How Do We Win the Afghan War?
Deciding when you’ve won a battle is hard enough. Once upon a time, this was decided by Heralds from both sides, who argued it out then the combatants’ leaders agreed to the decision. If...
Category: Military
How to deal with Stalkers, Muggers & Road Ragers
Being followed isn’t nice no matter who you are – and can be the beginning of a crime in which you are the victim. You have to trust your instincts in deciding if this...
“Marine A”: are we too flakey with liberal confusion to support our own people?
So, in Sergeant Alexander Blackman’s ill-fated, video’d patrol, what was going on? Sadly all we know about now, after much investigation and even more nonsense in the media and blogosphere, are the defensive posturings...
Sergeant A – headcams and the Snuff Movie defence
One worst-case possibility in the “Sergeant A” Afghanistan murder trial, is that the patrol were trying to make a snuff movie. The puerile taped dialogue sounds that way. But that’s looking at it from...
Security Forces’ “Crimes” in Northern Ireland
What are now regarded as crimes in Northern Ireland, used to be, not very long ago, considered acts of heroism, resistance to tyranny and patriotism. Songs were written about them, Guinness and Bushmills drunk,...
We should be remembering Veterans while they’re still alive.
You’ve probably seen this story – about a WW2 Bomber Command veteran who died without family or friends in a nursing home. This obituary led to a call for people to attend his funeral....
After Afghanistan: getting back to “normal”….
I was down with my old military unit today – at Poole in Dorset. With their last Afghanistan deployment behind them, they’ve been training very hard to get everybody back to the unit’s proper...
Self-Awareness as a Survival Mechanism – and Duty
An article in the New Yorker triggered off some ideas I’ve been thinking about for the past few days. It was a about an agency setting itself up to sell celebrities’ free time for...
A Litmus Test for War: Britain’s National Interests
By accident, the United Kingdom has done “The Right Thing” with regard to Syria.One could argue that this is how democracy operates; by cutting through the politicking to what people really think when it’s...
Consequences of All British Military Action Requiring Parliamentary Approval
After the the bugled debate on whether Britain should take military action against Syria and its chemical weapons, parliamentary voices are now demanding that the Prime Minister be stripped of his legal right to...
