Totally Hussein Al-alak

Theresa May and Al-Qaeda's "Assurances"

2012-02-25T09:19:00.001-08:00

It appears that an Al-Qaeda hate preacher, has now got more rights to protection in Britain, than either a civilian or victim of Al-Qaeda, as proven by Theresa May’s example, of wanting to gain assurances from the Kingdom of Jordan, that if deported, Osama Bin Laden’s right hand man Abu Qatada, will not face another trial with evidence, allegedly, obtained through torture

The British Home Secretary is so out of touch with reality, that in the efforts to protect Abu Qatada, Theresa May MP has forgotten exactly what these people are capable of and probably wonders why Britain is viewed as a standing joke. The fact that she is going to visit King Abdullah 2nd, with the hope of obtaining “assurances” for Abu Qatada, is also a direct insult to the people of Jordan, who in 2005 suffered a bomb attack by Al-Qaeda, which killed over 56 people and injured nearly one hundred.

Equally, the Government haven’t taken into consideration, the fact that in 2005 London was also attacked by Al-Qaeda, in a series of incidents on a bus and the underground tube stations, which killed and injured over 700 people. Just days after the London bomb blasts, another incident occurred but in Baghdad, when on the 13th July, a US soldier was brutally murdered, along with a group of children, because an Al-Qaeda suicide bomber objected to a US marine handing out sweets to children.

Within the chaos that followed, parents carried out a frantic search but tragically, the majority were unable to find or even identify the scorched and decapitated remains of their children, the majority of whom were under 12 years of age. One father was only able to recognise his son from his head, while the hands of two younger victims still held onto the coloured sweet wrappings.

A report was commissioned in 2004, which looked into the dynamics of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and it illustrated, that as a movement it had little or no support among the Iraqi people, as proven by the non-Iraqi elements which made up the leadership and ranks of the organisation but also how, after 2003, a steady stream of foreign fundamentalists were travelling freely, in and out of the country.

Concerns about the presence of fundamentalists had been raised with the previous British Government, as illustrated last year by the former Director General of the British Intelligence agency MI5. Speaking at the Reith Lecture’s, Dame Eliza Manningham Buller informed a stunned audience, that the invasion of Iraq lead to many British fighters going over to wage their “Jihad” against both the US/UK armies and the Iraqi people, as history has now proven.

More recently, concern has been raised again, because of the numbers of British fundamentalists, who are now going over to Somalia, where as “volunteers” for Al-Qaeda inspired Al-Shabaab, have decided to make their cause, their own.

As most Middle Eastern and African countries can easily testify, the presence of Al-Qaeda has increased dramatically since the collapse of the Taliban regime, with the United States having warned, that Iraq has produced a better “trained militant than Afghanistan”.

Saudi Arabia have also signalled, that Terrorists returning home “will be worse” than previously expected, with many having engaged in combat against Soviet Forces during the 1980’s, or having been trained in Afghan camps throughout the 1990’s but Theresa May’s “assurances”, as proxy ambassador for Abu Qatada, do not consider that “a new generation” of fundamentalists, are and will be returning home, armed with “even deadlier combat skills.”

A question of when, not where?

2012-02-23T15:30:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration has caused a backlog of cases, relating to the resettlement of Iraqi refugees, who after the 2003 invasion worked for the US military as translators, embassy staff and intelligence operators. The reasons for this hold-up, is seemingly because of the infiltration by Al-Qaeda, who apparently have managed to gain access to America through the Asylum system.

Up-to now, the US has released the details of two Al-Qaeda agents, who had been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds but whilst in Iraq, had no dealings with the US military, unlike the estimated 18.000 Iraqi’s currently residing in the United States, having been granted special status for their military roles.

Obama and his government have held several inter-agency meetings on this issue and apparently are trying to come up with a solution, which balances the interests of national security, along with its obligation to assist those Iraqi’s, who are still waiting to be resettled because they can no longer live in their own country.

Kirk Johnson, who heads the Iraq List Project, has said he now tells Iraqi’s seeking resettlement not to count on America; "Unfortunately, there is no incentive for the administration to act more swiftly on this.” According to Johnson, for the US Government, "The urgency is lost."

The urgency that Johnson is describing is one that a fool would ignore. It should be a greater concern among the populations of both Britain and America, along with agencies who operated inside of Iraq. The reason I say this, is because of the list of threats and attacks being directed against those, who until the SOFA agreement expired on New Year’s Eve, had worked for over eight years in positions, which had direct contact with various aspects of the military machine.

Most disturbing are the details which the List Project has compiled, where organisations such as Al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Iranian backed Mehdi Army, have actively hunted down those who worked for the occupying forces and while the US State Department have stated, they have “a responsibility for keeping America safe”, one should be asking how safe is America or her allies, if their interpreters, advisers to their troops and diplomats, are falling into the hands of their most hated enemies?

Read End Game in Iraq by the List Project

On Trauma and Homelessness

2012-01-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

I recently attended the Greater Manchester County Royal British Legion conference, where an issue was raised by a member, who highlighted her motivation for having joined the British Legion over twenty years ago. She had been spurred on by her brother’s experience, who having served in the Falklands War in the early 1980’s, returned home to Britain and having gone through a marital breakdown, disappeared and has since been seen to be “living rough”.

It is easy to forget that across the United Kingdom, up to a third of all homeless people are former soldiers, sailors and airmen, many of whom are living with medical conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, while a little known fact is that more Veterans from the war against Argentina have since died from suicide, than were actually killed retaking the Falklands.

Just before Christmas, one newspaper ran an article which highlighted that over 10.000 members of Britain’s Ex-forces would be spending the holiday season on the streets, while demonstrating that one-in-five “rough sleepers”, had at one time, been members of her majesty’s Armed Forces. According to the article, for those Veterans’ now without a home, “Many found their lives fell apart when they came out of uniform through drink, trauma and the inability to re-adjust”.

This was illustrated through the experience of Graham Culton, who joined up at the age of 17 and after a decade of service, which included tours of duty in Northern Ireland and Bosnia, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and then medically discharged. Upon leaving the forces he turned to alcohol, attempted suicide three times and split up from his wife. Graham, who slept briefly on the streets, described the situation he fell into as being “very daunting”.

A similar experience was also that of Matthew Bennett, who at the age of 24, spiralled into depression and turned to cocaine after seeing a friend killed in Afghanistan. After struggling to cope with civilian life back in the UK, he was thrown out of his parents home in North Wales, lost his girlfriend and ended up on the streets. Having now got re-homed and settled, with the assistance of the charity Soldiers Off The Streets, Bennett told the media in December, “I left the Army stressed, messed up, alone and unable to cope.”

According to Bill Murray, chairman of the charity Soldiers off the Streets, the numbers of homeless Veteran's “is a national scandal". “These ex-Forces people are heroes who fought for their country and none should be homeless”. He claimed that homeless ex-Service people could be found in almost every city but singled out the East End of London, Swansea, Derby and Blackpool as being particularly bad, while stating “The Government is leaving it up to charities to help these heroes – how can that be right?”

A State of Denial

2012-01-12T16:31:00.001-08:00

Holocaust denialism is often viewed as the act of denying the genocide of Jews during World War Two, or underestimating the numbers of those who died, while attempting to deny the events which took place in the concentration camps. What makes Holocaust Denialism one of the greatest cancers on this earth, is the fact that not only are those in denial trying to refute something so horrendous, they are also seeking to denigrate the experiences of millions of people, who died and survived the process which resulted in the Holocaust.

