First We Took Afghanistan. Then We Gave Them Iraq

First we took away Al-Qaeda’s base in Afghanistan. Then we gave them a new one in Iraq. Strip away the treachery and deceit, murder and mayhem of the last twelve and a half years, and that’s all that remains. In 2001, we went to war to chase Al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan. I was there. I watched the bombs fall, and I saw the bodies. Al-Qaeda were holed up in the poorest country on earth. They practically had to run their global jihad out of a cave. They were out on the fringes, cut off … [Read more...]

The Return of Al-Qaeda: why we should be worried about jailbreaks in Pakistan and Iraq

So, just over a week since the Al-Qaeda Jailbreak in Iraq, now we have the Taliban Jailbreak in Pakistan. It doesn't take much to tell that this was no coincidence. No, what it means is that, far from being a spent and broken force, the Al-Qaeda movement founded by Osama bin Laden is alive and dangerous. Eight days after spectacular raids by militants on two prisons in Iraq freed 500 inmates, among them some of the most dangerous Sunni extremists from the civil war, comes a remarkably … [Read more...]

Dead Sri Lankans don’t count

What is it about Sri Lanka? Footage emerges which appears to show that Sri Lankan soldiers summarily executed a 12-year-old boy then filmed his corpse as a trophy. A cabinet minister threatens to "break the limbs" of journalists and human rights activists, and claims responsibility for the savage beating of a journalist who fled the country in 2009. And yet the tourists keep on flocking to Sri Lanka's beaches. The England cricket team is back in town, ready to play another series. … [Read more...]