistan since October 2001, three of them in action prior to the current deployment, two as a result of bomb blasts in Kabul and four as a result of illness or non-combat related accidents. Who is to say that over time, the number killed won't surpass the 176 who have died so far in Iraq?

My Son's in Afghanistan: While I Store up the Food Parcels

Soldier's Mum Mandy gets another worrying call from her son

Good ol’ British weather! Half-term and under orders of flood-alert! Again!  My escape to the countryside is hastily replaced with Plan B. Well, it would be, but the house phone keeps ringing. Because call centres ‘do what it says on the tin'. “No! I do not want your broadband, nor your tax band, not even your brass band! Go away.” Well something like that.

“What? You ok Mum!”  I am. But the dog legs it.

“Hello!.......I’m back at Kandahar now thank god! Training on quad bikes….yeah it’s all good….thought I was lazing around did you?”

My Son's in Afghanistan: Cooling Water in his Socks

Finally our soldier's Mum Mandy gets the longed-for phone call from Afghanistan

“Hello mum! It’s me!”

Oh my god! Finally, after nearly two weeks of crucifying silence I hear from Ross. I sit down on the dog, spilling my coffee.

“Still blistering in the heat though, but we’re all ok.  We trampled a field, but paid the farmer for the damage done… and the poor guy was later killed… probably because the Taliban thought he had sold information to us... another blew himself up planting a bomb. We all saw the explosion in the distance, which was captured on thermal imaging filmed by intelligence…. but they wouldn’t attack us outright, no matter what we did… they just weren’t having it...”

Tessa (I’ll jump under a bus for Tony) Jowell should, I feel, really be counting her blessings over the gypsy encampment at the foot of her £1million country pile. It could be a whole lot worse.

“…so, back at Bastion…yeah! I’m good. The sat phones went down and new ones were delivered after we were away down from the mountains. We’ve been protecting a village for five or six days, spread out all over and because we were in the Green Zone not much happened. It’s all good.”

The Musa Qala Half-Marathon. Soldiers Under Fire Raise Money for Wounded Colleagues

Now it’s happened, we can reveal that British soldiers based at Musa Qala in northern Helmand raised more than £4,000 for Help the Heroes by running a half-marathon round their base yesterday. Regular readers will recall that we asked you to contribute to the guys’ sponsorship money by clicking on their website and pledging some money. Given that they are currently involved in a major operation against Taliban fighters who are trying to capture the town and that one of their number, a member of the SAS, was killed last week, this is astonishing. This is what Captain Chris Howard of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who arranged it had to say about the race:

My Son's in Afghanistan: The Letters Are Mounting Up While He TABs Across Helmand

Our soldier's Mum Mandy gets hysterical waiting for the next phone call from Afghanistan

‘Well I know it’s a beautiful world…but I can’t feel it right now….’ just about sums up this week for me. I’m writing this, sheltered under the safety of my duvet where I have hidden myself for a few moments. Remember the old days, torch light illuminating the ‘just can’t put it down book’?  Well I’m back there with Heidi secreting her bread rolls in the wardrobe…..saving her world. It is quiet now and just...well…peaceful. I’m trying to fit all the pieces together and am battling my weariness to invent yet another coping strategy for my family. A bit like Cherie. Only without the ‘I am soooo… trying to sound poor like you,’  ‘What pay off?’  and… ‘Tony who?’ Someone should point this silly woman to a ship called Dignity and pray like hell that it might actually sail off with her. And take her human rights battalion with her too. Bon Voyage.

My Son's in Afghanistan: Complaining Because he isn't Fighting the Taliban Enough!

Another traumatic phone call from 'Stan for our soldier's mum Mandy

I have heard the term ‘I’m bored’ twice this week and am in real danger of swinging off my virtual ‘orse and drowning myself in my honey encrusted milk! Firstly, Ross phoned from Camp Bastion, full of roller-coasting emotion about having operations cancelled at the last minute every day this week. “It’s just so frustrating mum!” I bite my lip to quell the feelings of joy. So! There is a God! I immediately phone the Ministry of Pretence to thank them…..but they are too busy fielding calls from the Home Office. A whopping £500,000 a year, is to be paid by British taxpayers, to place a man who is allegedly one of the world’s most dangerous terror suspects, Abu Qatada, under the new 22 hour ‘round the clock’ (!) cur-phew! And the best bit… the strongest conditions, like an electronic tag, should be imposed. Alrighty then! Let’s hope he doesn’t lodge an appeal to the Exeter judge that deemed tags ‘unfashionable’ and ordered the removal of the unsightly accessory from a convicted drug dealer, because it clashed with his shorts.

