Cricket in Iraq and Afghanistan

More news that you are unlikely to come across in the msm. In Basra, the British Army has been introducing Iraqi children to the noble game through Kwik Cricket, a flexible form of the sport developed by the England and Wales Cricket Board in consultation with educationalists mainly for use by children from the age of 5 in primary schools. Both the Ministry of Defence and the ECB have reports.

The splendid Major Andrew Banks, who never deploys without his cricket bat, also ran a similar scheme in Afghanistan last year. He told the ECB that the Iraqi children had little concept of bat and ball games and they "... never quite understood the lbw law but they enjoyed themselves and that was what mattered." No problem. I have known umpires who never understood the lbw law either.

Last year the Afghan national team played its first match against the MCC, as result of which two Afghans were invited to join the MCC Young Cricketers and later in 2006 the Afghans toured England, playing at quite a good standard against county 2nd XIs.

Tags: Afghanistan, Basra, Cricket, Iraq

British forces at war: as witnessed by an American.

Michael Yon blogs from Basra, Iraq, where he is with 5 Platoon, 2nd Battalion, "The Rifles" Battle Group. It is an article full of insights about the dangers being faced daily by our troops.

One thing that struck me was Yon's observations that the soldiers' missions were being made more dangerous, and their lives threatened, by a lack of helicopter support:

...The ensuing firefights were vigorous. As more enemy joined and the battle progressed, British elements maneuvered and fired, making adjustments to the plan to mold the fight. With no helicopters above to help develop ground awareness or to help shape the combat by engaging targets, British commanders directed their elements by map and ground-feel. Having no helicopters also left rooftops open to the enemy, adding another dimension to the combat.

It seems a depressingly similar story to the long running, scandalous helicopter shortage in Afghanistan.

Tags: Basra, Iraq, Rifles Battle Group, Yon

Safrang

A pointer to an informative blog on Afghanistan I came across recently. Safrang is well worth bookmarking. The About section says,

Safrang recognizes that there is a dearth of serious English language blogs on Afghanistan reflecting the national perspective and aims to play its small part in filling this void.

That has a familiar ring. A major reason for my starting this blog was the dearth of any serious press coverage in the UK, a void which needed filling. Safrang though, unlike CS, is actually written by an Afghan so it contains a lot of insights not actually available to the outsider. I report the news as best I can, Safrang gets inside it.

Tags: Blogging, Safrang

Operation Achilles in Helmand.

Operation Achilles, the ISAF's major anti-Taliban offensive in Helmand, Afghanistan has been continuing this week with series of joint Afghan-British strikes targeted against terrorist leaders in the north of the province. According to an ISAF press statement:

... in joint operations with Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), ISAF launched a series of attacks and precision strikes against Taliban extremist in the Northern Helmand this week resulting in the elimination of several key extremist leaders from the ongoing insurgency.

“Striking at the heart of the problem and removing these key leaders has paid off,” stated Major General Ton van Loon, Commander of Regional Command South. “We fully realize the influence these Taliban extremist leaders have on the population of Southern Afghanistan who have clearly told us they felt like they where hostages in their own communities. Removing these extremist leaders from the equation allows freedom of choice to young men who are otherwise intimidated and coerced to join the Taliban extremists in the South,” he added.

Afgha.com summarises the latest state of play in the province with useful links to contextual material. Basically, a mixed picture emerges with ISAF success in retaking control of Sanguin being offset by continuing Taliban dominance of the Musa Qala, Now (New) Zad and Bagrhan districts. Afgha.com concludes that,

The recent offensive launched by NATO against the Taliban militants holed up in Helmand [Operation Achilles] is likely the beginning of a summer long campaign aimed at securing the Kajaki dam complex in northern Helmand and securing the ring highway (highway 1) that cuts through Afghanistan’s southern underbelly, stretching from Herat to Kabul.

The BBC has a few earlier pictures from Operation Achilles.

Tags: Afghanistan, ISAF, Taliban

Hilary Benn in New York

Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary, is taking his campaign to be deputy leader of the Labour Party to New York, where he will address the lefty think tank, the Centre for International Co-operation. According to the Daily Telegraph, Benn will say that the British government will no longer use the term "war on terror" because it helps to reinforce extremist groups. Benn's logic seems to be that the term "War on Terror" benefits terrorists, whereas the UK government's craven surrender to the Iranian government terrorists does not. The Guardian also has a report.

No doubt a bit of good ol' fashioned Bush-bashing will play well with the Labour left, even more so if it is actually done in America. What a way to run a government. Whatever it is called, the fight against terror has nothing to do with Benn's department, whose policy remit is to abolish poverty by dispensing aid to the Third World, so that dictators can continue to enjoy a life of luxury. Dealing with foreign countries is traditionally the sphere of the Foreign Office. However, as this government descends further and further into chaos, ministers increasingly trample over each other's policy areas in pursuit of the deputy leadership.

Anyway, I have never thought much of the term, "war on terror". As Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, pointed out last October, the war against Islamic terrorists is in fact a war to defend western values against Islam. So let us do away with mealy-mouthed euphemisms such "war on terror" and call the defence of Christendom against the infidels what it really is: a Crusade.

Ranting Stan has a very good piece on the affair, asking if politicians ever listen to themselves. I am not sure but they do not seem to listen to anybody else.

Tags: War on Terror.

Private Chris Gray. (Updated)

The Ministry of Defence has announced the 53rd British fatality in Afghanistan: Private Chris Gray, 19, of the Royal Anglian Regiment, has been killed in a Taliban ambush at Now Zad, Helmand, Afghanistan.

