Archive for the ‘World conflict’ Category

British Radical muslims fighting for Al Quaeda?

Posted: August 13, 2012 in World conflict
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
1

The world watches an agonising struggle within Syria’s borders between the free Syrian army and the military commanded by the countries apparent ruler Bashir Al-Assad. However there’s a darker more menacing battle occurring in this inhospitable piece of land, that of the Jihadists.

 The Jihadists are a group containing members from all over the world; these radical Muslims are in the country for anything but trying to end the civil war that rages on around the innocents of Syria. Their aim is to convert the country of Syria into a radical sharia law abiding state, similar to that of Afghanistan with the Taliban. The group of course have links with Al Qaeda, in their eyes violence, not only on established enemies but also the use of weapons of mass destruction, and most notably, acts of violence towards innocent civilians, is encouraged meet the groups aims, since in their eye’s anyone killed in their ‘righteous jihad’ will be sent to heaven, and any infidels will be sent to hell.

 Recently a Syrian state TV anchor was executed, two British photographers were abducted and held hostage for a number of days before being uneasily released, but not before threats were made on their lives. These threats were made by none other than British nationals. Knives were sharpened before the innocent photographers eyes. The men brandishing the blades that would be used to sever their heads are members of our country, when their work is done in Syria they will return to our society, live in our streets, shop in our shops. The same has been seen in conflicts throughout the world, Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt. Do these people have any place in a British society?

 ImageBritish citizens are among the murderous Jihadist groups polluting the already turbulent situation in Syria. Their number’s stretch across the country and are responsible for countless attacks on UN convoys. Although in some areas they work with, alongside the free Syrian army, other groups almost appear to be sympathetic to Assads regime. What will happen once the weapons of Bashir Al-Assad are put down? Will it be the end of the fighting or will it spiral into another Iraq type conflict. Uneasy peace being blown to pieces by the roadside bomb. Yet another tarnished country added to the list engulfed in sectarian violence. Nigeria has been plagued with such violence, most recently with the attack on churches. Yemen, another society in turmoil down to the peaceful religion of Islam being interpreted by the tempestuous few. 

Just another night in 1941

Posted: July 30, 2012 in World conflict
0

Swinging in the dark air he looks above him with a final effort, the aircraft floats majestically, the bright flames pour from one side surrounded by beautiful lights exploding, lighting the night’s sky. The ghostly figure begins to swirl and tumble towards the white ground, it passes close by the still swinging man, knocked unconscious from the past 5 minutes events and the view that surrounds him. An overwhelming flash rises away from the bright ground, and the flames continue to lick through the trees. The man floats alone; the remainder of the 7-man crew remain part of the now dilapidated flaming wreck in the trees below.

 ImageHis dreams echo back to the last 24 hours, the details of their flight path, the target, the final fair-well to the coast, darkness surrounds the aircraft after just a few minutes, and looking around from the nose of his Lancaster It begins to almost impossible to view the other 1046 giants floating past him. The flight is kept short by the vast conversation between him 6 best friends, friends that have kept each other alive for 20 missions. Every night they enter the hornet’s nest, but together every night they have returned. Approaching the target the view before them never seems any less incredible. A wall of fire. A seemingly impossible amount of explosives pass but metres from their ship. Around them aircraft tumble, they drop, they twist, they explode.

 A great rumble shakes the Lancaster to its very seams, looking out to one side the fire corkscrews into the sky; the heat can be felt through the skin of the aircraft. “Lads I’ll hold her steady! Bail out, I’m right behind you” is the voice from the captain, he bravely grasps the controls enabling the crew, most of which are already dead to escape. Our lonely figure grabs his parachute and heads for the nose escape hatch. Shut. No panic, no fear just an overwhelming urge to get to the back of the now flaming plane, jumping through the door he’s met with a rush of flaming air, “bang” legs smash off the tail, the man falls, spiralling, face raw legs crushed.

 The floor comes all to quickly, and striking the snowy ground the parachute falls over the forever-disabled hero. Five hours later he is caught by the Germans, he will survive his injuries, and live life in a camp, among his peers. In January 1945 he will embark on his final walk, on crutches in a polish winter, this will ultimately be his demise.

50,000 members of royal air force bomber command were killed in the Second World War. No medal was ever handed to them throughout their campaign; no memorial would be created in their honour. They were forgotten, their sacrifice not recognised for far too many years. 