Help for Heroes: Donate to the Musa Qala Half-Marathon

Des Browne announced today that the government would be putting extra money into Headley Court, the Leatherhead-based unit where soldiers severely wounded in operations like Afghanistan and Iraq recuperate and learn to adapt to their disabilities. The charity Help for Heroes is raising a further £6m to put a swimming pool in the home. Readers of this blog will be aware of the chronic underfunding that has resulted in disabled soldiers receiving ridiculously small sums of money in compensation and led to the formation of Help for Heroes, which of course relies entirely on donations from members of the public. One interesting way of contributing to the charity is by supporting soldiers in Musa Qala in northern Helmand province who are planning a half-marathon around their helipad to raise money for Help for Heroes. Chris Howard, the soldier organising the event, says on his website: "The helicopter landing site is only 300m a lap and therefore, not only makes this event physically challenging but also extremely mentally challenging as well..  Despite the heat, dust physical and mental pain we are very proud to raise money for our friends who need our help.  Please dig deep and sponsor us online." You can do just that by going to the website here.

My Son's in Afghanistan: Getting a Victory Tan While We Mainline on Blueys!

Another missive from Mandy, the mother of a British soldier serving in Afghanistan

This week our house resembles, apart from the undeclared burglary, a rather posh sorting office. There are parcels to go, boxes primed for packing, china cups, silver spoons, luxury loo rolls and toy soldiers, (Tom’s school boy humour) Venison Pot Noodles, Truffle Haribos, which keep mysteriously disappearing, and Duchy of Cornwall biscuits. Well, who knows when Prince Reprint of Budgie will drop by and we’re not taking any chances. As a child, I can remember the Red Arrows practising over our house constantly at RAF Newton, but as Head of the Armed Forces, the Queen never really seems to have felt the compulsion to join in…..maybe it’s a boy thing. Someone give him a real job. Please.

My Son's in Afghanistan: Why Are the Princes Using Our Wounded Boys to Repair Their PR Job?

Another dose of hard talk from Mandy whose son is fighting in Afghanistan

Ah! Prince (I’m outta here) Harry and Prince (Reprint of Budgie) William hold court at Headley and we all smile and dig deep into our pockets just in time for sunset on the steps of St. Pauls Cathedral. Excuse me while I do a Two Jags and find myself arrested for overfilling my wheelie bin. In the name of decency will someone please stand up and denounce this gluttony of PR resuscitation. Soldiers have earned the right to be treated for their injuries with dignity. End. No more squabbling. No more dishonour. And no more sideshows. Just give them the money.

My Son's in Afghanistan, Getting Bombed with Rations by the RAF

Another post from Mandy, the mother of a soldier fighting in Afghanistan

“Hi mum, How’s it going? Just a quick letter from the Sandy Land! I’m fine anyway and topping up the tan in sunny Kandahar. Just eaten Pizza Hut, home from home eh? We’re gonna be at base for a while, so I’m happy with that. We stayed out in the middle of the desert for the last few nights. It was eventful….it rained! This is a big thing in the desert! But then the RAF dropped some re-supply and just missed our heads! Lol The only way to get us out of the way was for them to shout ‘stand to’ which means ‘we’re being attacked!’ Christ! Hey! The Taliban are officially Airborne….they’ve got planes…as we all scrambled about the place laughing. It was really funny!”

In Memoriam: Killed in Action in Southern Afghanistan

I strongly recommend that everyone reads the TimesOnline article today on the death of 51-year-old Gary Thompson, clearly a very good man lost in a cause he believed in. Gary was a successful businessman but three years ago decided to join the Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment and less than two months ago was sent to Afghanistan. Asked why he should do so at an age when most men have long since given up such activities, Gary replied: “I have five daughters, three of whom are at university. I want women in Afghanistan to be given the same opportunity that my daughters have had,” he said. “It means I can come back and say I have played my part in trying to make that happen.” At the time I first put this post up, 14 servicemen had just been killed in the explosion of Nimrod XV230, their deaths had brought the numbers killed in action in southern Afghanistan in six months to 28. Since I put it up, a further 59 have died in action, including Gary and his 23-year-old colleague Graham Livingston. The article on Gary Thompson - who seems destined to become a truly inspirational figure - can be found here

My Son's in Afghanistan. Now Gordon, Ed and Quentin are Lining up the Next Victims

More controversy from Mandy, the mother of a soldier serving in Afghanistan.