The great thing about denialism, is being able to relinquish responsibility, to be able to “move on” from “historical events” with sound bite politics, and not take into account any of the key elements which played a crucial role in the creation of a monster. Many like to think that Hitler himself was the person responsible for the Holocaust, which through some genetic default or tragic upbringing, was able to warp the minds of millions of people, to carry out the extermination of over six million Jews and countless millions of Gypsies, LGBT, disabled people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Trade Unionists and others.

Through the process of denial, a group or a person is able to go about their daily lives, holding their meetings, carrying out their work with the collective understanding that everything is fine. That they can do whatever they want without thought or fear of the consequences. What makes denialism a perfect philosophy, for the denialists, is they can pass comment on events “over there” but will always remain the passive spectator in an audience, while events are taking place in the world, which will forever remain the stage.

Many people who deny or diminish the Holocaust, have a basic inability to look at detail, when infact the details surrounding events in a concentration camp, do provide some of the answers which explains the genocide. It is fact, that when people arrived at a concentration camp, they were sorted into lines, of those who were to live and face forced labour and those who were to die. It is fact, that Zyklon B was used as the chosen gas because it was a more “productive” form of extermination, over mass shootings, or driving around and trying to poison people in the backs of vans.

It is also fact, that what was called the Final Solution was not formulated by one person because of genetic fault, mental illness or personal tragedy but because the ruling group of occupied Europe sat around a conference table and sought to resolve “the problem”. The very fact that a conference was called and a policy of organised extermination was agreed upon, throws up the biggest question mark in many people’s minds, as to how and why anyone would carry this out.

The reasons as to what drove a particular person to do any one thing we will only know through testimony, if we ever get to hear at all but the facts on the ground still remain the same and every day we are learning more about the events and the people who perished in concentration camps like Auschwitz. The danger that we all face though, which plays into the hands of any Holocaust denier, is if we ourselves believe the Holocaust only started or was a reaction to the beginning of World War Two.

From the boycotting of Jewish shops, the devastation on Kristalnacht, the purge during night of the long knives, the opening and liquidation of ghetto’s, the scientific experiments’ forced up on those with disabilities, the subjugation and humiliation of all occupied people, each of these played an equal motivation in the fight for the liberation of Europe, just as they are equally ignored by those, who say the Holocaust never happened.

On Holocaust Memorial Day

2012-01-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

“They are all our mothers and sisters, you would not be able to learn or play in freedom today, you may not have been born, if such women had not stood their slender bodies before you and your future, throughout the Fascist terror” – Odette Hallowes (pictured) on the female spies of the Special Operations Executive.

As Holocaust Memorial Day approaches on the 27th, where the horrors of NAZI Germany are rightly taught throughout institutions across Great Britain, I would like to encourage people to pay attention to the role of the brave women who served with the Special Operations Executive and through whose bravery and commitment, paved the way for the liberation of Europe.

Unlike conventional soldiers, the Special Operations Executive were charged with the task of “setting Europe ablaze”, on the instruction of Winston Churchill, and being parachuted behind enemy lines to assist the war effort, also proved to be an essential life line to the European resistance movements.

As agents for an “unconventional outfit”, these ordinary women were not treated to the same rules of engagement or even categorised as Prisoners of War. If captured by NAZI officers and alongside every person who was fighting Fascism behind enemy lines, they ran the ultimate risk of facing torture by the Gestapo and then execution, alongside other prisoners in concentration camps.

While millions of people experienced one fight against the NAZI’s, these women braved the streets of Europe every single day, the constant fear of informants, making sure that communications with the allies was maintained, infiltration, organising landing sites and often using methods of sabotage, that for many would seem unusual, for a woman in 1940’s Britain.

There are names, which on Holocaust Memorial Day we have a duty to remember, such as Noor Inyat Khan, who as codename “Madeleine”, was the first British female radio operator to be parachuted into NAZI controlled France and was later executed in the Dachau Concentration Camp.Women such as Violette Szabo, who was executed at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp, along with many other women, who also served for the Special Operations Executive.

When the German officers sentenced SOE agent Odette Hallowes to death in 1943, I wonder if they ever contemplated, that after the war, a British woman would stand in a military uniform and in front of a court of law, would testify to having directly experienced the same treatment and brutality as every other prisoner of the Concentration Camps, whilst giving a voice to the millions who perished.

Resources:

Heroines of SOE: Britain's Secret Women in France

A Life In Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE

Poppy Appeal 2011

2011-12-23T14:37:00.000-08:00

The following pictures were taken at the launch of the Poppy Appeal for Greater Manchester. The event was held on the 30/10/2011 and was organised by the Royal British Legion. The main service was held at the Manchester Cathedral.Each year the nation expresses its unequivocal support for The Royal British Legion's charity work through the Poppy Appeal, emphasising the need to help all generations of the Armed Forces and their families - today and for the rest of their lives.

Chorlton's Royal British Legion Day

2011-12-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

On Saturday 22nd October, the Royal British Legion held a Community open day where residents from Chorlton-C-Hardy in Manchester, showed their support to the work being undertaken by the RBL.We were also joined by other Veteran's organisations, including Combat Stress: The Veteran's Mental Health Society, St Dunstans and the National Gulf Veteran's and Families Association.

Flowers from France

2011-12-22T12:39:00.000-08:00

The remembrance poppy has been used since the 1920’s to commemorate soldiers who have died in war. The use of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance was inspired by the World War I poem In Flanders Fields. Its opening lines: “In Flanders fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row on row“, refer to the many poppies that were the first flowers to grow in the churned-up earth of soldiers' graves.

Zip Slide for Combat Stress

2011-12-22T12:35:00.000-08:00

On Saturday 16th July 2011, Hussein Al-alak and David Brown jumped off the Imperial War Museum North, where they rode a zip slide 250m across the Manchester Ship Canal in aid of both Combat Stress & The Royal British Legion.

Armed Forces Day 2011

2011-12-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

In June, Combat Stress Manchester had the honour of participating in Armed Forces Day for the second year running. This slide show of pictures taken on the day, are just some of the many images that were taken on the day, to raise awareness and support for Britain's leading military mental health charity.

Families largely forgotten

2011-12-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a group has focused on issues affecting combat veterans, has expanded its mission to include military families.In a report released Wednesday, the group says the extended combat deployments have taken their toll on spouses and children, financially and emotionally, and government isn’t doing enough to help.

The report is called Unsung Heroes: Military Families After 10 Years of War, and IAVA officials call it the “first and most comprehensive of its kind” because it looks at a wide range of problems and suggests solutions.

During deployments, “spouses face an increased likelihood of anxiety, depression, sleeping problems and other mental disorders as the result of the stress of separation and fear for their service members’ lives,” the report says. Also children “face developmental challenges resulting from similar stresses, frequent moves and households managed by single parents.”

Challenges facing families don’t stop when the deployment is over, the report says. “In many ways, they are just beginning. The reunion of family members can be an exciting and happy time, but it can also cause stress and unforeseen emotional challenges.

You can read this article in full on the Marine Corps Times

child abuse and the brain

2011-12-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

Children exposed to family violence show the same pattern of activity in their brains as soldiers exposed to combat, scientists said on Monday.

In a study in the journal Current Biology, researchers used brain scans to explore the impact of physical abuse or domestic violence on children's emotional development and found that exposure to it was linked to increased activity in two brain areas when children were shown pictures of angry faces.

Previous studies that scanned the brains of soldiers exposed to violent combat situations showed the same pattern of heightened activity in these two brain areas -- the anterior insula and the amygdala -- which experts say are associated with detecting potential threats.

This suggests that both maltreated children and soldiers may have adapted to become "hyper-aware" of danger in their environment, the researchers said.

