Of War and Other Idiocies

At least 21 people were killed today in a series of bomb blasts across Baghdad. RICHARD LUTZ reports on how this story will never end. And just never should be forgotten.

UK foreign policy key to tackling extremism

Reyhana Patel dares to raise the possibility that UK foreign policy may be the real issue that’s ignored when tackling extremism in the UK

Better This Time? Afghanistan as the “Graveyard of Empires” 1979-2014

The 25th anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal announcement by the Soviet Union

The Super Bowl, Politics and Afghanistan

The annual Super Bowl is gone. But it summons up images that America wants to ignore, says Richard Lutz

Foreign Office at odds with the MOD

Andy Goff drones on about government hypocrisy and inter-departmental confusion over killing people.

The hypocrisy of Obama and the media

Robin Clarke has been watching the news unfold over the last few days and smells the stink of hypocrisy.

The UK Way

From Richard Lutz Britain says torture is illegal. And continually and stridently has it said that. So there is no way that Tony Blair’s administration has ever kidnapped a man, his wife and his children, forced them onto a dark plane, flown them halfway round the globe, offered them up to a murderous tyrant and…

Recording conflict casualties: A vital effort that NATO must join

“Who is responsible for recording and documenting the names of the dead?”, asks NATO Watch director Ian Davis

Droneworld

More drone attack planes for Britain. But what’s behind it, asks Richard Lutz

Wounded at Birmingham Rep

As British military casualties continue to return from the war in Afghanistan, Wounded – an emotional new play by Jenny Stephens – tells the stories of two soldiers, fighting a century apart

Besmirching the memory

According to its website the British National Party (BNP) is to pay Birmingham a visit on Sunday, October 7th, in its guise as the “British Veterans’ Group”.

Transatlantic survey reveals NATO has still to convince public that Alliance is essential for their security

The German Marshall Fund has recently released its eleventh Transatlantic Trends survey. It charts US and European public opinion on a range of transatlantic issues, including foreign policy challenges, support for NATO, the economy, and the rise of other world powers.

Helmand: Six Years On From the First Military Death…And What?

by Richard Lutz In June 2006, Captain James Phillipson, died while rescuing ambushed colleagues in Helmand Province. He was Britain’s first combat casualty in that bleak part of Afghanistan. Today UK forces are still there, protecting, patrolling and fighting in this benighted patch of earth. And last week, The Ministry of Defence had the…

Afghanistan: Of Victims and Heroes

As the bodies of six UK soldiers are repatriated to Britain, Richard Lutz takes a look at a murderous tragedy where the Afghani dead are forgotten and the alleged killer cast as victim No sooner do they arrest the US soldier who slaughtered 16 Afghanis then the media propaganda war begins. And it isn’t subtle.…