Cadet recruitment has increased steadily since 1980. They are chugging along very nicely, encouraging our youth to try out orienteering, sailing, flying, comradeship and developing would-be leadership qualities. An already established oasis of calm for many young people. No shortfall there. And no requirement to enlist at the end.  Just so we’re clear. Then along comes Quentin Davis's review of relations between the public and the forces and its recommendation that every school should have its own cadets. The cadets have been hijacked by Brown, Balls and Quentin, (BBQ) almost certainly as a means to procure yet more medium rare topside for their flaming coals of war.

My Son's in Afghanistan, So WHY is the Media Obsessed with Trivia?

More news from Mandy, the mother of a soldier fighting in Afghanistan

It’s been a tough week emotionally. Ian decided it was time for the lake. It’s my special place. I sat down and wept. I wept for the families and friends of the two Royal Marines killed in Afghanistan on Sunday. Disgracefully, ‘Facebook’, made the front pages. I can’t begin to imagine the dilemma editors would have faced had it been Prince (I’m outta here) Harry.

My Son's in Afghanistan. He's buying his own kit while MPs get ten grand fitted kitchens!

More news from Mandy, the mother of a soldier fighting in Afghanistan

I found an unopened letter addressed to Ross on the Monday after his deployment to Afghanistan. It was a warrant for his immediate arrest. I light the cigarette that has been patiently on 'stand by'  for six years. Tom's disgusted, and it's not relieving the stress, but hell! ...the rebellion feels good!

My Son's in Afghanistan. Me? I'm Marching for Peace!

Now the first edition of a weekly letter from Mandy, the mother of a soldier fighting in Afghanistan

Ross was never going to be a 9-5 person. At age 4 he would hang out of the school gates waiting to be let in! Not even a cursory backwards glance did I get on his first day at school. His 11th birthday saw him metaphorically doing the same with the Air Cadets. They let him in before the statutory age because he was such a pest! He loved the action. Many times I found myself delivering fish and chips out to the middle of nowhere, only to have him dropping out of the sky like Andy MacNab on steroids! Right now? He might as well be abseiling off the moon for the Peace that this war will bring.

Have We Made Harry a Marked Man for the Rest of his Life?

The news that Prince Harry has been out on the frontline firing a heavy machine-gun at the Taliban and directing allied aircraft on to their targets has provoked a storm of debate in the UK. Why was his life put at risk? What would have happened if he had died? And what of the compliant media, keeping stumm at the behest of the MoD? Would they have even told us if he had been killed?

The Lies Ministers told over Afghanistan

Last week’s attacks by two separate coroners on the MoD’s failure to provide troops in Afghanistan and Iraq with essential equipment diverted attention away from the full import of the board of inquiry report into the death of Capt Jim Philippson, the first British soldier to be killed in action in Helmand. The contents of this hard hitting report should not be allowed to pass unnoticed, not least because it heaps the blame for much of what went wrong on Gordon Brown’s Treasury and the then defence secretary John Reid, as well as providing yet more evidence of ministers’ willingness to play fast and loose with the truth, even in their evidence to MPs.

In Memoriam: Killed in Action in Southern Afghanistan

My post just over a year ago on the British servicemen killed in action in southern Afghanistan has long since slipped out of sight on this blog. At the time I put it up, when 14 servicemen were killed in the explosion of Nimrod XV230, their deaths had brought the numbers killed in action in southern Afghanistan in six months to 28. Since I put it up, a further 57 have died in action. The old post, with its comments and tributes, will remain in the archive. But it is time to put up a new post that will remind us all how many have died in our name.

Will the MoD or the Americans ever get this right?

