The Bewilderness

Basra 2007: Operation Sinbad Sails On

The everyday news from Basra gives little details on the ability of the coalition to combat Iranian infiltration into Shiastan. Does the announcement of a new security plan by the Basra police commander, Major-General Mohamed Al-Musawi, to protect mosques indicate a strong push by the government to eradicate militia influence? Public support may be encouraged by the establishment of military courts to try serious crimes. These appear to have taken place last year to complement the local authorities and try militia crimes (in badly worded English?).

On the other hand, [Military Court Judge Ghazi] Dawood said that, the court looked after cases of killing, kidnapping, cars steeling besides terrorism cases. He emphasized that their performances have the obvious effort in decreasing the crimes in the province through the last quarter of the past year, pointing of the arrangement between the security emergency committee existence in the administration positions besides the arrangement within the government forces and province's council from the other side.

The British Army is currently using Operation Sinbad to hand over the city of Basra to local security forces, with reconstruction investment as a sweetener for the provincial authorities. Operation Sinbad is progressing in co-operation with the central government, as the judicial activities reported here support. The central question is whether this is a precursor to the withdrawal of Britain from Iraq, or will the government adhere to US requests and maintain a reduced presence hunting Iranian infiltration?

Missing Supplies are a staple of war

One of the strong themes of these wars is the poor supplies that the British Army has to face. The latest report from the Defense Department Inspector General's Office reminds us that the armed forces are inherently inefficient and that not only the British Army faces shortages.

The Defense Department Inspector General's Office polled roughly 1,100 service members and found they weren't always adequately equipped for their missions. The troops were interviewed in Iraq and Afghanistan last May and June.

Those surveyed reported shortcoming with vehicles outfitted with armor; ``crew-served weapons,'' which are weapons it takes more than one person to handle, such as artillery or a large machine gun; electronic countermeasure devices, such as equipment designed to foil roadside bombs by interfering with cell-phone signals that may be used to detonate them; and communications equipment.

The survey found that those not getting needed gear include troops performing untraditional missions such as training, reconstruction, detainee operations and explosive ordnance disposal.

Soldiers on the ground will improvise to counter these problems, overcoming these shortages. That is also a strong theme of wars waged by the Anglo-Saxons. This does not excuse military bureaucracies, especially when supplies are pinched to fund prestige projects and result in the deaths of soldiers. The bureaucrats at the MOD still have blood on their hands.

No-one likes the Taliban around Musa Qala in Helmand, and the Afghanis do not like foreigners either. This makes strategies of 'hearts and mind' difficult, though the local extortionists that are renamed police under the backing of Kabul have an answer:

"I know people in the Taliban - they're in every village between here and Musa Qala. Every village has ten commanders - the people hate them, but they fear them. The villagers have no guns, but the Taliban do. We just need weapons to fight them. The British can help us, but then should give us the weapons and then go."

Robert Fox in the Guardian reports that British troops are reinforcing Helmand and that their deployment is planned to last beyond 2010. Again, the long-term nature of this deployment is clear when one sees how many factors undermine the possibility of success: the Taliban, Pakistani infiltration and   campaign of eradication for the opium poppy that enrages local famers. The description of the complex quilt that our troops have to navigate is a perfect killing ground for attrition:

A further complication is President Karzai's plan to renew selective eradication of poppy crops: with no compensation and no alternative means of production except a few thousand dollars' worth of seeds. This will enrage the farming communities along the fertile valley of the Helmand river. British counter-narcotic experts are against eradication - simply believing it doesn't work - and would prefer to go after the drug barons and warlords instead, but this might reach too close to the centres of power in Kabul itself and in the notoriously corrupt regional governments established by President Karzai.

The fight in Helmand and south-west Afghanistan is a mosaic of tribe and clan, like the patchwork of the land itself of mountain forts, wadis, cowering villages and mud-brick compounds. In this, the Taliban is one element, a very big, and dominant, one, even. "Goonda" - bandits - "mafia" is Abdul Razak's description of the Taliban. "And there's Pakistan, too."

On a positive note, the practical direction of the commanders on the ground, moving away from the negative consequences of eradication to breaking the bonds that tie jihadists, bandits and drug-barons. Is it not the case that the Mullahs use terror to enforce their aims, and that the experience of native security and prosperity will bury their influence for good?

The Granny Groomers

Who would wish to age? Not only are you at the prey of the damage caused to your own body, but you also prey to those who you trust the most: your family.

Greedy middle-aged sons and daughters are the people most likely to rob their parents of money, valuables and even their homes, according to a report today....

They show that far from the family being a haven for the elderly, many pensioners are victims of their close relatives' avarice and psychological cruelty. They are regarded as easy targets if they have disabilities or suffer dementia.Other "financial abusers" include friends or paid carers coming into the home on behalf of local authorities, known as "Granny Groomers" because they ruthlessly target older people for their profit.

However, the report shows that 53 per cent of theft, fraud and deception was committed by the victim's children.