You can read the article Study finds how child abuse changes the brain by clicking on the link.

PTSD highest in N Ireland

2011-12-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

Northern Ireland has the world's highest recorded rate of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a major international report.It estimated that PTSD costs the public purse around £175m a year.The same survey was undertaken in 30 countries, including war-hit areas such as Israel and Lebanon.

The World Mental Health survey showed that violence had been a distinctive cause of mental health problems for around 18,000 people.The survey was carried out by University of Ulster psychologists and Omagh-based trauma treatment experts, based on World Health Organisation criteria.

It suggested that nearly 40% of the population have had a conflict related traumatic incident.The report was based on a survey of 4,340 adults who were questioned between 2004 and 2008.The researchers used 2008 as a sample year for the financial estimate and suggested that the costs linked to those suffering from PTSD would continue to increase as the patients grow older.

You can read the article Post traumatic stress disorder highest in Northern Ireland in full on the BBC website

Living with PTSD

2011-11-28T15:47:00.000-08:00

The Special Report: Living with PTSD has been compiled by the Military Times magazine and is a valuable resource for anyone working or living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

This series uses the experiences of troops suffering from PTSD to delve into the disorder and its consequences. These can include substance abuse among victims, the stress that the disorder places on spouses and children, treatment options and availability, the specter of suicide among PTSD sufferers and what current research may mean for the future.

A War-torn marriage

2011-11-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

The breaking point came when Sandra Rivera found their 9-year-old son backed against a wall with his arms over his face, shielding himself from her husband’s screaming.

Desperate, she did what is unfathomable for a Marine wife: She called her husband’s commander.It was a Friday in fall 2010, about a year and a half after Gunnery Sgt. Felix Rivera emerged as the sole survivor of a car bomb in Afghanistan. By the following Monday, he was checked into a mental hospital.

His struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury were ravaging their marriage. Husband and wife had been relegated to patient and caregiver.Sandra wishes she could say it was love that kept her from leaving when things were so bad that she regularly hid in a closet to cry.

You can read this article in full on Stars and Stripes

STARVING BRITAIN

2011-11-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

DESPERATE families are facing a Dickensian Christmas with at least 100,000 Britons relying on food parcels because they can’t afford to eat.A new food bank is opening every week as charities struggle to cope with increasing numbers of people hit by a combination of Government cuts, rising unemployment and soaring food and fuel prices.

The Sunday Express has uncovered shocking cases of hunger and deprivation, even among the middle classes in areas once considered affluent.Diseases linked to poverty, such as rickets, could be making a comeback as Britons battle against the odds.

Read this article in full on The Sunday Express

Education gap between Britain's children

2011-11-28T15:09:00.000-08:00

British children's chances of educational success are more closely linked to their family background than in nearly any other country, according to new research.The 'education gap' between the UK's most and least privileged pupils is larger than it is elsewhere in the world.

And the divergence starts even before children start school, according to the study by the Sutton Trust, with the poorest children already a year behind the richest at five years old.This inequality is reinforced by huge differences in the standards of schools, with those serving the poorest fifth of pupils four times more likely to be judged 'inadequate' than those for the richest 20 per cent.

You can read this article in full on the website of the Mail Online

Tragedy of paupers' graves

2011-11-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

At least 100,000 pensioners who died penniless and alone have been buried in paupers’ graves in the past five years, a charity revealed yesterday.Soaring funeral prices and the breakdown of families mean about 21,000 pensioners die every year without the money for funeral bills and with no relatives willing or able to pay.

Their funerals are paid for by councils, many of which have admitted they inter the bodies in communal plots or cremate them to save costs.Such paupers’ mass graves conjure an image of Dickensian poverty. But this has become the reality for some of the 40,000 people a year in Britain who receive state-funded funerals – of which about 21,000 are pensioners.

You can read this article in full on the website of the Daily Mail

the help that's needed

2011-10-28T14:21:00.001-07:00

As this year's Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal gets under way, Rosie Murray-West of the Telegraph is asking that people spare more than a thought for the younger ex-servicemen & women who are finding it a struggle to cope with the many impacts being felt by the recession.

Now that poppies have started to appear in shops, churches and stations, many people will think of Second World War veterans as they pin them on to their lapels.

However, due to the number of conflicts since 1945, the Royal British Legion is increasingly concerned with younger ex-servicemen and women. For many of them, in the current economic climate, it is financial advice and help that is the top priority.

The Legion launched its Poppy Appeal on Thursday. And it expects to see record demand for debt advice.According to Alison Wyman, head of the benefits and money advice service (BMA) at the Legion, many servicemen and ex-servicemen are struggling. The service expects to offer help to more than 10,000 people this year.

Ms Wyman said that servicemen can struggle with household bills when they come out of the Armed Forces. While they are serving, many bills are deducted from their earnings, while rent can be cheaper. "We help people to learn to budget," she said.

Adam Brown, who was helped by the Legion's money advice service in 2008, struggled with readjusting from army life. The 40-year-old, from Weston-super-Mare, was in the Royal Green Jackets regiment from 1997 to 2001, and now has a wife and two young children.

"I lived with my mother for the first year after I got out of the Army," he recalled. "I found it so hard to get back to budgeting for myself. In the Army, I didn't have to worry about council tax and my accommodation was £100 a month. When you come out, you suddenly have to worry about gas, electricity and water bills."

Mr Brown was helped by the BMA service after he was made redundant from his job as a motorcycle salesman in 2008. He was forced to sell his house and was facing eviction from his rented home. BMA offered him advice and paid for him to go personally bankrupt. It also helped him to claim benefits.

"When you are a soldier, you are taught that pride is your strongest weapon," he said. "I didn't take much notice of the problem I was facing."Listed below are some of the specific issues facing ex-servicemen and those currently serving in the Armed Forces.

Death and injury

The Ministry of Defence will pay compensation to the families of those killed in action and will offer a death-in-service benefit of four times salary to families of all those who die before pension age.Injury and death caused by service on or after April 6, 2005 is dealt with by the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The War Pension Scheme (WPS) compensates for any injury, illness or death that occurs up to this date.

There are two main types of AFCS benefits. For injury or illness, the AFCS provides a tax-free lump sum payment, the size of which reflects the severity of the pain and suffering. The lump sum ranges from £1,200 to £570,000. For those who sustain multiple injuries from the same incident, the scheme awards some compensation for each injury, up to a maximum of £570,000.

For those with the most serious injuries and illnesses, the AFCS also provides an income stream known as the Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP). This is a tax-free, index-linked monthly payment, which is paid from the point of discharge for life and will reflect the claimant's age and the effect of an injury on future promotion prospects.

The process for the WPS or the AFCS is similar, and claims can be made through Veterans UK. For information on private military insurance, check out www.paxinsurance.aon.co.uk.

Pensions

There are two pension schemes currently being run by the Armed Forces. The first was introduced in 1975, but was replaced on April 6, 2005 by a scheme with improved key benefits (death-in-service benefits are now four times, rather than three times, salary).

Like most in the public sector, this is a non-contributory scheme, with the pension based on earnings. All those in the Armed Forces receive a 70th of their pay for each year of service, in addition to a tax-free lump sum worth three times their annual pension at retirement. This may seem less generous than traditional final salary schemes, where people typically earn a 60th of their pay for each year of service. But in most of these schemes people will receive tax-free cash only by giving up some of their pension.

If Armed Forces personnel are still serving at the age of 55, they can retire and are entitled to take their pension plus the tax-free lump sum immediately. If they leave before 55, their pension benefits will be paid at the age of 65; however, the Armed Forces do offer some extra pension benefits under the "Early Departure Payment Scheme".