Africa, a history in violence

Posted: June 13, 2012 in World conflict
Tags: , , , , ,
3

In 1994 a small country in central Africa overnight turned on its self. The population was decimated. Described as being the most efficient killings since the atomic bombs, in 100 days an entire race of people was brought to its knees and very nearly completely removed from existence. This country was Rwanda and no accurate numbers have ever been placed on the amount of people who died in this obscene violence. The culture shattered was that of the Tutsis, they were enticed in the village churches where they were then slaughtered, machete rape and rifle were the weapons of choice, the world stood by, families turned on one another because there mothers father’s uncle was a Tutsi, and an unimaginable horror was the result.

Once again this area of central Africa has erupted in rebel violence, the group known as M23 (named after a peace agreement signed on march 23rd 2010) have upped arms in a political action against the Congolese government for not honouring its agreement to integrate the defence congress into the army.  They also wish for action to be taken against a group accused of perpetrating the violence that ripped the country of Rwanda in two over a decade ago. Known as the FDLR or federal department for the liberation of Rwanda. I must add the group M23 are defected soldiers of the Congolese army, they are well trained, well equipped and appear to be disciplined. Rwanda is also suspected of helping supply the group since the original defection in April.

The democratic republic of the Congo has been scarred, torn and tortured by war in recent years, scene of some the most inhumane mass killings in living memory. 2008 yards from an overworked and overwhelmed United Nations compound, 150 members of a town called Kiwanja were murdered, ripped out their homes and riddled with bullets. I believe the word barbaric is used too often however this is the only way to truly describe these disgraceful acts, the group accused of the killings was one ironically under the name of CNDP, (the national congress for the defence of the people), defending the people is not something they did well. However this group now operates under a new name… M23.

The violence in Africa is complicated, long lived and appears to have no boundaries, it continues with the drop of a hat and any forced peace is short-lived and extremely delicate. Any man has the potential for a militia leader and bountiful rewards lie in Africa’s vast natural resources. It is also a continent tarred by its own brush, the countries violence free suffer from the countries engulfed in flames, bringing potential for huge profits in tourism and development for the continent crashing down. For example: Kenya is a country famed for its safaris drawing people from all over the world to its plains to see arguably the best wildlife in the world, however with one swift action from a militia in neighbouring Somalia; taking hostages to meet their own aims, the tourism temporarily vanished, and once again the historically violent Somalia was front page news and country awash with conflict. Overnight, tourism replaced by terrorism.

Combat Stress: A fire of the mind

Posted: May 15, 2012 in middle east, World conflict
Tags: , , , , , , ,
5

A man sits within a tunnel, unshaven unwashed, the aroma is spectacular. People pass by, not a second glance, not a second to spare some change. This man sleeps every night in terror not in fear of robbery, he has nothing to lose, not through fear of being beaten, this mans taken the hardest beating of his life and all others are a mere hindrance. As his eyes close his mind is opened to a world in flames. His friends are dead, his cloths shredded, blood pours from his once incredible face and there’s a sharp pain down both legs.  The flames lick around the seat he remains on, the piercing heat pours in through the metal framework that surrounds his body. He pull’s his frail skeleton from the wreck, just 10 feet between him and his world. Sweating and shaking he wakes up screaming, looking down he see’s his injuries. Injuries of the body that healed 3 years ago, these injuries remain in the soul. The bullets rip through the tunnel every night. The battle of the Fallujah rages on in his skull, every turn a trap, every step an ambush.

After returning from Iraq he was hit with episodes of rage, he beat his father in a drunken wrath. He woke up hands wrapped around his wife’s throat. A car horn is a trigger to a vexation beyond all recognition, not just a passer by, but a man that wishes death upon this already traumatised mind. His friends taken from him in a rocket attack appear in the street, in the bars, in the car. Work becomes impossible, a rifle range takes him back to the burning porter cabin, a car door takes him back to the fire fight his mind remains in. he left the military without seeking help believing the symptoms would stop once he withdrew, however they didn’t, the support was gone, his wife was gone, his life was gone. The anger grew, the alcohol became normal, the debt grew. He became reclusive, pushing away the very people that help him at every corner. With all he knew and loved gone, the money to pull himself out of the situation he was in gone, his possessions; repossessed, all he has is a tunnel, a haunting, and a scar in body and mind.

Violence in a war-zone is normal, it is necessary, it is a lifesaver, if you unleash more violence than your adversary you live… they die. Hundreds of soldiers throughout the world bring this violence back home with them; combat stress and posttraumatic stress are now more recognised and therefore more prevalent than ever before. With soldiers returning from theatres like Iraq, and Afghanistan daily with severe issues, the awareness for these conditions must be increased, the hardest men and women in the world sometimes need help.

Lets not just walk past the man in the burning tunnel called his life, pull him out the wreck he finds it so hard to leave. Because tears alone wont heal this mans burns.

