Five hours before the landing craft of the Allied invasion force hit their target – the Normandy beech heads – 23,000 paratroopers from the British 6th Airborne Division, American 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, boarded aircraft in airfields throughout southern England for the hour long flight to Normandy, and the … Read More
Charlie Wilson’s War, the 2007 blockbuster in which Tom Hanks plays the flamboyant US Congressman, initiated – with the help of the CIA – what is probably ‘the biggest covert operation in history’. It was called Operation Cyclone, and involved the supply of arms to the beleaguered Afghanistan forces that were facing the Soviet invasion … Read More
With counting reaching the half way mark in the Afghan elections, there appears to be clear a favourite. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah – the runner up to President Karzai in the 2009 elections – is way ahead of his nearest rival, the ex warlord and technocrat Ashraf Ghani, with Rassul – the candidate favoured by the … Read More
I was amazed to read this article in the Daily Mail about how the trainer of the 7/7 bombers was allowed to open a primary school in Ilford, Essex. Spending on counterterrorism in the UK has grown significantly from £1b in 2001, to £3.5b in 2010, but even with this huge sum being used to mitigate this … Read More
Afghanistan, ‘The Grave Yard of Empires’, – as it has become known – consists of 34 provinces, the most infamous of which – its name now synonymous with death and destruction – being Helmand. The following is a short account of my involvement there during 2010 – 2011, and is written in respect and admiration … Read More
Wednesday the 12th February saw a rocket attack against a Mercedes Benz office in Athens. The rocket missed the complex and detonated harmlessly in waste ground, but this is the second violent incident involving German institutions in recent months, the other being shots fired at the German ambassadors residence in December. Is it just anger – … Read More
Having just read Marc Sagemans‘ acclaimed book ‘Understanding Terror Networks’, and then reading this article, one can help but see a a pattern emerging. It is widely accepted, that the last part of the radicalisation processes of violent jihadists is that of joining a training camp. There they can meet likeminded individuals, gain terrorist skills … Read More
I heard the explosion. It was muffled, but distinctive. I looked at my watch and noted the time, 19.22hrs on the 18th January. A mile away in central Kabul at La Taverna – a popular Lebanese restaurant – customers were cowering under their tables waiting to be executed by merciless gunmen. La Taverna was a popular ex-pat … Read More
Warning: This blog contains graphic images Jalalabad, Bishud bridge, Eastern Afghanistan, June 2010. Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar Province in Eastern Afghanistan. It is 150km to the east of the Kabul and is set at the confluence of two large rivers, the Kabul and Kunar, tributaries of the great Indus river which they meet … Read More
Damascus, Syria, December 2008 I had a few months to spare and decided to try to work on my poor Arabic which I had acquired in Iraq. My research narrowed my linguistic pursuit down to two areas: Yemen or Damascus. I chose Damascus and had a great time. … Read More
