Coffee House The Spectator Blog
Cutting and running from Afghanistan
MPs on the Defence Select Committee made a similar warning this morning about the UK’s withdrawal from Afghanistan as Con Coughlin made in The Spectator last month. He wrote that… Continue reading
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The View from 22 — Leaving Afghanistan and Fraser Nelson vs. John Rentoul
Is the British Army enjoying a straightforward and safe withdrawal from Afghanistan? No, according to this week’s Spectator. The Daily Telegraph’s Con Coughlin writes the withdrawal is one of the… Continue reading
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William Hague: Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan is where the threat to the British homeland is coming from
On the Sunday Politics, William Hague confirmed that the greatest terrorist threat to the British homeland come from Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. But he argued that without intervention, the Sahel… Continue reading
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Mali is a British concern because it is a European concern
Aaron Ellis makes a good point: the comparison between Mali and Afghanistan is flawed. But I disagree with him as to why. Afghanistan was a failed state long before al-Qaeda… Continue reading
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Mali is not another Afghanistan
Why should we worry if jihadists control a poor, landlocked country thousands of miles away? As the French push on with the ‘reconquest’ of Mali, there’s a feeling here that… Continue reading
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Lord Ashdown: Get out of Afghanistan quickly
The headline on Lord Ashdown’s piece on Afghanistan in today’s Times (£) will please Lib Dem strategists. ‘This awful mistake mustn’t claim more lives.’ It allows the Lib Dems to… Continue reading
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David Petraeus quits as CIA director over affair
Few people have been more important in America’s recent wars than David Petraeus. Petraeus led the surge of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and redefined the US approach to… Continue reading
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George Osborne’s Afghan letter from America
George Osborne is a keen observer of American politics, so perhaps it is little surprise to read in the Telegraph that the chancellor is arguing for faster withdrawal from Afghanistan.… Continue reading
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How should we mark the Great War’s centenary?
It seems strange now to recall that, it was not so many years ago, around the time of the millennium, that some in Whitehall were talking about how to scale… Continue reading
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Afghanistan’s triumph: the return of cricket and other ‘frivolities’
England have just beaten Afghanistan in the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup currently being held in Sri Lanka. In the end, it was a comprehensive victory for Stuart Broad’s men but… Continue reading
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Philip Hammond’s tarnished relations with military top brass fly into the open
Talking to diplomatic sources this evening, there’s a depressed recognition that the Taliban and its allies have scored a major victory in forcing Nato to scale back joint patrols with… Continue reading
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Green on blue is a problem for both green and blue
The enormous naval deployment in the Persian Gulf, coupled with the deluge of leaks and rumours about a pre-emptive strike by Israeli forces on Iran, has perhaps diverted attention from… Continue reading
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Cameron intervenes on disabled troops
David Cameron made a surprise visit to Camp Bastion this afternoon. After a lunch of German sausage and potato with the troops, the Prime Minister made one announcement that may… Continue reading
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Foxhound arrives in Afghanistan – five years too late
There was welcome news yesterday for our forces in Afghanistan, and for those who want to see them supplied with the best equipment, with pictures of the first ‘Foxhound’ patrol… Continue reading
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The politics of international rescue
A visibly relieved David Cameron gave a statement outside No. 10 earlier today about the successful rescue of four aid workers from a cave on the Afghan/Tajikistan border, including a Northern… Continue reading
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A quiet PMQs, ahead of today’s main event
It started like a bit of good old political knockabout. PMQs opened with a planted question from Mark Menzies (Con, Fylde) asking the PM about Britain’s sick-note culture. Cameron, looking… Continue reading
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Afghanistan overshadows Cameron’s America trip
Afghanistan, what now? After a week of death and retaliation in the country, it appears that a car bomb has been detonated on the runway at Camp Bastion — probably… Continue reading
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Will Obama and Cameron discuss a faster pullout from Afghanistan?
The political theatre of David Cameron’s trip to America will have Downing Street drooling. The PM is, today, not only going to become the first world leader to fly aboard… Continue reading
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