www.britainsheros.co.uk

British soldier killed in explosion in Afghanistan

A British soldier has died after being injured in an explosion in Afghanistan, said the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The soldier from 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards, died after the blast in the Babaji area of Helmand Province.

He died "doing his duty" said Task Force Helmand spokesman Lt Col David Wakefield. Next of kin have been told.

His death - the 99th UK fatality this year - brings the number of British military personnel killed on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 to 236.

www.britainsheros.co.uk



January Conference To Decide Afghanistan Exit

Gordon Brown will host an international conference on January 28, 2010 to decide a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai will be asked to commit to boosting his country's army, police and local governance, the Prime Minister announced at the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago.

Mr Karzai will be required to:

:: Provide 50,000 troops for training over the next year;

:: Improve the capacity of the police force;

Recruit governors at regional and district level who are free from corruption and can deliver services to the Afghan people.

Mr Brown said the milestones would create the conditions for control of Afghanistan to be handed over, district by district, to homegrown authorities and for UK troops to come home.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will attend the London conference, along with Mr Karzai and representatives of many of the 43 nations who are involved in the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

Mr Brown said he was also hopeful that an additional 5,000 troops for Afghanistan would be offered by other Nato countries by the time of the London conference, though he declined to say which states might put forward forces.

www.britainsheros.co.uk

Brown Urges Timetable For Afghan Reforms

Gordon Brown has told the President of Afghanistan that he risks losing international support if he fails to implement crucial reforms.


The Prime Minister says he wants an extra 5,000 Afghan forces trained in Helmand province by next year, and he wants details on reform of the police and government.

Mr Brown told Sky's political editor Adam Boulton that more progress must be made in Pakistan to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, adding that Britain is prepared to help re-build its education system.

Britain will host an international conference on January 28 to decide a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.

Mr Brown said: "I will want to know that by the time we get to January 28 we have a credible plan in place from President Karzai so that we can train Afghan troops.

"Within three months of that I feel we should also have a credible plan about how he's going to reform the police service in Afghanistan... and within six months he has got to have appointed district and provincial governors."

Mr Brown said the milestones would create the conditions for control of the country to be handed over, district by district, to home-grown authorities and for UK troops to come home.

He also told Sky News that people in Pakistan know where Osama Bin Laden is and the country's government must take action against al Qaeda within its borders.

:: Nine thousand US Marines will be deployed to Afghanistan within days of Barack Obama's announcement of his new war strategy, it is being reported.

The Washington Post claims the extra troops will double the size of the US force in the southern province of Helmand, where large numbers of British forces are based.

President Barack Obama will outline his latest strategy on Afghanistan on Tuesday.

www.britainsheros.co.uk

Targets Afghan President Karzai must meet are set by PM

Gordon Brown has said Afghanistan's president will be set targets by the international community for training Afghan forces and tackling corruption.

Mr Brown said Hamid Karzai would be expected to give commitments at a conference in London on 28 January.

The prime minister confirmed the international conference plans at the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad.

Mr Karzai will face targets of ensuring 50,000 troops for training and barring corrupt provincial governors, he said.

Mr Brown made the announcement alongside United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who will be at the conference.

The pair have been discussing strategy for Afghanistan at the summit.

'Political push'

They will be joined in London by Mr Karzai, who was recently installed for a second term as president, and representatives of the 43 nations making up Nato's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

Mr Brown also made it clear that international troop levels would rise in the short term.

US President Barack Obama is expected to make an announcement on the subject next week.

The prime minister said: "What we need is a political push to match the military push we're now agreeing to.

"And that means that President Karzai has got to accept that there will be milestones by which he's going to be judged and he's got to accept that there will be benchmarks which the international community will set."

He said the targets would enable control to be handed over to Afghan authorities and pave the way for British troops to return home.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says Mr Brown has never been blunter in dictating terms to Mr Karzai.

www.britainsheros.co.uk

The Black Watch



Ive added links to some great sites regarding the Black Watch Battalion. Doing a great job in Afghanistan.

www.britainsheros.co.uk


Iraq's WMDs Did Not Concern Officials In 2001


Iraq was "not top of the list" of countries worrying British officials concerned with halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction in 2001.

