British Prime Minister Tony Blair's military policies were attacked on two fronts yesterday as a leaked memo linked them with terrorism at home and his favorite general called the Afghanistan war "cuckoo."
Leaked Cabinet documents published in the Sunday Telegraph apparently acknowledge that Britain's troop deployments in both Iraq and Afghanistan have fueled terrorism in Britain.
Presented to a Cabinet committee on security earlier this month and circulated among ministers and security chiefs, the papers say that actions overseas must in future be designed to reduce the threat of terrorism.
Their contents undermine Blair's denials that Britain's actions in Iraq and Afghanistan trigger terrorist attacks against Britain. Four British Muslim suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 London commuters in July last year.
The documents say demand a "significant reduction in the number and intensity of the regional conflicts that fuel terror activity" and set out a list of perfect scenarios in a series of trouble spots 10 years from now.
They call for stability for Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel to live in "peaceful coexistence" with its Arab neighbors and Iran to be devoid of nuclear weapons.
They also say that there should be "no new failed states, dictatorships or wars" in the Middle East and South Asia.
"If all or most of the above were in place, threats from other sources of Islamic terrorism [eg, Indonesia, Philippines, Nigeria] would be manageable or on the way to resolution," they conclude.
"Any remaining deployments of the British armed forces should be seen as contributing to international stability and security," they say.
Blair's office declined to comment on the leaked documents, but said: "We recognize that people have used Iraq as an excuse for terrorist activity but clearly plenty of terrorist activity against the UK and its citizens has pre-dated that.
In an interview in the Observer, General Charles Guthrie, a former chief of the defense staff, described the deployment of soldiers in Afghanistan as "cuckoo."
"Anyone who thought this was going to be a picnic in Afghanistan ... to launch the British army in with the numbers there are, while we're still going in Iraq, is cuckoo," he told the Sunday newspaper.
Guthrie, who was one of Blair's most trusted commanders before he quit in 2001, also cast doubt on Blair's claim that he would produce all the extra helicopters and other resources the army needed.
Guthrie's comments follow those of General Sir Richard Dannatt, the chief of the General Staff, who called this month for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq "sometime soon" because they were contributing to Britain's security problems.
Dannatt later toned down his remarks.
Meanwhile, the Independent on Sunday reported that the British army is so stretched from having to fight on two fronts that 40 percent of army divisions report they are suffering from "serious or critical" problems.
Manning shortages mean that soldiers are having to go on tours of duty before they are properly rested or trained, according to the weekly, citing a Ministry of Defense briefing document.
Members of parliament who have seen the official memo say the problem is threatening the army's ability to fight insurgents in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The ministry insists that the military is simply "stretched" and still able to fulfil its orders, the Independent said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the