Over the coming weeks and days you will hear endless voices telling you that it is impossible to prevent friendly fire incidents like the one that killed Privates Aaron James McClure, Robert Graham Foster and John Thrumble at Kajaki on Thursday. That may be so, although until we find out what caused this particular case, we simply won’t know for sure whether or not it could have been avoided. What we do know, because of data collected by Prof Sheila Bird of the Medical Research Council - after the MoD admitted to MPs that it does not collect such date - is that such incidents are three times more likely to happen to non-US forces than US forces, and that the British are most likely of all the coalition forces to be hit.

Afghanistan - Where the Lunatics are Taking Over the Asylum

Given this blog’s obsession with the failure of the coalition to press home its original advantage in Afghanistan, it must seem churlish to complain at the new US willingness to step up the reconstruction process in Afghanistan. The more than £5bn that George Bush is putting into Afghanistan is very welcome, although since £4bn is for improving the security forces and only £1bn for actual reconstruction, its effect is unlikely to be obvious in the near term. But still a welcome move. Much less welcome are the ominous noises coming from those around the new American commander General Dan McNeil, who has apparently decided that the Brits are just too namby pamby and things have got to change.

Why Can't Our Boys Get the Same Resupply the Taliban Get?

The myth of British control of the southern Afghan province of Helmand is exposed in unprecedented footage of British and Afghan troops fighting to regain the crucial town of Garmsir to be shown on Channel 4 on Monday 8 January. Sean Langan, the reporter on the film for the Dispatches programme, spent a week with the British troops leading the recapture of Garmsir from the Taliban.

Lions Led By Whitehall Donkeys

I should catch the videos of British paratroopers we show today on the TimesOnline website while you can. The MoD has been so embarassed by the videos of operations in the northern outposts in Helmand that it has issued a defence information notice banning soldiers from using any type of camera in theatre. The notice, issued by the MoD's Director of Security, is very clear. This isn't about security issues. Oh no! The purpose of the ban is "to mitigate the risks from the capture and publication of images that might cause significant embarassment to the MoD". That is frankly par for the course for the donkeys at the MoD, Never mind the soldiers. Let's just make sure we don't look stupid. Quite how they hope to manage that is anybody's guess. Fortunately, the guys at the sharp end more than make up for it. Along with the videos, we have obtained a detailed account of their exploits in just one of the northern outposts, Sangin, where eight British soldiers were killed. The account in the paper today is just a taster for this extensive account of the paras' bravery at Sangin. Here's the full story. Hopefully someone will have the good sense to make Sangin a battle honour!

How to Lose the War on Terror - Keep Going the Way We Are!

Apologies for the gap in posts on this blog but I have spent the last few days in the Slovak capital Bratislava attending the Globsec 2006 conference, organised by EAC, the Bratislava-based Euro-Atlantic Council. The conference heard some interesting debates over how we are doing in the war on terror. (The decision to place an Afghan aid worker, the US ambassador and a French general on the same panel was a master stroke.) The overall opinion of the conference, it will not surprise you, appears to have been "not good".

How could it be anything else given the desperate situation in Iraq and the way in which Pakistan - with its willingness to abrogate any responsibility for Taliban and al-Qaeda activities mounted from its territories - and the US Congress - with its naive insistence on driving forward drugs eradication at the expense of security - seem determined to stymie any hope of success in Afghanistan? Carey Schofield, who spent years alongside the Soviet armed forces for her book Inside the Soviet Military is writing a similar book on the Pakistani army. I can't wait to hear their views on Afghanistan! But as I said in this brief extract from my own paper to Globsec 2006, the way we are currently fighting the war on terror abroad is losing us the war on terror at home.

Clinging on to a Good Man in Afghanistan - Just

There has been a lot of concern about the position of the governor of Helmand province Engineer Daoud, a former UN development expert who seemed like an ideal replacement for the previous governor, Sher Muhammed Akhundzada. The British insisted that Akhundzada and his police chief Abdul Rahman Jan must be removed before they would agree to take control of Helmand province, largely because they are both alleged to be heavily involved in the drugs trade. But Daoud’s deputy, in the usual type of Afghan compromise, is Sher Muhammed Akhundzada’s brother Amir. If Daoud has been forced out, as the reports suggest, it would be a disaster for the future of the British efforts in Helmand, particularly so if he is replaced by Amir Muhammed Akhundzada. But sources on the ground in Helmand tell me all is not what it seems.