Violence in Syria Continues to Spiral Beyond all Control

Posted: May 14, 2012 in World conflict
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

A further 30 people have been killed overnight in Syrian clashes. Raston became the latest city to fall victim of the heavy violence on behalf of the Syrian rebels. This follows a series of 2 blasts in the thriving city of Damascus, resulting in the deaths of 55 people on Thursday morning. The blasts were the most deadly since the uprising began in 2011. There is an obvious disregard to civilian lives throughout the country both on behalf of the rebels and the Syrian authorities, who, whilst trying to retake Homs from rebel hands early this year, unleashed a deadly series of artillery strikes into heavily populated areas within the city.

The blasts were said to have been caused by two improvised explosive devices ranging from 225kg to 450kg, to put into perspective the explosion from a 500lb (230kg) bomb dropped from an aircraft causes a danger area of around 300m, add this to a concrete road at rush hour and the devastation is truly horrifying. The use of a weapon such as this in such a densely populated area has got to be the work of an organisation capable of truly horrendous acts. This leaves the otherwise innocent population of Syria between a rock and a hard place; the government wishes them dead, as do the rebels. Is it not time something must be done?

Instead the world looks on, the human rights watchdog has condemned the violence however condemnation will only go so far, increasing pressure on the UN will undoubtedly have an effect eventually, however, with coalition countries withdrawing from Afghanistan due to public pressure within their own border’s, how many of these countries will be willing to commit to creating peace within a country in turmoil? The jihadist group al-Qaida has been suspected of causing the violence, and with increasing civilian causalities within Syria due to IED and suicide bombings it appears increasingly and more importantly disturbingly likely.

The group under their new commander recently encouraged the use of civilian victims and weapons of mass destruction to achieve their goal of a world under an extremist sharia fist. The Syrian authorities have, using an overwhelming and fierce retaliation, also created an increasingly desperate force, fighting against their troops, who, have reportedly slaughtered up to 9,000 victims, merely trying to live in a country torn at the seams by the vicious, oppressive regime.

However, there appears to be 2 very different rebel tactics in use within Syria, the first, armed attacks directed towards the Syrian army, and other authorities, similar to the attack last night. Causing the deaths of the soldiers who themselves, operating under orders have been spearheading the bombardment of civilian locations under rebel control throughout the country, 23 of which were killed in last nights raid. And the second, the use of suicide and improvised explosions as mentioned earlier. Could we be seeing (as seen in every major middle-eastern conflict in the last 500 years) an influx of foreign fighters, wishing to push through their ‘jihad’, appearing to not have any regard for the lives of the people of Syria. If this is the case there is a very real danger of the crisis spiralling out of control.  Creating an insurgency, that could cost the lives of far more innocent victims. The violence needs to be stopped, and needs to be stopped soon.

A Year Without Osama, Not a Year Without Al Qaida

Posted: May 2, 2012 in Afghanistan, World conflict
Tags: , , , ,
0

Al Qaeda is without doubt one of the most illusive, feared and truly nauseating organisations in modern history, their influence has stretched from the mountains of Afghanistan to the plains of Sudan, the streets of Denmark to the heart of the United States and every democratic and fragile state in-between. Carrying with it the hateful words of one, Osama Bin Laden.

Osama began life in Saudi Arabia, his father died when he was just 13, and he quickly married at the age 17. He studied in business management at a Saudi university and by the time his degree had finished the Soviets were invading Afghanistan and the Osama we know today began to take shape. Even at this early age he was a fanatic about his religion, and began supporting the mujahidin, in particular the Arab fighters like himself travelling from the Arab states to commence the jihad of Afghanistan. He continued his support all along expressing his hatred for America and its infidel allies, condemning the CIA’s interference in Afghanistan he, in 1988, established the terror group know to us today as Al Qaeda.  This lead to his expulsion from his family in Saudi Arabia and soon had his citizenship revoked. So the Afghan mountains are where he stayed, using the Tora-Bora caves in the mountainous Nangarhar province just 6 miles from the border of Pakistan, an area that bore witness to one of the heaviest bombing campaigns in history, and some of the fiercest fighting seen by special forces in recent years.

Al Qaeda then commenced their global jihad on the western world and Israel, embarking on a series of terror attacks creating violence and fear in the unsuspecting lives of so many, until the final straw. 9/11. 2,977 innocent children, men and women were killed, injuring an entire country, continent, civilisation, the attacks cost the United States 100billion dollars. This, was the ‘baseball bat’ to break the camel’s back and began a war that would last over a decade, it would be the single longest US intervention in their history and would cost the country 500 billion dollars, and counting along with the lives of 2,853 (as of Arpil 3rd 2012) coalition soldier’s and countless unfortunate civilians. The bloody campaign to hunt down the nefarious, vicious, malicious Bin laden continued until this very day 2011.