On the second day of the Iraq inquiry public hearings, Foreign Office officials said they believed Saddam Hussein's nuclear programme had been dismantled and had no evidence he was trying to supply WMDs to terrorists.

Sir William Ehrman, who was director of international security at the Foreign Office, said ministers had been warned repeatedly that intelligence on Iraq's chemical and biological programmes was "patchy".

Despite the warnings, Tony Blair told the Commons Saddam Hussein did have chemical and biological weapons when he made the case for war on the eve of the invasion in March 2003.

Sir William listed a series of briefings to ministers which included major caveats about the strength of the intelligence.

Just days before the invasion the Government had even received intelligence that Saddam may be unable to use his chemical weapons.

"We did, I think on March 10, get a report that chemical weapons might have remained disassembled and Saddam hadn't yet ordered their assembly," he said.

"There was also a suggestion that Iraq might lack warheads capable of effective dispersal of agents."

However Sir William said that it had not made any difference to the case for war over Saddam's refusal to give up his WMD and co-operate with United Nations inspectors.

Tim Dowse, who was head of counter-proliferation at the Foreign Office, said that when he took up the post in 2001 Iraq was not seen as the main concern.

"It wasn't top of the list," he said. "I would say we put Libya and Iran ahead of Iraq."

He said that despite concerns in the United States, there was no evidence that Saddam was prepared to supply chemical or biological weapons to terrorists.

"There had been nothing that looked like a relationship between the Iraqis and al Qaida," he said.

"In fact, after 9/11 we concluded that Iraq actually stepped further back. They did not want to be associated with al Qaeda. They weren't natural allies."

Mr Dowse said that he had originally attached little importance to intelligence claiming the Iraq had weapons it could deploy within 45 minutes, which subsequently featured heavily the Government's notorious Iraq dossier.

"Speaking personally, when I saw the 45 minutes report, I did not give it particular significance because it didn't seem out of line with what we generally assessed to be Iraq's intentions and capabilities with regard to chemical weapons," he said.

Article from www.skynews.com

www.britainsheros.co.uk

Iraq inquiry told of 'clear' threat from Saddam Hussein


The UK government "distanced itself" from talk of removing Saddam Hussein in early 2001 despite concerns about his threat, the Iraq inquiry has been told.

Sir Peter Ricketts, a top intelligence official at the time, said it was assumed it was not "our policy" despite growing talk in the US about the move.

On the first day of public hearings, four senior diplomats and advisers gave evidence on the war's origins.

The inquiry chairman has said he hopes to conclude his report in late 2010.

Relatives of some of the 179 UK service personnel killed in Iraq gathered outside the venue in central London where the hearings are being held, as did a number of anti-war protesters.

The long-awaited investigation into the UK's involvement in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, the war itself and its aftermath, is expected to last for more than a year.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair will be among the future witnesses.

Tuesday's session looked at UK foreign policy towards Iraq in the lead-up to the war, which began in 2003.

Asked about the threat posed by Iraq in early 2001, Sir Peter Ricketts, who was the then chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee - which oversees MI5, MI6 and GCHQ - said it was palpable.

Sir Peter, now Head of the Diplomatic Service, said there was a "clear impression" that Saddam had a "continuing intention" to acquire weapons of mass destruction, having used them in the past.

Impact of 9/11

However, Sir Peter said there was no-one in the UK government in 2001 "promoting or supporting" regime change, as it was assumed "it was not our policy that we were seeking the removal of Saddam Hussein".

While there were "voices" in Washington calling for Saddam to be removed even before the Bush administration came to power in early 2001, this did not result in a change to the longstanding policy of trying to contain Iraq through sanctions, he said.

Sir William Patey, then head of the Middle East Department at the Foreign Office, said the UK had been aware "of the drumbeats from Washington" when it came to regime change but wanted to "stay away from that end of the spectrum".

Sir William - now ambassador to Saudi Arabia - acknowledged that international support for the sanctions policy in place against Iraq since 1991 - which underpinned the policy of containment - was steadily breaking down at the time.

However, asked whether this policy - which critics said was ineffective and which was actually hurting the Iraqi people - could have "kept Saddam caged" indefinitely, he replied "possibly".

Full report can be found on the BBC's website