This scheme aims to encourage people to remain in service at least until the age of 40 and to compensate them for the fact that a full career to the age of 55 or beyond is not available to the majority. People have to serve at least 18 years to be eligible for this benefit.

This income does not increase with inflation, but at the age of 55 they will receive 75 per cent of their preserved pension, which will then increase annually in line with the Consumer Prices Index. At the age of 65, the early departure payment will cease and their pension will become payable. At this point, they will receive their pension, plus the usual tax-free lump sum.

Inheritance tax exemption

Many people are unaware of section 154 of the Inheritance Tax Act. This allows for the families of deceased soldiers, sailors and airmen to receive their inheritance completely free of Inheritance Tax, providing that active service was a contributory factor in their death. Crucially, this exemption applies whenever the injury that contributed to death occurred.

Further help

Veterans-UK is the Government's one-stop shop for issues affecting ex-servicemen. Visit www.veterans-uk.info or call 0800 169 2277.

The Royal British Legion: 08457 725 725; www.britishlegion.org.uk

The Services Insurance and Investment Advisory Panel can provide investment and insurance advice to the Armed Forces. Visit www.siiap.org

Poppy Appeal

Increase your donation to The Royal British Legion by nearly a third at no extra cost by donating via Gift Aid.If you are a taxpayer, complete the Gift Aid form (www.poppy.org.uk) and return it to the Freepost address on the website. For every £10 you donate, the Legion can claim back £2.82.

Interview: Behind the Lines

2011-09-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

What is your name and what organisations do you work for?

My name is Samia Qumri, I live in the Kingdom of Jordan. I lived and studied in Beirut from 1996 until 2007. In February 2007, I gained my MA in International Affairs and my thesis was titled; “The Political ramification of forced migration: the case of Iraqi migrants in Jordan”.

I have done extensive work on the many issues surrounding Iraqi refugees in Jordan and their political status, along with highlighting their socio-economic plight, at various conferences in the region.. I work as a volunteer with the US based List Project and the Collateral Repair Project, which is based in Amman, and one of the roles I undertake, is to serve as a liaison, between Iraqi refugee’s and a US based legal group, which provides special support and guidance for Iraqis, who are applying for the Special Immigrant Visa’s.

How did you become involved with working for Iraqi refugee’s?

My involvement started while I was a researcher, where I was able to develop my passion for humanitarian work, by assisting refugees and vulnerable families. After completing my Masters, I became more involved with the lives of vulnerable people and over time, I have been able to increase my support to those who have experienced real atrocities back home in Iraq.

In addition, for over two years I have also been undertaking research in to the role of Education in Emergency Situations; by promoting the positive roles that education can play in countries which are being torn apart by war. By using such approaches, it allows people to identify the fragile area’s being affected and education can help reduce a variety of social problems such as ethnic tensions, while promoting greater social cohesion.

Can you describe some of the situations that Iraqi refugee’s are fleeing from?

Quite often, when people arrive they are feeling isolated because of the situations they are fleeing from and with Iraq having been ravaged by recurring violence, there is also an increased fear for the welfare of their families.

The majority of Iraqi refugee’s are fleeing because of the threat of kidnapping or they belong to a different ethnic or religious group. Others have witnessed the torture and killing of relatives or friends at the hands of militia‘s. Schools have also been made the target of death squads and parents fear for their children’s lives. Refugee’s have also told me, that they have left, simply because they no longer see Iraq as being a country, where they can pursue a future.

What professional support is available to those with mental health and physical disabilities?

Lots of the refugees in Jordan, are suffering from either mental or behavioural problems as a result of the violence they have experienced or witnessed. Almost every refugee family suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder because of what they have gone through and this is coupled with the uncertainty of life as refugee‘s. The problems faced for the Kingdom of Jordan though, is finding the right people who are capable of taking up the many challenges but also finding the right treatment for the patients.

There are centres associated with the United Nations, who do assist with counselling for trauma but confronting the depth of trauma, can sometimes render a person from pursing treatment. This setback impacts negatively, especially on those with children. The UN and other Non Governmental Organisations try to help and support some cases by partially funding private treatment but are often unable to cover the total cost.

How do you feel about the lack of international attention towards those who are now displaced?

The ‘Iraq refugee crisis' has gained the status of an ‘unprecedented humanitarian crisis', ever since the 2003 invasion. Iraq has gone through challenging years and it is now perceived as being one of the largest countries for producing refugees and asylum seekers. Children in particular are the ones who are directly victimized and Jordan has become the hub for those fleeing.

Those who have left Iraq, represent people from diverse educational, ethnic, religious, or national backgrounds and it’s not easy to address the situation as a "collective problem“. Iraqi refugees are dispersed in urban areas within Jordan and do rely upon local and international assistance. There have been few opportunities for Iraqi refugee’s to be resettled to a third country, where they can legally work and reside.

More attention is needed to be given to this issue, as it’s still ongoing. The role of the international community, international organizations and humanitarian groups, along with host governments need to make more of an effort, to implement reforms and enhance the social inclusion of Iraqi Refugee’s.

When you think of the amount of Iraqi’s who saved British and American lives in Iraq, do you think this is recognised in either the US or UK?

I’m not familiar with the role of Iraqi’s working directly for the UK, although I am aware of the Iraqi role in saving the lives of British nationals who were kidnapped in Iraq.

Critics of organisations like the List Project, often view these Iraqis as being traitors serving the enemy. The risks these people have undertaken, has not only endangered themselves, but also the lives of their friends and their families. Most of the Iraqi’s who I meet, are the ones who have faced threats and torture because of their affiliation of having worked for the US army as translators’, or for having worked for US companies who are now based in Iraq.

Apparently, some “advocates say that the administration is ignoring a directive from Congress to draft a contingency plan to expedite visas, should those Iraqis who worked for the United States military come under an increased threat after American forces are drawn down” but statistics show that both the Bush and Obama administrations haven’t met the targets, for issuing visas to those Iraqi‘s who worked for them.

According to the List Project founder Kirk Johnson, ‘the impetus for the legislation was to avoid a huge refugee crisis like the one after the pullout from Vietnam. After British forces pulled out of Basra, interpreters were routinely rounded up and killed.’

In conclusion, if you could give one piece of advice to people, about what the Iraq war really looks like, what would that be?

Throughout the different episodes of recent Iraqi history and the ongoing displacement, even through the UN sanctions on Iraq and during the regime of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi people face lives of uncertainty. The unknown future of the Iraqi people is like a malicious animal hunting the families who have fled, and are now stuck in a host country while hoping for resettlement.

With the US military leaving, many of those who survived, or those who still work for the Americans, feel abandoned and betrayed by a government who they risked their lives for. Despite the intentions of either the British or American’s, Iraq is now a torn country and corruption is rife among the “democratic government”. Iraq is a resource rich country which faces constant water and electricity shortages and lacks even the most basic social services. As many reflect, before the invasion; “We had a normal life. Now all of our dreams are destroyed.”

This interview was conducted by Hussein Al-Alak, who is a British based journalist and is chairman of the Iraq Solidarity Campaign UK. Hussein is also a member of the Royal British Legion and a mental health advocate for Combat Stress. You can follow him on Twitter at TotallyHussein.

What Passing Bells

2011-09-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Is British novelist Neil Blower, author of Shell Shock: the Diary of Tommy Atkins this generations Ernest Hemingway? A bold comparison maybe, to make about a debut author but with so little being written of substance, about Britain’s decade long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, maybe we should be asking if it is a possibility?

Hemingway was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and his works have sold millions around the world. Hemingway also had the ability to convey powerful emotions and say a lot with a few words, what he could say in a single page, many other’s couldn’t do in ten.