Seal team 6 were dispatched in the late night from their base in northern Afghanistan, travelling deep into Pakistan in two stealth Blackhawk helicopters, on a mission 10 years overdue. They arrived in the town of Abbattabad and commenced the assault, after a 17 minute long firefight and one badly damaged helicopter, the murderous Bin Laden lay dead atop his 3 story compound, surrounded by his unfortunate family. The body was recovered to an American aircraft carrier for DNA verification and the corpse was removed from deck… via the sea. A year on al Qaeda still remain the one of the biggest threats to western society, however with terrorist style attacks dropped by 35% since early 2011, the group, under its new commander ayman al-Zawahiri, appear to be allowing smaller extremist rebels to fight under their name. Bands such as Boko-Haram, al shabaab, along with AQIM (al-qaida in the Islamic Maghreb) in Africa are appearing around the world; focusing more on all out seizure of fragile nations over damaging terror attacks on western states, spreading their radical influence creating jihads to attract fighters to the black flag of a dark agency from across the globe. But with their new leader advocating the sacrifice of civilians and the use of weapons of mass destruction and chemicals whats next for al Qaeda?

Columbia erupts in violent guerrilla attacks

Posted: May 1, 2012 in South America, World conflict
Tags: , , , ,
3

As the world looks on towards the un-rest and ‘global’ jihad of Yemen and Nigeria, a much more low key war lurks below our vision, Columbia has been a country plagued by the FARC (fuerzas armadas revolucionarios de Columbia). For many years this dark collection of guerrilla fighters have been abducting, hijacking and bombing the authorities commencing in the 1960’s. The groups Marxist and communist views have somewhat taken a back seat in recent years and now are seen in the minds of most as being a major player in the worlds cocaine production and distribution.

In the last few days the group has once again hit the headlines, abducting French journalist Romeo Langlois, as he became injured between rebel and police fighting in the northern region of northern Caquetá, it is believed the police together with troops from the columbian army were conducting a raid on a drugs production plant. Romeo whilst reporting on the overlooked conflict, happened to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ambushed whilst moving away from their helicopter, 20 soldiers were reported to have been killed in the action and another 4 taken hostage. A nightmare situation for any journalist. Although the FARC’s numbers have dropped considerably in the past 3 years they still remain an obvious and dangerous insurgency. With their estimated numbers stretching between 8,000 and 18,000 (in 2011) in an area of around 190,000 square miles (around twice the size of Britain) they are relatively sparse. But with guerrilla attacks on army checkpoints occurring almost daily in the vicious region, the group continue to rock the Columbian jungle. 50 years on the group is still managing to kill and injure soldiers on a daily basis and as a result it remains one of the worlds most dangerous regions.

A group remaining from a South American legacy set by Che Geuvara. The communist ideal they’ve been fighting for for the last the last 50 years has long been forgotten and laid to rest by the remainder of the world, however the persistent group wont lay down their arms. Their tactics follow classic guerrilla warfare, causing fear and disarray within the Columbian ranks, one tactic used by Che Guevara was to snipe the first man of every patrol. As I’m sure you can imagine the effect this has on the unit, is the front man going to do his job properly with his own inevitable death floating over his head? This is just an example of the barbaric traits of this type of jungle warfare. In 2011 alone, 460 members of the security forces were killed and another 2,000 injured, and with an estimated $2million a day being made through illicit drugs la violencia see’s no end.

Taliban and al-Qaeda, a foreign policy from hell?

Posted: April 30, 2012 in Afghanistan, World conflict
Tags: , , , , , ,
1

As links between the late Osama bin laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar are found it begins to reveal the close relationship the two groups shared, could this display a terror organisation linked like our very own foreign and domestic policies?

At the beginning of the Afghan conflict in 2001 a large number of militants fighting for al-Qaeda were found throughout the region, this number has steadily fallen, however groups throughout the rest of the world with links to al-Qaeda, for example Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabaab of Somalia have increased exponentially. Whilst militants linked with the Taliban have grown in numbers throughout both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Was Osama bin Laden dealing with foreign affairs whilst Mullah Omar was dealing with the domestic? If this is the case it shows Pakistan has become the safe haven for the leaders of some of the biggest terror organisations in the world today, a situation that most definitely should be dealt with, by the Pakistanis.