Private Gray's routine patrol,

...was attacked by the Taliban; employing small arms, heavy machine guns, rocket propelled grenades, mortars and rockets.

As lead elements of the patrol were pinned down by enemy fire, Private Gray’s Platoon manoeuvred to support their comrades and out-flank the enemy. Private Gray was the point man in his Platoon – selected for this position as a result of his outstanding soldiering skills.

As they manoeuvred, Private Gray’s section observed a group of armed Taliban fighters at close range, whom they immediately engaged. A fierce firefight ensued at a range of just 15 metres, during which a small number of Taliban were killed.

Tragically, during the battle Private Gray was shot and despite the best efforts of his colleagues and medical staff was pronounced dead on arrival at the British Hospital at Camp Bastion.

The MOD obituary says that,

...Private Gray joined the British Army in March 2006 and, having completed training as an infantry soldier at the Infantry Training Centre Catterick, he joined the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment in September 2006.

He was born in Leicester and attended the Holmfirth School in Huddersfield. Among his many interests he had a love of outdoor life and was a keen snowboarder.

Private Gray has two younger brothers and a younger sister. He was a former pupil of Ratby Primary and Brookvale High Schools, and later attended Groby Community College, Leicestershire.

More from the BBC and the local press in Huddersfield and in Leicester.

Update: Life and Death on the M*A*S*H Shift: the Guardian has a moving account from Helmand of Private Gray's death in the context of the army medics who treated him.

Tags: Afghanistan, Anglian Regiment, Chris Gray, Helmand.

A Tale of the Raj from Waziristan

The Hindustan Times has an entertaining, story from an Indian British Army officer. Little seems to have changed since the days of the Raj, when Waziristan was part of India and of the British Empire. I wonder if the women behave the same.

Tags: Waziristan, World War II

Pakistani army in South Waziristan.

The western mainstream media are beginning to pick up on the recent battles between the Taliban and al-Qaeda in South Waziristan.

In the UK, the Daily Telegraph focuses on Pakistani army's "marriage of convenience" with the Taliban.

Over the pond, the LA Times joins the DT in highlighting President Musharraf's acknowledgement for the first time that the Pak army is supporting the Taliban against the Uzbeks.

The BBC has a video news report from the area.

Uzbek casualties are currently being reported as 300 dead.

Tags: Pakistan, South Waziristan, Taliban

British army in Basra fightback:

Last week Iranian-sponsored Shia terrorists killed six British troops in Basra:Kingsman Danny Wilson, Rifleman Aaron Lincoln and in the most notorious incident, Second Lieutenant Joanna Yorke Dyer, Corporal Kris O’Neill, Private Eleanor Dlugosz and Kingsman Adam James Smith.

On Tuesday, the British army struck back:

An armoured force of 400 troops from the 2Bn The Rifles and 2Bn The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, both of which suffered fatalities last week, entered the Shia Flats area on the western outskirts of Basra to search for hidden weapons.The district is notorious as one of the most dangerous in southern Iraq.

"We wanted to make quite clear there's nowhere in Basra we cannot go," a British commander told The Daily Telegraph yesterday. "We are prepared to be there in daylight and take whatever comes our way. We are not being bombed out or intimidated."

At the time of posting, as far as I can see, the only broadsheet to carry the story is only the Daily Telegraph.

Tags: Basra, Iraq.

No Sarah's Law for the UK.

Last Sunday, the News of the World ran a story proclaiming that, as a result of the paper's campaigning for a Sarah's Law, the Home Office was to pilot a scheme allowing parents to know if paedophiles were living in their area. Now it turns out that a rag hardly famed for the accuracy of its reporting has been fed a load of rubbish by Home secretary John Reid.

In typical Noo Labour style, the trumpeted pilot is little more than a headline grabbing propaganda exercise. Nothing will change. The Daily Telegraph has rumbled Reid's game.

Both the Times and the Independent run stories that parents are in fact to be denied the right to know of any dangerous sex offenders living locally. The Home Office is not saying anything.

Tags: Child protection, Home Office, John Reid, Sarah's Law

Terrorist fall out.

Reports are emerging of clashes between Afghan Taliban and Uzbek al-Qaeda forces in South Waziristan. Global Terrorism Analysis carries an article entitled The Turf War in South Waziristan which says that current conflicts between the two parties, as reported in Dawn, " ...is a turf war that began to brew soon after the Taliban's victory over government troops in neighboring North Waziristan."

Global Terrorism references reports in Dawn on 5 April and on 6 April (filed on the 6th but in the 7 April edition). Other recent, related articles from Dawn are Dozens Killed As Tribesmen Attack Foreign Militants and , Tribesmen Seek Air Support Against Uzbeks.

The Daily Times also picks up the story, saying that the defeated Uzbeks are probably heading to North Waziristan.

Although al-Qaeda being on the receiving end of a good hiding is nothing to worry about, there must be some concern that, in consolidating their hold in western Pakistan, the Taliban is thereby posing an ever greater threat to ISAF forces in Afghanistan.

Tags: al-Qaeda, Pakistan, Taliban, Waziristan

The Foreign Office on Iran.

Despite the humiliation of the United Kingdom by Iran, the chaps at the Foreign Office are feeling jolly pleased with themselves. So pleased that, in order to demonstrate how clever they are, they have complied a list of FO statements issued throughout the affair. Moreover, a smug Lord Triesman, (formerly a trade union thicko but now transformed into a sophisticated FO departmental minister) went on the BBC at the weekend and crowed about how wonderfully the Foreign Office dealt with the crisis.

Tags: Foreign Office, Iran.