His work was highly influenced by his experiences at War, having served as an ambulance driver during World War One, was involved with the Spanish Civil War and later as a correspondent, even covered the Allied entry into Paris during World War Two.

These influences on his writing were profound, his novels “For whom the bell tolls” and “a farewell to arms” being two of the more famous examples of the effects of war but seeing as though we all know Ernest Hemingway, let us now turn our attention to Neil Blower.

Neil Blower is a former solider, who served in the Royal Tank Regiment in Kosovo and throughout the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The experiences of what the British government started in Iraq and the subsequent consequences, caused this young man to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

It was only after Neil Blower’s participation in Iraq, that he developed a passion for writing and literature, undertaking a creative writing and English Literature degree at the University of Salford.

Neil Blower’s writing is equally influenced by his experiences of war, which is illustrated in his debut novel, Shell Shock: The Diary of Tommy Atkins, which tells the story of a young British solider and his life as a civilian back home in Britain.

Shell Shock is also a testament to some of the flippant attitudes in “modern” Britain, whom you wouldn’t think was still at war in Afghanistan and Neil Blower has taken his book even further, by giving the young Tommy Atkins the life long traumatic condition, that used to be known as “Shell Shock”.

It’s a short book but it’s one of the most profound and brutally honest works I’ve come across for a very long time. In a single entry of this diary styled book, Blower can make you laugh or cry and at the end, leaves you with the same haunting sensation, that few author’s besides Pat Barker, Hemmingway, Owen and Sassoon manage to successfully achieve.

I first met Neil Blower through the mental health charity Combat Stress, of which Neil is donating one pound from every copy of Shell Shock sold and after having been allowed to read through a pre-published copy of his book, the first poem I felt drawn to was Aftermath, by World War One poet Siegfried Sassoon, who once asked the question, that it appears Neil Blower is now asking the reader himself: “Have you forgotten yet? Look down and swear by the slain of the war, that you’ll never forget!”

Shell Shock: The Diary of Tommy Atkins by Neil Blower. ISBN: 9781908487025

Shell Shocked

2011-09-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Shell Shock, by Neil Blower, the short novel dealing powerfully with the affliction of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) will be launched on October 1st by FireStep Publishing.

The book is the story of former squaddie Tommy Atkins, as he struggles with civilian life after his return from combat. Even post office queues and a visit to retailer IKEA become struggles to surmount in Tommyʼs world.Debut author, Neil Blower, aged 28, served for five years in the Royal Tank Regiment, including involvement in the operations in Kosovo and front line action in the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Written in diary form and based on Neilʼs own experience, Shell Shock highlights the work of the charity Combat Stress in helping military personnel suffering with PTSD. For every book sold a donation of £1 will go to Combat Stress. Jessica Dallyn, Enemy Within Appeal Director at Combat Stress, said: “Shell Shock is a thought-provoking account of a former soldierʼs struggles to conquer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It gives the reader an insight into an illness that not only affects veterans but their loved ones as well".

Shell Shock: the Diary of Tommy Atkins
Pub date: October 2011 ISBN: 9781908487025
Extent: 140pp Price: £8.95

Mental Health in the Workplace

2011-09-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

According to the Pennine NHS Trust, there are an estimated 5 million veterans within the United Kingdom, while a further 20,000 military personnel leave the Armed Forces each year. When people leave the Armed Forces, it is generally unknown what career path a veteran may take but their healthcare needs are transferred from the military to the National Health Service.

For those discharged on mental health grounds, a military social worker is appointed and coordinates with the veteran for a period of up to 12 months. In 2010, around 164 military personnel had to leave the Armed Forces because of a psychological condition. Of these, an estimated 35 were diagnosed with PTSD.

Many make the transition to civilian life without much difficulty but if they have ongoing medical issues, the Ministry of Defence will let their GP know what needs to be put in place, to ensure the best possible healthcare is provided. It should equally be recognised, that there are a number of veterans who are not registered with a General Practitioner.

It can take years for a veteran to seek help after becoming unwell, because of the stigma attached to mental health, or because they believe that nothing can be done. At present, it currently takes around 13 years from service discharge, for a veteran to seek assistance for a mental health condition.

According to the Union of Shop, Distribution and Allied Workers (USDAW), in their publication “Supporting Disabled Members in the Workplace", a Veteran with mental health problems, may be entitled to the protection of the Equality Act, which from October 2010 replaced the Disability Discrimination Act.

Veteran’s with mental health problems may not think of themselves as being disabled. However, it may be in the interests of a Veteran to show they are disabled, because they would then be entitled to greater working protection through the Equality Act. Employers only fall under a legal duty to make adjustments to a workers conditions, when they know a person is “disabled“!

Charities such as Combat Stress look after veterans who have a wide range of mental health conditions, with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) being a predominant condition within their patient group. The most common types of mental health problems that are also dealt with by Combat Stress are:

Clinical depression
Anxiety states
Adjustment disorders
Phobic disorders
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Bi-polar illness (manic depression)
Issues relating to past and present substance abuse/dependence (drug and alcohol)
Psychotic conditions in a non-acute phase
Issues relating to anger

Many of the veterans who are under the care of Combat Stress can suffer from one or more of these conditions (known medically as co-morbidity), and these problems are often complicated by relationship and home-life difficulties.

If a veteran’s condition is found to be covered by the Equality Act, then an employer is legally bound to make “reasonable adjustments”, to take into account a veteran’s mental health. As USDAW explain; “This means the employer may have to change some aspects of the members’ working arrangements to help them stay in, or get back to work.”

According to the Government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, these changes can include: Flexible working, where a worker with depression could have a shift changed so they don’t need to start work until later in the day. This could help if someone was taking sleeping medication, while another adjustment can also include, time off for a veteran to attend therapy or self help groups.

An employer is also duty bound to adjust the “sickness absence formula”, so that absences related to a veteran’s disability are counted separately and are not used to trigger disciplinary action. The law states that once an employer knows “a worker comes within the definition of a disabled person”, an employer must “record the workers disability-related time off separately from general sick leave.”

A veteran may not necessarily describe themselves as being a “veteran” of the military and many would need a direct question about their time spent in the Army, Navy, Royal Air Force or the Merchant Navy..

It is within the interests of both a manager and of human resources, to ask the right questions and provide the right support, when managing the mental health needs of a veteran. The failure to provide adequate assistance to disabled workers, is also expensive to both a company’s reputation, while costing the UK economy around £13 billion a year, in lost work and absenteeism.

Hussein Al-Alak is a British based journalist and is chairman of the Iraq Solidarity Campaign UK. Hussein is also a member of the Royal British Legion and a mental health advocate for Combat Stress. You can follow him @TotallyHussein

Celebrating St Dunstan's

2011-09-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

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The above video is A Day With Blinded Soldiers and Sailors at St Dunstan's, where men are taught Braille, shorthand, typewriting and cobbling. Released by British Pathe, this footage gives a historical overview to a unique charity, who for nearly one hundred years, have been supporting both blind and visually impaired veterans.

Nearly a century later, St Dunstan’s still provides care and rehabilitation for those blinded in action, but also supports blind and visually impaired ex-Service men and women, who have lost their sight through accident, illness, or old age. St Dunstan's also help those who have served in the Emergency Services and will be opening their new treatment facility this month.

Facing up to Trauma!

2011-09-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

According to the Telegraph, estimates based on official Ministry of Defence figures show, that 191,690 British soldiers have been deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, with some 50,000 of these soldiers having seen action in both conflicts.

