by Richard Gowan | May 20, 2008 | Conflict and security, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, UK
Since time immemorial, or at least the 1970s, British soldiers have liked to point out that they can “do” counter-insurgency thanks to their Northern Irish experience. When David Petraeus was attempting to drum up British interest in his Iraqi surge plan last year, he was quick to say that the Brits “really understand this kind of operation” because of their time in Ireland. But now British troops, no longer required to battle the IRA, stake their claim to expertise on, er, Iraq.
The Ministry of Defence has just published some rousing interviews with troops off to “reassure” Kosovo. Here’s a selection of the reassuring things they had to say:
“We’ve taken on Basra so Kosovo will have to seriously flare up for us to be put under pressure.”
“There’s nothing new or more difficult than what we will have done in Basra. The likelihood of enemy action will be significantly different to Basra; KFOR (the NATO Kosovo Force) is not in contact the way MND(SE) [Multi-National Division South East – Iraq] was in contact on an hourly basis.”
“Iraq was a bit of a surprise. The level of action increased from three or four mortar attacks a week to three or four a night by the time we left. My company fired 40,000 rounds in Iraq. That level of combat and experience is quite different. By and large it should be quiet in Kosovo, but if it does kick off, after Iraq I think people will be surprised by our robustness.”
So watch out Kosovo Serbs: you may think you’re in Mitrovica, but from now on you’re in Basra.
by Charlie Edwards | May 18, 2008 | Conflict and security, Global system, UK
Apropos of Alex’s post on the FCO’s new website, I’ve been checking out the MoD’s aptly named media blog ‘Defence News’ which like a tin of Ronseal doesn’t mix sophisticated narrative with insightful analysis but servers a single purpose: to defend the MoD against negative publicity and refute any allegation the press team can find. A taster:
A number of media cover the publication by the MOD of its Spring Performance report with some claiming that the armed forces are “seriously under strength”. The Armed Forces are stretched but Senior Military Officers advise that the situation is manageable.
Or
It is simply ludicrous to suggest that there is any truth to these offensive allegations. There is no shortage of personal kit or body armour in either Iraq or Afghanistan. All personnel are issued with sufficient supplies before being deployed on operations and there is no requirement for soldiers to buy or obtain their own boots, guns or shirts. Soldiers on the ground and their commanding officers regularly praise their equipment. I beg to differ.
These comments are interspersed with daily diaries of what Ministers are doing, images and an assortment of press releases. Think media communication 1.0 – for beginners. In short the MoD website needs an overhaul. All of which reminds me I am giving a talk at the Defence Image Projection and Reputation Management conference in June on the image of the armed forces in civilian environments.
by Daniel Korski | May 15, 2008 | Conflict and security, Europe and Central Asia, Influence and networks
General Richard Dannat, the head of the British army, once remarked that the British Armed Forces are less understood and less honoured for their commitment and sacrifice by ordinary Britons than in comparable societies, like United States, and probably even less than in earlier periods.
But this is not unique to Britain. And it is part of two broader inter-related trends; the disappearance of sacrifice as an element of Europe’s development and, as a result, the divorce of the institution most knows for sacrifice – the military – from European society.
The most obvious example is the disappearance of ex-military officers from politics. The appointment of Admiral Sir Alan West, the decorated former head of the Royal Navy, to a junior ministerial post in Gordon Brown’s government is remarkable precisely because it’s rare. Military experience has similarly become less important for reaching reach high office; no Ministers in the current Cabinet have served in the armed forces.
Few European countries appoint general officers to civilian positions; none serve at the top of the European Union’s bureaucracy, the Commission or the Council Secretariat. Of seven hundred European parliamentarians, only one was a former high-ranking officer: Philippe Morrilon, the former French UN general.
Contrast this with the United States, where, from George Washington onwards, military officers have regularly shed their uniforms to take high office.
(more…)
by David Steven | May 14, 2008 | North America, Off topic
Earlier today, I noted George Bush’s cretinous and insulting claim that he had given up golf in solidarity with American soldiers who are dying in Iraq. The move, he said, was prompted by the death of UN envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello:
“I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”
Bush said he made that decision after the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, which killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top U.N. official in Iraq and the organization’s high commissioner for human rights.
“I remember when de Mello, who was at the U.N., got killed in Baghdad as a result of these murderers taking this good man’s life,” he said. “I was playing golf — I think I was in central Texas — and they pulled me off the golf course and I said, ‘It’s just not worth it anymore to do.’”
Problem is de Mello was killed in August 2003 and Bush was still playing golf in October. Coincidentally, the President also had knee problems at the time though I am sure that had nothing to do with his decision…
by Charlie Edwards | May 14, 2008 | Global system, Influence and networks, UK
Tomorrow the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) will publish its annual report/ threat assessment. It will make for uncomfortable reading at the Home Office and No.10. The Agency is not living up to the great expectations officials placed upon it in 2006. In the febrile political atmosphere of Westminster you can be sure the Conservative and Lib Dems will want to scrutinize the organisation’s failings and the Government’s wider policy on organised crime (ironically called One Step Ahead). Failure to lower crime is still the political weapon of choice.
For a sense of what is to come its worth reading the transcript from Stephen Lander’s (former DG Security Service) and William (Bill) Hughes’ first visit to the Home Affairs select committee. But first the facts:
By the most conservative estimates, money laundering comprises between two and five percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).
The UNODC, roughly estimates that organised crime costs the global economy up to $1 trillion per year
In 2005, the UNODC estimated the global narcotics market at $322 billion—equivalent to a GDP ranking of roughly 30th in the world, measured against national economies, and roughly 75 percent of the total GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa
There has been a rapid expansion in the black market in counterfeit goods—now worth an estimated $400-$600 billion per year (before you stifle a yawn this includes parts for cars and areoplanes)
Preliminary research conducted by the Home Office into the economic cost of organised crime and estimated that the price could be as high as £40 billion a year – the abuse of Class A drugs estimated at £13 billion a year ‘at a highly conservative estimate’
These are serious numbers and show how big a business organised crime is. More than that it shows how organised crime acts as a cancer on society. But irrespective of how great the risk from organised crime is, the UK Government is in no position to do anything. SOCA’s budget has been frozen, resources and capabilities have been shifted elsewhere in Government to countering terorrism and enlarging the Intelligence agecnies; the MoD is focused on operational issues in Afghanistan and Iraq while the FCO recently dropped organised crime off its list of priorities. SOCA has become the orphan of Whitehall. A change of approach is needed.