As the Taliban and al-Qaeda were routed from their havens in the caves of Afghanistan in 2001, together they managed to slip through the savage landscape and escape into Pakistan, at the time the Pakistani military was in place to prevent such an occurrence, a job they obviously did not do particularly well. The two groups at that time were plainly on their last legs, however Osama once again managed to save his own skin, creating a terror attack in India in December 2001 using Kashmiri militants and blaming this on the Pakistanis, causing the Indian military to mass at the Pakistani border. With the Pakistanis leaving their posts in the bad lands of the Durand lines, the British and Americans focusing on Iraq, the Taliban simply walked back into Afghanistan. But with the leaders of both groups remaining in Pakistan, it was obviously seen as the soft choice. With a foreign policy created and a tight network throughout East Asia, and a much larger network expanding around the globe it appears as an attempt at the stepping-stones of an overall radical Sharia planet. Spreading the hateful words of Taliban dictatorship as far as the ear could listen. We, in Britain had our own various links with the duo; Mohammed Siddique Khan was conceivably one of these messengers.

Mullah Omar was the Afghan head of state in control of the Taliban between the years of 1996 and 2001; it is a very high possibility the Taliban sympathised with the al-Qaeda leader in this time. The two fought together against the soviets in the 1980s and almost certainly became acquainted in this time. Mullah Omar had proven himself in combat (reportedly to having torn his own eye out after being struck with soviet shrapnel) and Osama had demonstrated his hatred for the American intervention and huge cash flow aiding the Mujahidin in their campaign. With shared views on key religious objectives and a past together it was inevitable they would work together in the future. I believe there was a much more involved and intimate relationship than ever previously expected, and we should certainly be watchful of the Taliban using their links with al Qaeda throughout the world to bring the offensive on the occupation of Afghanistan to our streets.

A British Tradition of Forgetting the Best

Posted: April 28, 2012 in World conflict
Tags: , , , ,
4

Every day throughout the world, on average 500 people are killed in wars. Most of them die needlessly in terrible conditions, scared, and physically exhausted. They die without a name, supporting a cause that sometimes they agree with, sometimes whole-heartedly and are proud to become a tragic martyr in a water logged ditch miles from home, alive in the minds of relatives and friends. But sometimes these people have war forced upon them, necessity overcomes them and they fight hating every second of every minute, killing just to avoid being killed. With approximately 30 wars raging around the world at this present second, one would have thought we, as a nation could take a minute to remember one of these 500 brave individuals.

So it pains me to read on page 13 a single paragraph written about a man in a war for a great cause, a neglected memory on the minds of the majority of this country. We must remember the reason for our involvement in Afghanistan.

On September the 11th 2001 2,977 innocent victims were killed, 246 on 4 flights throughout the United States died staring into the eyes of their hijackers, 125 sat at desks within the pentagon, 2,606 died in new-york many trapped in a burning building completely sealed above the impact point.  That’s 2,977 shattered families, 2,977 crushed dreams, 2,977 people that will never again enjoy the things they loved the most. Every single one of these deaths is a tragedy, an enormous rupture in the lives of so many.

Of the 500 people killed a day in war how many are recorded? How many of their families are physically told their son, daughter, mother, father is dead. How many are remembered by whom they represent. Apparently a certain national newspaper would rather us forget, did you know a grenadier guard was killed in Helmand province this week? He is one of those 500, but he represents our cause.

The work these soldiers do everyday is incredible I’ve seen it first hand, patrolling at all hours with the imminent threat of an explosive end to you tour and your life, carrying at least 90lbs of equipment, in piercing sun, extreme heat, and to return to the operating base living among the Afghan army, where the stress doesn’t rest, with increasing attacks on coalition forces from the very soldiers they mentor and live with. They do this all to help prevent atrocities like 9/11, and to help the nation of Afghanistan be able to stand on its own feet and fight the Taliban un-aided stopping terrorist organisations like al-Qaida from creating a firm base to plan the mass murder of more innocents.

Lets give these brave men and women the respect they deserve, it’s about time we stood up and gave their sacrifice the true recognition it deserves. We are so lucky to have a military containing individuals like the grenadier guard killed this week. Who are willing to put themselves and the future of their families on the line to help the people around the world who sincerely need it. Lets not let our own soldiers become wounded or killed in an irrigation ditch on the other side of the world alone. They above all else deserve our support. I believe, along with many others I’m sure, its time we took more than 30 seconds to write a paragraph by a journalist who doesn’t have the time of day to realise they got the year the conflict began wrong by 9 years (2010 as opposed to 2001) to support the physically exhausted, scared soldiers of a battle hardened very British military.