Experts have warned that a tidal wave of trauma is going to hit the United Kingdom, as a direct consequence of service inside of Iraq and Afghanistan, with research showing that an estimated 27 per cent of veterans, being likely to develop mental health problems from their time on the front line.

Of these, around 5 per cent are likely to suffer from the more serious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can lead to alcoholism, depression, domestic violence and a wide range of other devastating problems. Combat Stress, the veterans’ mental health charity, have predicted, that based on MoD figures, around 51,000 British veterans are likely to develop psychological issues.

The charity have also stated, that around 9,200 veterans were potentially going to display symptoms of PTSD – which is twice the amount of Combat Stress’s current case load, while Andrew Cameron, Combat Stress’s chief executive, has warned, that the number of veterans contacting the charity is steadily increasing, infact, up 10 per cent each year!

Meanwhile, according to a new survey, half of Britain’s doctors are unaware of official guidelines on how to diagnose the scars left from the front line, leading many to fear that thousands of veterans are not being diagnosed early enough, to prevent the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The survey, which was carried out by ComRes, found that just 42 per cent of GPs are familiar with the guidelines on PTSD, while forty-nine per cent said they were not familiar with them at all. ComRes, was commissioned by Combat Stress, who surveyed around 1,006 GPs across the UK in July 2011.

Combat Stress, the veterans’ mental health charity, said these figures showed that too few doctors were diagnosing PTSD among veterans, with just 5 per cent of the veterans the charity was helping, being referred to it by a General Practitioner.

Walter Busuttil, director of Combat Stress's medical services has said: “Our clinical audits tell us that 80 per cent of veterans who come to us for clinical treatment, have first tried to get help from either their GP or other specialist services, but have not received the support and treatment that they needed. “This has led to around half the veterans who come to Combat Stress each year essentially self-referring.”

Dr Clare Gerada, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, admitted that “inequalities persist surrounding the care of military personnel when they return to the UK”, adding that the college has produced guidance “to help GPs better understand veterans’ particular needs”.

Already across the United Kingdom, up to a third of all homeless people are former soldiers, sailors and airmen, with as many as 8,000 veterans currently serving time in jail, which is nearly 10 per cent of the British prison population but the shocking fact remains, is that it can still take approximately fourteen years after leaving the services, for a veteran to make contact with Combat Stress.

The charity has produced an online leaflet titled Meeting the Healthcare Needs of Veterans, which is available for downloading but also check out the Royal British Legion for more information on other practical welfare services, that are equally available to both Veteran’s and their dependents.

The Reluctant Revolutionaries

2011-09-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

I had never contemplated joining the Royal British Legion, but I did. As one elderly gentleman said to me in June, a wry grin across his face; “Its where old men get together in dusty clubs, drink warm beer and talk about war stories.” Infact what I discovered at the British Legion’s 90th Birthday celebrations in Manchester was everything but dust, anecdotes and reminisces.

Having turned 90 in 2011, the Royal British Legion was founded out of the horrors of the First World War, alongside a few other organisations which also emerged around that time, to provide WW1 veterans with a focal point of remembrance for the comrades who were lost in the supposed “war to end all others”.

Their return from trench warfare was met with everything but applause. In the 1920‘s and 1930‘s, alongside unemployment, housing was the other great social problem. “Rows of dismal terraced houses and crumbling cottages”, were the scenes that men came home to. Just months after the Russian Revolution, which ended Russia’s involvement in the First World War and gave birth to the Soviet Union, then British Prime Minister Lloyd George had raised hopes by stating that Britain would provide “homes fit for heroes to live in”.

Even creeping into the 1940’s, George Orwell noted that in parts of Britain there still existed housing conditions where; “You might walk through hundreds of miles of streets, inhabited by miners, every one of whom gets black from head to foot everyday, without ever passing a house in which one could have a bath”.

In July 1948, the Daily Mail told its readers: “On Monday you will wake up in a new Britain, in a state which “takes over its citizens six months before they are born, providing care and free services for their birth, their schooling, sickness, workless days, widowhood and retirement”. The Second World War was a decisive factor in the creation of the Welfare State, as the poverty, unemployment and trauma experienced after the First War had made the nation decide that Britain wasn’t going back to that dark era.

The “sickness” and “workless” days described by the Daily Mail had in many instances less to do with work availability and more to do with the disabilities that soldiers from both conflicts had come home with. Britain recently mourned the loss of its last Great War Veteran. In 1919, 'Combat Stress', the Veteran’s Mental Health Society, was formed by the wives, daughters and mothers of British Veterans who had returned from the front line and were living with excruciating conditions such as 'Shell Shock', now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

At the end of World War One, thousands of men returned to Britain and because of the devastation to their minds, they were confined to War Hospitals. However, the founding mothers of Combat Stress believed that these men could be helped through rehabilitation. This philosophy allowed Combat Stress to also support those returning from Japanese POW camps after the Second World War. Through perseverance and commitment, this organisation has since been able to help over 100,000 British ex-service men and women.

Within weeks of joining the Royal British Legion, I signed myself up to a 'Pilgrimage of Remembrance' to France in the first week of August. In the company of just some of the children who had lost their fathers in World War One, we visited over a dozen cemeteries and war memorials. Nothing spoke greater about a collective understanding of our heritage than the imprinted names, dates and regiments of the men who had died.

For those whose fathers were buried in those graves, it was the first time that some had been able to visit their 'absent' parent and for others, because of age, it was also to be their last visit. As they laid down their poppy wreaths, in accompaniment to the Exhortation; “They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old”, it were as if the sands of time had been shifted and 90 years of British Legion history fell completely into place.

Hussein Al-alak is a British based journalist and is chairman of the Iraq Solidarity Campaign UK. Hussein is also a member of the Royal British Legion and a mental health advocate for Combat Stress.

The Traitor of Baghdad

2011-08-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

On the 15th February 2011, the Guardian reported that Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, code-named 'Curveball' by U.S. intelligence officials, admitted to fabricating knowledge of Saddam Hussein's alleged biological weapons program. Despite clear warnings from CIA officials, the Bush administration and the British Labour Government used Al-Janabi's information in public statements and official reports which resulted in military force against Iraq.

The Guardian reported on 2nd April 2004, that Mr. Janabi is the cousin of a close aide to Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress and now a senior Iraqi government official, who also played an instrumental role in the “disinformation” campaign designed to force the United States and Britain to authorize the invasion of Iraq. The 2006 US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on the INC corroborates this.

The Guardian noted that, according to the Los Angeles Times, UN weapons inspectors specifically asked Mr. Chalabi to find evidence of mobile biological weapons production facilities inside of Iraq, which has now left many questioning wherever “Curveball” was either directed or encouraged by Ahmed Chalabi, to present false information and precipitate the illegal invasion.

Deception is a second nature to Ahmed Chalabi, a convicted embezzler who was sentenced to twenty four years hard labour by the central criminal court in Jordan, for having brought down the Petra Bank but escaping the kingdom, Chalabi fled to the West, where opposing Saddam Hussain became more prestigious and later established himself as a “joint director” of the INDICT Campaign, alongside the former chairperson of Britain’s then ruling Labour Party, Ann Clwyd MP.

A warrant was also issued in 2004, for the arrest of Salem Chalabi, the man who headed the tribunal of Saddam Hussain, where it was claimed the nephew of Ahmed Chalabi was also suspected of involvement, in the murder of a senior Iraqi civil servant.

Like his uncle, Salem Chalabi is reported to have worked on various projects, including helping to draw up suggestions for a post-Saddam constitution, before the 2003 war was even waged and it was only after Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the US/UK, Salem Chalabi - like his uncle - returned to Baghdad and was soon playing a key role in the country's so-called “reconstruction“.