In Memoriam: British Servicemen Killed in Action in Afghanistan

During my recent trip to Afghanistan, I came across a great memorial to the British troops who have died in Afghanistan. So I am placing this post at the top of the blog to give people a chance to see the memorial, at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand province, and to pay their respects to the dead. Whatever divides us on this blog, we can I am sure all agree that those who die for their country deserve our respect. So I have been surprised how few people have added their own thoughts to this page as opposed to those on more contentious issues.

Attempts to Block Critical Reporting of the War on Terror

Two interesting articles today, one on TimesOnline and the other in the Washington Post, address the issue of governments on both sides of the Atlantic trying to suppress negative news reporting on the war on terror - or the Long War - as we are apparently supposed to call it now, and they accuse the media of taking a pessimistic slant on things!

I have covered the US attempts to cow the media earlier. The British attempts to cherry pick favourable media outlets began in Iraq as we approached the sensitive 100-dead mark. They have continued in Afghanistan, with at times near desperate attempts to prevent journalists getting to the frontline and clear attempts by the MoD to censor media organisations, of which the ITN experience is only the most recent.

Message to the Politicians - Let the Soldiers Get on with their Job!

British military commanders have struck a remarkable deal with the people of a war-torn town in southern Afghanistan to pull their men out in return for a Taliban undertaking to do the same. They agreed to a proposal from the elders of the town of Musa Qala for a “cessation of fighting” on condition the Taliban could be persuaded not to take over the town. The deal, which commanders insist is “a cessation of fighting” not a ceasefire, was thrashed out in a series of secret talks in a remote desert location south-east of Musa Qala. It is seen as a solution to the intractable problem of the British “platoon houses”, remote outposts set up in northern Helmand.

Ministers Refused to Give UK Commander the Troops he Needed

So now we know. Forget all the guff from ministers that “commanders on the ground have all the troops they asked for”. The British originally agreed to send another infantry battlegroup to southern Afghanistan to give the ISAF commander Lt-Gen David Richards a quick-reaction reserve force he could send anywhere to subdue Taliban attacks. That was the role Richards foresaw for 3 Para, with a light infantry battalion to be based in Helmand. But John Reid got so angry with other European Nato countries for not pulling their weight that he decided to cut back the UK’s contribution in an ill-advised attempt to push other Nato countries into providing more troops. In other words, contrary to the claims of ministers, the most senior commander on the ground did want more troops and the UK did refuse to give them to him.

Two Rorke's Drifts Waiting to Happen

The 12th soldier to be killed in action since British troops deployed to Helmand province in southern Afghanistan earlier this year has died overnight. A member of the Royal Signals, he was killed at Musa Qala, the fifth soldier to be killed there since the beginning of August. The other soldier killed in action this month died at Sangin. The deaths of British soldiers at Sangin and Musa Qala is a national scandal, widely ignored by the media. But there is a particular scandal relating to Musa Qala.

Another Rorke's Drift Waiting to Happen

Ten days ago, Lt-Gen David Richards, the new commander of Nato forces in southern Afghanistan, said he wanted to withdraw troops from their small outposts in the outlying towns of the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan and concentrate on creating safe zones around the provincial capitals that would allow reconstruction and help to persuade the Afghans that they could benefit from the presence of his troops. Yet last week, army spokesmen continued to say that any movement was some way off. With the death of another member of 3 Para today, seven of the eleven British soldiers killed in action in Helmand province have died at Sangin. How many more will die before they are pulled back?

Afghanistan 4: Too Little Too Late

The decision to send out a single company of infantry plus two platoons to reinforce our troops in southern Afghanistan demonstrates nothing other than the desperate state of the British infantry after five years of Blair’s Wars. Overstretched and understaffed, it seems army commanders do not have anywhere near the numbers of troops needed to fight two major enduring operational deployments, not to mention the smaller ones in Bosnia and Kosovo. Des Browne’s announcement of 900 extra troops for Afghanistan might sound impressive on the face of it but it was a just a pathetically clumsy conjuring trick designed to cover up the fact that he is only sending out 200 extra infantry.

Afghanistan 3: This War Can't Be Run on a Shoestring!