Temptation proves too much for some who are unwilling to wait for  the deaths of their parents. Demographics plays a part here. The children think that they have a 'right' to the property of their parents. The costs of long-term care and inheritance tax can be subverted if the property is gained before the deaths of the parents. Indeed, they may argue that they are doing their parents a favour: removing the cares and burdens of property.

This is rationalising theft and betrayal. These abusers are thieves and insufficient care is taken by the courts or banks to ensure that a transfer of property is willingly undertaken.

The majority of victims were women, aged over 80.

The majority of perpetrators were sons or daughters aged 41 to 60.

The report says it is remarkably easy to gain control of an older person's finances. Many high street banks require little or no paperwork to give control of someone's bank accounts to a third party.

Campaigners for the elderly say even formal systems such as power of attorney, in which an elderly person gives another person the power to act on his or her behalf with regard to his or her property and financial affairs, and enduring power of attorney, in which power is given away if the elderly person becomes mentally incapable, are characterised by their "lack of regulation rather than as an excessive burden". There is no standardised version of a power of attorney and it can be purchased from some high street stores.

The pity of this is that the person capable of such an act probably works a desk away from you or passes you in the supermarket. This strikes me as a curiously English crime.

Friends of the Constitution

"Another two countries are determined to support the constitution. This means that only six countries, including the Czech Republic, will remain. These countries will have to decide whether they want to continue cooperating with the core of Europe or whether they want to again retreat from the European integration process," Posselt says.

Bernd Posselt, leader of the Sedeten German Society and an MEP for Bavaria has praised the Chancellor, Angela Merkel for demanding the Czech Republic to sign up to the European Constitution. Posselt may be supporting the initiative, since it favours restitution for properties seized after the War by the restored Czech Republic, desirous to remove irredentist elements from its polity, and abetted by the barbaric Red Army.

Posselt is merely echoing the 'friends of the constitution' who met under the auspices of Luxembourg and Spain over the weekend. The noises coming out of this meeting are not good for Europhiles in New Labour. Despite some willingness to show flexibility on some of the phrases, the 'friends of the constitution' wish to use the text as a base and add more areas of competence for integration. The mini-treaty favoured by the British, avoiding the need for a referendum, looks like a long shot. If Segolene Royal wins the French Presidential election and upholds her manifesto promise of another referendum, the tabloids will be howling for blood.

Mr Hoon suggested that moves to streamline decision-making in an enlarged EU could be agreed by the government without being ratified directly by voters.

A decision on a vote would be taken once the outcome of negotiations was clearer "bearing in mind that no previous government has held a referendum on the detailed processes that have been involved in treaty change", he said

Europhiles such as Hoon wish to shortcircuit a referendum, since they would lose their prize. This may form the final frontispiece of Balir's legacy, since the meeting on this occurs during the dying days of his premiership. Any warmed up document, with the title Constitution dropped to hide the fundamental and radical nature of the text, needs to be opposed as quickly as possible. New Labour, in this as in all other enterprises, is not a friend of the Union or the English. As for Cameron he may have tried to avoid Europe, but it has returned to force the issue upon him.

MOD Madness: Our National Champions Are French!

The Financial Times has a curious article on the hurdles that the Ministry of Defence  places in the path of European companies before it will view them as a 'national champion'. This begs the question how a foreign company can be considered to have this status unless the management and the workers maintain a defence presence in Britain with research and manufacturing capabilities.

EADS, the Franco-German behemoth, has not achieved this status. Despite a few contracts, such as Skynet and the private finance initiative for refuelling, the company is not favoured at the MOD.

However, it has been less successful in other areas and lags well behind its European rivals in terms of the size of its UK business. Paris-based Thales employs about 10,000 people in the UK and is viewed warmly by many at the MoD.

When EADS tried to buy Thales in 2004, one of the biggest objections was raised by the MoD, which was not thrilled at the prospect of having a company dominated by Franco-German political interests owning a large part of the UK defence industry.

Lord Drayson, the defence procurement minister, has publicly raised questions about the problem of political interference in EADS.

Defence procurement at the MOD is a mess. Lord Drayson has been a poor Minister and large projects have resulted in brutal cost-cutting elsewhere that has cost soldiers' lives. The strategy to maintain competition by fostering 'national champions' whilst favouring a European dimension has proved a costly failure. EU Referendum has mapped this out in great detail.

Since US firms are far more advanced and provide better equipment, is it not time to allow true competition and see whether continental champions can compete. Might do them some good.

Blair's Thatcher Moment

If you saw Tony Blair's interview with Sopel, and that form of words is right: the Prime Minister has always used the media. not vice versa; then, you, like I, will wonder what Britain he is experiencing:

In a bizarre interview with the BBC's Politics Show, Mr Blair said: I think in many ways the last 18 months has been our most radical, most bold on the domestic agenda.