Ahmed Chalabi, who was being paid roughly around $340,000 per month by the Pentagon “for intelligence“, had this cut off after allegations emerged that he was also spying for the Iranians. It was alleged that Chalabi told Iranian intelligence officials in Baghdad, that he had been informed the US had broken Iranian communications codes and were reading the internal documents of Tehran's ministry of intelligence and security.

Even though Chalabi admitted that he had met Iranian officials frequently as part of his political functions, he went on to accuse George Tenet, then head of the CIA, of fabricating the information as a smear campaign against him.

A not so strange conclusion to draw for anyone with sociopathic tendencies, especially when David Kay, the former chief weapons inspector in Iraq was to later state: "the reason George Tenet and the top of the (CIA) agency came over to the argument that Iraq had W.M.D. was that they really knew the US vice president had come to that conclusion anyway, They had been getting information from Chalabi for years."

While it is estimated that over one million people have died inside of Iraq, as a result of the “lies” told by Al-Janabi aka “Curveball”, according to the UNHCR, millions more have been displaced and over five million children have also been left as orphans. The degenerate “Curveball”, has also showed no remorse for his actions either, as he and his children appear “proud” of the fact that they were the reasons Iraq now has “democracy."

Human Rights Watch recently reported that torture in Iraqi prisons continues under the authority of elite military units reporting to Al-Janabi’s “Democratic” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Meanwhile, thousands of men and women have also lost their lives, with countless others suffering from the wounds of war in both Britain and America, just so eight years after Bush and Blair launched the invasion of Iraq, Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi could say, “maybe I was right, maybe I was not right“, while clearly admitting to be the cause behind the increasing numbers of veteran suicides, homelessness, cases of substance abuse and domestic violence.

Hussein Al-alak is a British based journalist and is chairman of the Iraq Solidarity Campaign UK. This article was first published by the London Progressive Journal.

United in our Heritage

2011-08-26T02:05:00.000-07:00

In February this year, in his first speech as Prime Minister on the topic of radicalisation and the causes of terrorism, David Cameron aped German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a scathing attack on "multi-culturalism".

At a security conference in Munich, the British Prime Minister argued that the UK needed a stronger national identity to prevent people from turning to extremism. For many Arabs within Great Britain, Cameron’s speech was merely an echo of the same ignorance first espoused by the previous Labour Government.

According to the Daily Mail, in an article first published in 2010, “most Britons are direct descendants of farmers who left modern day Iraq and Syria 10,000 years ago’’. After studying the DNA of more than 2,000 British men, researchers claimed they had compelling evidence that “four out of every five white Europeans could trace their roots back to the Near East’’.

In 2006, a DNA test carried out in association with the Channel Four documentary ‘100% English’, discovered that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was a direct descendent of the Bedouin tribes of ancient Mesopotamia who, centuries ago, covered all of modern Iraq and large portions of contemporary Turkey, Syria and Iran.

In 2006, Charlotte Higgins, arts correspondent for the Guardian newspaper, reported that the ‘Notitia Dignitatum’ (a Roman document from AD400) described how battalions of Iraqis once patrolled the English North East frontier. Archers expatriated from conquered Middle Eastern lands were settled in close proximity to Hadrian’s Wall, where certain areas underwent a ‘name change’ to accommodate the Roman Empire’s Eastern soldiers.

In 1824, while travelling up the river Tigris, General George Keppel described an Arab population that “resembled the ancient heroes of Greece and Rome“, with boatmen being “hardy and muscular“, making “excellent models for a Hercules; and one in particular, with uncombed hair and a shaggy beard, struck us all with the resemblance he bore to statues of that deity.”

According to a paper published in 2004 titled ‘The Arab Population in the UK’, Dr Ismail al-Jalili noted that Britain is now home to more than 500,000 Arabs and that “in the 19th century, Yemeni seamen called the Lascars sailed with British ships’’, with many settling within the UK to work on the docks and other related industries along with the burgeoning rail network. Dr Al-Jalili also noted that “...the traditional trading skills of Syrians and Lebanese brought them to ‘Cottonopolis’ – Manchester.’’

He further remarked that “London’s East End, Tyneside, Liverpool and Cardiff became centres of small Arab communities. By 1948 there were nearly a thousand Arabs in Tyneside, some marrying local women, thus giving birth to the hybrid ‘British-Arab’ identity that many native-born British-Arabs, especially those of mixed ancestry, are now establishing”.

The BBC reported that “In 1916 the Military Cross was awarded to a Captain in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers for conspicuous gallantry during a raid on the enemy’s trenches”. The citation noted that he had braved “rifle and bomb fire” and that “owing to his courage and determination, all the killed and wounded were brought in”.

The military hero in question was the celebrated British poet Siegfried Sassoon, whose prose is a central feature to many in English literature. It is often overlooked that Siegfried Sassoon’s family were Sephardic Jews who had originally flourished in Basra. Sassoon’s grandfather was the first of his family to arrive in England in 1858, having come to Britain as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

The Arab historian Albert Hourani, born in Manchester in 1915, has published ‘A History of the Arab Peoples’. This book has been described by Harvard University Press as “the definitive story of Arab civilizations”. Upon publication Hourani’s book became “an instant classic”, with him being famed for having trained more academic historians of the modern Middle East, “than any other university historian of his generation’’.

During the 20th Century, my own relatives lived and worked around coal mining areas in the North East of England, being based around Ashington Colliery which opened in 1867 and eventually closed in 1986. According to the Durham Mining Museum, the Ashington Colliery employed an estimated 2343 “underground” workers in 1902, with the number rising to 3997 in 1914. The number rose further to 4076 in 1921.

My great-grandfather died in the 1920’s, having suffered pneumoconiosis caused by the inhalation of coal dust. He left behind his wife and children. In the early 1990’s, at my grandmother’s funeral in Manchester, her elderly brother and my great uncle, a man described by the family as being a “Geordie Nationalist”, patted me on the head and asked my mother “when will you teach this lad English?” Protesting that I already spoke English, my relatives from the North East of England began to laugh as it was explained to me that, according to my uncle, who was “born and bred” in Newcastle, “You will only be Englishman when you speak like a Geordie”.

When debating the concept of multi-culturalism, the first thought that comes to my mind is a statement by Leon Trotsky, “to understand and perceive truly, to feel to the very bottom, the section of time in which we live, one has to know the past of mankind, one has to know the history of mankind, the picturesqueness and the personalities of contemporary life.” Through this discovery, we may find that within Great Britain there is much more than just a common heritage.

By Hussein Al-alak and published by the London Progressive Journal.

Arise the heroes of the people

2011-08-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

A hero is a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her deeds and noble qualities, while in the opinion of others, has performed a heroic act that is regarded as a model or ideal that we could each aspire too, as Karl Marx so eloquently stated "Men make their own history but not in circumstances of their choosing".

Its hard to imagine, the events that surrounded a woman like Ellen Wilkinson, who standing under five feet in height and was born in 1891, went on to win two elections and become one of Britain’s first female Members of Parliament, representing the Labour Party in two heavily industrialised areas, where in each constituency existed a myriad of social complications.

In the 1924 General Election, Wilkinson was elected to represent the North Eastern iron and steel making constituency of Middlesbrough East, where in the House of Commons she was given the nickname 'Red Ellen', for both her hair colour and political views and having lost her seat in the 1931 election, Red Ellen went on to regain another seat in Parliament in the 1935 General Election but this time serving Jarrow.

Being a supporter of various working class causes, including the famous Jarrow Crusade, in the post second world war Labour Government, Ellen Wilkinson made history, by becoming the first woman to serve as Minister for Education, where her position saw reforms passed through parliament, which included free milk provision for every child and even in death, the normally conservative Times newspaper described her as being "a passionate, intelligent old-school socialist".

