26 October 2017 A Lens On The Week UK BREXIT: Something somewhere seems to be moving but what it is and in which direction it is really very hard to say. The rumour mill whirls in Brussels. Did Mrs May plead with Juncker for help over the dinner table or didn’t she? If she did,… Continue reading Issue 126:2017 10 26: News Highlights
Tag: Iraq
Issue 110: 2017 06 22: After Isis (Neil Tidmarsh)
22 June 2017 After Isis To the victor, the spoils? by Neil Tidmarsh The news this week suggests that the end really is in sight for Isis as a territorial power. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Isis leader who declared its caliphate in 2014, has been killed in an airstrike on the Isis capital Raqqa, according… Continue reading Issue 110: 2017 06 22: After Isis (Neil Tidmarsh)
Issue 107: 2017 06 01: Policies on terrorism (John Watson)
01 June 2017 Policies On Terrorism A still, small voice of calm. By John Watson Election campaigns are dramatic events. The accusations, self-justification and traducing of the other candidates are the political equivalent of the earthquake, wind and fire which surrounded Elijah on Mount Horeb in chapter 19 of the first book of Kings. But… Continue reading Issue 107: 2017 06 01: Policies on terrorism (John Watson)
Issue 91: 2017 02 09: Week in Brief: UK
09 February 2017 Week in Brief: UK POLICE SURVEILLANCE: The Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which supervises police surveillance activities, has found that Cleveland Police broke the law when carrying out investigations under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. The force had monitored a police officer who was suing it over racism and also monitored the phones… Continue reading Issue 91: 2017 02 09: Week in Brief: UK
Issue 89: 2017 01 26: Week in Brief: UK
26 January 2017 Week in Brief: UK BREXIT: The Supreme Court ruled that Article 50 cannot be triggered without the consent of parliament, dismissing the government’s appeal against the earlier High Court judgement. TORTURE: A Libyan political dissident claims that the SIS (MI6) colluded with the CIA to detain him and send him to Libya… Continue reading Issue 89: 2017 01 26: Week in Brief: UK
Issue 84: 2016 12 15: IHAT & Operation Northmoor (Lynda Goetz)
15 December 2016 Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) and Operation Northmoor What these are; why they exist; and what should happen next. by Lynda Goetz I am not, nor ever have been, anything to do with the military. Had I been, I would have expected that putting my life on the line for my country would… Continue reading Issue 84: 2016 12 15: IHAT & Operation Northmoor (Lynda Goetz)
Issue76:2016 10 20:A tale of two cities (Neil Tidmarsh)
20 October 2016 A Tale Of Two Cities The battle for Aleppo and the battle for Mosul; significant differences. By Neil Tidmarsh In Syria, the Russian-backed regime is fighting to drive rebels from the city of Aleppo. In Iraq, the US-backed regime is fighting to drive Isis from the city of Mosul. Compare and contrast…… Continue reading Issue76:2016 10 20:A tale of two cities (Neil Tidmarsh)
Issue75:2016 10 13The Land Of Three Governments: (Neil Tidmarsh)
13 October 2016 The Land Of Three Governments. The struggle to establish legitimate authority in Libya. by Neil Tidmarsh Libya; land of chaos, anarchy and misery. Land of people-traffickers, refugees, militants, militias and terrorists. Land of no government, land of three governments. Three governments? How did that happen? It’s exactly five years since Colonel Gaddafi… Continue reading Issue75:2016 10 13The Land Of Three Governments: (Neil Tidmarsh)
Issue 28: 2015 11 12: Nosing about in the e-mails
12 November 2015 Nosing About In The Emails Does the draft Investigatory Powers Bill cover all the gaps? By John Watson The failure by the Government to obtain parliamentary authority for the extension of the RAF’s activities in Iraq into Syria conjures up the image of targets dodging across the border like rabbits and then… Continue reading Issue 28: 2015 11 12: Nosing about in the e-mails
Issue 24: 2015 10 15: Week in Brief: UK
15 October 2015 Week in Brief: UK LEON BRITTAN: The Metropolitan police have apologised to Lady Brittan, the widow of Lord Brittan of Spennithorne, for their failure to inform the Brittans that rape allegations against Lord Brittan had been abandoned before Lord Brittan’s death from cancer. An investigation by the BBC’s “Panorama” programme has cast… Continue reading Issue 24: 2015 10 15: Week in Brief: UK
Issue 21:2015 09 24: The Only Lesson of History…
24 September 2015 The Only Lesson of History… …is that we learn nothing from history. by J R Thomas In 1919, Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau, Vittorio Orlando and David Lloyd George, the leaders of the victorious powers in the War to End All Wars, sat down together to sort out Europe. It was a job… Continue reading Issue 21:2015 09 24: The Only Lesson of History…
Issue 20: 2015 09 17: A cruel and ugly truth
17 September 2015 A cruel and ugly truth by Neil Tidmarsh One of the most interesting things I read this week was a letter to the Guardian from Leslie Brent, Emeritus Professor, University of London. As one of the Kindertransport children of 1938-39, he is urging a more generous response to the current refugee crisis.… Continue reading Issue 20: 2015 09 17: A cruel and ugly truth
Issue 19: 2015 09 10:INTERNATIONAL NEWS
10 September 2015 Week in Brief:INTERNATIONAL NEWS AFGHANISTAN: Thirteen Shia Muslims were murdered in Balkh province. The Taliban have condemned the attack and have blamed it on Isis. In-fighting among the Taliban has broken out as break-away factions challenge the power of its new leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, and some defect to Isis.… Continue reading Issue 19: 2015 09 10:INTERNATIONAL NEWS