Now it's also been the most difficult incidentally, but I think in time to come, for setting ourselves up as a political party for the next election, but also as a platform of change for the country, it has in many ways been the most productive period of internal domestic reform.'

Mr Blair has said he wants to attend an EU summit at the end of June as Prime Minister, and made clear he would be at the next G8 talks that month.

There is some indication that he may still wish to stay on after that. He does not sound like a man who wishes to step down and declined to endorse Brown. And desperate men are incline to undertake desperate measures to survive. Has Blair reached the Thatcherite stage of going on and on. Will he step outside the limitations of convention, psychologically assured that his country needs him, even though the UK does not really, you know, know it.

The aspect of this year that requires watching is the European Constitution. Merkel, the German Chancellor, has placed this infernal text back on the agenda, and Blair may view the destruction of the UK, subsumed in Europe, as the perfect legacy. Like Samson, he brings down the temple.

Nanotech: Developing Molecular Factories

British science has always surprised, even in these days of state-sponsored decline, as the sciences and  mathematics are abandoned  for the ease of pseudo academia and the people's targets. Now, a workshop has produced an interdisciplinary IDEAS factory, aiming at the development of a molecular manufacturing facility.

Nanofactories will use vast arrays of tiny machines to fasten single molecules together quickly and precisely, allowing engineers, designers and potentially anyone else to make powerful products at the touch of a button. In a single week of intense interdisciplinary work, an "IDEAS Factory on the Software Control of Matter" produced three ground-breaking research proposals that bring the nanofactory concept closer to reality. The project was sponsored by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a national science agency that also will fund the proposals.

One of the less well-known  aspects of nanotechnology is its interdisciplinary nature , ranging widely across the scientific professions and accepted categories, in patents and investment. This is one  development to monitor.

War on Terror: Community Before Security

The Telegraph has reported that stop and search powers by the police will be scaled back. This new policy would be received with confidence, if it was clearly stated that intelligence and analysis demonstrated the pitfalls of racial profiling, since Muslims from Pakistan by birth or descent, remain most likely to belong to jihadist groups. However, the reasons given are related to community policing, not to security. One reacts with alarm when Commander Richard Gargini of the Association of Chief Police Officers accuses his own forces of bias against Muslims, no doubt conjured up by that neologism Islamophobia.

He announced the plans in a speech to the Muslim Safety Forum at East London Mosque, in which he even accused British police forces of "bias" against Muslims.

At the same event in Whitechapel, Phil Woolas, the communities minister, accused the media of being skewed against Muslims.

Contrasting extensive coverage of Islamic extremism with the low prominence given to far-Right activities, he said: "I do think it is evidence of bias; and, more importantly, I understand why Muslim people- would think it is evidence of bias."

Mr Woolas cited a forthcoming court case involving an alleged bomb plot by British National Party supporters, which has received little coverage in the mainstream media but has been widely discussed on Muslim websites.

If intelligence strategy is to be modified, then the shibboleths of multiculturalism or community sensitivity must take a rear seat to the need for public protection. The Home Office already invites scepticism on this issue and, one again, the Government and those professions that sign up to the official ideology, send out confused signals.

No government can afford to allow bombings through incompetence. Confused signals to religious communities by downplaying their role will leas to further disaffection and even more distrust between the police, the security services and Islam. It should be made quite clear that mosques and Muslim groups that preach hate or support terrorism will be treated as seditious and shut down. By setting parameters for acceptable behaviour within our system of laws, Labour will promote assimilation.

Afghanistan: North Afghanistan Tourist Office

The Undersecretary of State at State, Nicholas Burns, stated that some NATO countries had responded favourably to calls for removing the strict rules of engagement that prevented their troops from redeployment to the south. Since these restrictions are often placed by the Parliaments who hold strong powers on troop deployments, such a noise was the United States providing hope rather than confirmation some NATO members had begun to recognise the freerider problem.

The freerider problem is also one faced by injured veterans, treated with disdain by the authorities. The latest reported scandal is a Territorial NCO, blown up by a Scud missile in Iraq, who found that the MOD was happy to receive his sacrifice in the forces, and pushed him to the back of the queue in civvie street.

Scott, 38, was blown up by an Iraqi Scud missile on the first day of the conflict in March 2003 and had horrific injuries to his spine, knees, shoulder and teeth.

At Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, a junior doctor told him he was just badly bruised and he was sent home to rest. In agony, he finally saw an Army doctor two months later and was told he needed ops on his spine.

"They said I'd have to go on a waiting list for 23 weeks," says former bank worker Scott, who is single and lives in Northampton. Instead, he paid for the £50,000 surgery.

There is a case for emulating the United States and setting up a Veterans Department, with its own Minister, responsible for ensuring that they are not forced to suffer crap junior doctors or NHS queues. I doubt the MOD will reimburse Scott, though they should be forced to, preferably from Hoon's and Brown's pockets.

After the NATO meeting, none of the issues have been resolved and the nascent tensions that could cripple the alliance remain as the lowhanging fruit of discord.