More than 200 SAS and SBS troops are being rushed out to Afghanistan this weekend to mount a major search and destroy operation against the Taliban. The force will double the number of UK special forces on the ground, with the intention of dealing the Taliban a sudden crippling blow, senior defence sources said. “They are there to cut the head off the snake,” one said. “We need to break the back of this offensive now in one fell swoop.”  Let's hope it works.

Afghanistan 2: What did the Generals tell the Politicians?

The fact that we don’t actually own the hearts and minds of the people of Helmand province is of course pretty obvious but neither that nor the horrendous start to the mission means that the concept is wrong. Certainly unless the politicians shed their pre-conceptions, it will prove to be a mission impossible, as the former defence chiefs predicted. But perhaps we should cut the politicians some slack here because the people who certainly should have known that the mission was impossible as drafted were the then defence chiefs.

Afghanistan 1: The Primrose Hill View of Winning Hearts and Minds

This blog has been banging on about the folly of Afghanistan for so long that it is difficult to know where to begin. John Reid’s disgraceful decision to limit the number of troops on the ground in the Taliban heartland; his ludicrous suggestion that British troops might achieve their mission without ever firing a shot - and what mission was it exactly because we have been given half a dozen so far, most of them conflicting with each other - or oh yes, the impression given to the people of Helmand province that the British troops were coming to steal their livelihood from them.

Apocalyptic View from Where Taliban Rules Again

The concerns expressed on this blog over the small numbers of troops available to military commanders in Afghanistan have not been eased by either the rather gung-ho reports from British reporters on the ground this week or this startlingly apocalyptic report from the LA Times. Two sides of the same story but which is the most accurate?

Too Few Troops in Afghanistan

There has been a great deal of controversy over the very small number of real infantry troops sent to southern Afghanistan, a point that was highlighted on this blog by one former paratrooper back in January. Even so former defence chiefs were shocked by the actual numbers of boots on the ground when they were briefed on the Afghan deployment by the current Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup a few weeks back. One of them went so far as to dub it a “mission impossible”.

Pakistan - A Useful Partner in the War on Terror?

There is a depressing story in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn about the illegal execution of Hayatullah Khan. He is the journalist who first reported that a US Hellfire missile fired from a Predator UAV had been responsible for the death of Abu Hamza Rabia. The alleged al-Qaeda number three was killed in an attack on a house in the Pakistani village of Haisori in December last year. Four other people were killed in the attack which should not be confused with the more notorious strike six weeks later aimed at Osama bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri in which some 18 civilians were killed. The use of such targeted assassinations, and the associated problems with “collateral damage” and legality were discussed in an earlier post but the fallout from this particular attack is much more sinister.

A Fragile Peace - Hearts and Minds in Action

Following my post Message to the Taliban a number of readers have asked me about the role of the Provincial Reconstruction Team the British paras will be protecting. Clearly the name itself tells us that reconstruction of the local facilities is central to its role. But the concept embodies far more than that. A PRT is a real "hearts and minds" operation in action. I wrote an article in the Telegraph Magazine a couple of years back on the work of the British PRT in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan which I reproduce here. Although the environment in Mazar and the surrounding area is much more permissive than it is in the south, it gives a good idea of the extent of the work carried out by these teams - and the British soldiers deployed with them.

A Fragile Peace

General Ustad Atta Mohamed is praying when Jackie Lawson-Smith arrives. His comfortable house seems out of place in the north-western Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, a sprawl of mud-brick houses. He is the local leader of Jamiat-i-Islami - the most powerful political and militia grouping in northern Afghanistan - and one of the two main warlords vying for power in the region. His militia fight for control of the roadside checkpoints that produce large sums in illegal tolls, and for a share of the drugs money from the poppy fields that litter the region.

Message to the Taliban - Don't Mess with the Paras

We’ll find out this week whether Dutch MPs are prepared to let their troops deploy to southern Afghanistan as part of the same Nato mission that will see British paratroopers patrolling Helmand province. Lt Col Stuart Tootal, the CO of 3 Para, the troops who will lead the UK battlegroup, said last week that army chiefs had promised him his men need not be afraid of facing courts martial if they took a tough line with anyone who pointed a gun in their direction. Let’s hope so because after the debacle of last year’s court martial of seven paratroopers over the killing of an Iraqi, the last thing the Paras will need is to have to justify every round they fire to the RMP Special Investigation Branch.