According to the BBC, "Liberte!" was the last word spoken by the heroine of Churchill's elite spy network The Special Operations Executive (SOE), before being executed by her Nazi captors during the Second World War. On 13th September 1944, the glamorous British agent, code named "Madeline," was shot dead at Dachau concentration camp and despite being tortured by the Gestapo during her 10 months of imprisonment, she revealed nothing of use to her captors.

For three months, “Madeline” single-handedly ran a cell of spies across Paris, frequently changing her appearance and alias until she was eventually captured and despite being the first female radio operator to be sent into NAZI occupied France, code name “Madeline” became the last essential link with London, after the German occupation had destroyed the SOE's spy network.

In a total contradiction to what is expected, code name “Madeline” was infact called Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim woman of mixed Indian and American heritage, who having been educated in Paris when war broke out, travelled to London, where she and her brother dedicated themselves to the fight against Fascism.

Her fluent French, quiet dedication and training in radio transmitting were quickly spotted by SOE officers and with the average life expectancy of a British spy behind enemy lines, being only a few weeks, Noor Inayat Khan joined Winston Churchill’s unconventional “outfit” in 1943, with the instructions to help "set Europe ablaze"

Andrew Grimes of the Manchester Evening News was correct, when commemorating the death of Bolton Wonderers legend Nat “The Lion of Vienna” Lofthouse (pictured) in January; “Nat Lofthouse was not a philosopher, but the trousers he wore at his workplace were, like those of all his workmates, ragged. It was as if in those day the club tailor took a pair of cheap, long flannel drawers and abbreviated them below the knees with a quick snip of the scissors“.

According to the Guardian, Lofthouse was “born in Bolton, bred in Bolton, and a Bolton Wanderers player from first to last, who scored 285 goals in more than 500 games for the club. For England, he scored 30 in 33 appearances”, while being capped 33 times for the England national football team between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals and giving himself one of the greatest goals-per-game ratios of any player to represent England at the highest level.”

This former Bevin Boy, who was born in 1925 played football at a time when a “footballer earned his wages”, in comparison to the millions which are spent now, where as Grimes rightly pointed out, being a skilled player meant that footballers didn’t have to resemble “a fancy advertisement for some manufacturer of microwave ovens” as there was no commercial call for players like Nat Lofthouse “to double as a bouncing sandwich board”.

As the Guardian concluded, “Lofthouse belonged to an age when football was played and watched by the working class” as many British families can still testify and “for all the tough tackles and juddering shoulder-charges, the game had a warmth and humour about it, and players respected one another“.

So in this age of reality TV, parliamentary scandals and flamboyant athletes, maybe the time has come to re-examine the perspective of the hero, to wipe the slate clean of selective memory and subjectivity, so that people are no longer prevented from gaining access to those men and women, whose “distinguished courage or abilities” have truly helped to shape our everyday lives because as the British playwrite Terence Rattigan stated in his highly acclaimed drama The Deep Blue Sea, "The world is a dark enough place for even a spark to be welcome!"

By Hussein Al-alak and published by the London Progressive Journal.

A Time to Remember

2011-08-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

The greatest lesson in humility, was the honour of being able to visit France, in the company of just some of the children, who lost their fathers in World War One.

Organised by the British Legion, it was the first time I had ever contemplated such a visit but within the time travelling, I was privileged to get to know some amazing people, whose lives were directly shaped, by the catalyst of events, which started nearly one hundred years ago.

Nothing speaks more profoundly about a collective understanding of heritage, than the sight and the thousands of names listed on the Thiepval Memorial, or the imposing view of the Canadian Vimy Memorial and its carefully crafted sculptures, which now both stand as a constant call to remember those men who perished.

Equally as powerful, was walking into the grave yards, where at the entrance’s were books of condolences‘ and engraved on each tombstone was the name, date, regiment and religion of the many men who were mourned by their mothers, daughters, sisters or wives back home in Britain.

For some of the elderly, whose fathers were buried in those grave yards, it was for them, the first time that some had been able to visit their parent and one woman had also been joined by her daughter, so that she could also pay respects to her grandfather.

As they laid down their poppy wreaths and as the Exhortation was read out, it was like the opening of old wounds, to hear the admission coming from one woman‘s mouth, that time alone would now prevent her and the rest of these children, from visiting their fathers again.

The kids aren't all right in the UK

2011-05-10T15:12:00.002-07:00

Can things really be this bad? According to Save the Children, children in the UK are worse off than those in 22 other "more developed" countries, including Slovenia and Estonia.

The Guardian have reported how the UK came a woeful 23rd out of 43 countries for child wellbeing according to three main factors: pre-primary enrolment (81% in the UK compared to 100% in France, Germany, Netherlands and some others); secondary school enrolment (99%); and under-five mortality rate (six per 1,000 live births, the joint 23rd lowest score out of the 43 countries – the lowest rates were three per 1,000).

Read the report and weep.

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Iraq's abandoned children

2011-05-10T15:12:00.001-07:00

Iraq is full of street kids; children with one or both parents killed, or some who have merely been abandoned.It has been estimated that there are now over a million orphans in the country. But there are just four small orphanages in the capital, Baghdad - none of them filled to capacity.

The Iraqi government says that relatives would rather abandon children they are unable to take care of, than bear the shame of bringing them to an orphanage.Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf reports from Baghdad.

School woes for Iraqi children

2011-05-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

A majority of children in Iraq, where more than 40 per cent of the population are aged below 15, have been struggling to finish primary school.Overcrowded classrooms and a lack of basic amenities are deterring some parents from sending their children to school.

The condition of schools has also come under attack, as Iraqis continue protests over unemployment, poor services and corruption.Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf reports from Baghdad

A Cause for Solidarity

2011-05-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

On April 23rd 2011, Support Our Services was held in the city of Manchester and was dedicated to showing support to British military veterans, in overcoming mental health disabilities, which can effect them as a result of their services career. The pictures below are just some of the friends who joined us on St. George's Day, to show their support.

The purpose of the day was to show solidarity with Combat Stress - the Veterans Mental Health Society, who for over 90 years has delivered dedicated treatment and support to Ex-Service men and women, who are living with conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety disorders. The services provided by Combat Stress are given free of charge to the veteran and their family.

In an act of solidarity, at Support Our Services a collection was also made for St Dunstan’s, who for almost a century, have been giving invaluable physical and emotional support to blind and visually impaired ex-Service men and women. With the help of the unique expertise, experience and the comprehensive range of services provided by this charity, St Dunstan’s enable British veterans, who are effected with blindness, to lead both independent and fulfilling lives.

Please watch this interview with Ray Hazan, the President of St Dunstan's. 63 year old Ray Hazan learned of St Dunstan's - the organisation providing an independent future for blind ex-Service men and women - after being blinded in 1973 by an IRA parcel bomb in Northern Ireland. His colleague was killed by the blast in which Ray also suffered severe hearing loss and lost his right hand. He is now one of the longest serving members of St Dunstan's staff, having been made President in 2004

Support Combat Stress!

2011-04-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

Combat Stress is the UK's leading military charity specialising in the care of Veterans' mental health.We look after men and women who are suffering from a psychological condition related to their Service career. This might be depression, anxiety, a phobia or PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Our services are free of charge to the Veteran.

Since 2005 the number of ex-Service men and women seeking our help has risen by 72%. We have a current caseload of more than 4,600 individuals – including 159 Afghanistan and 517 Iraq Veterans.Please donate to Combat Stress by clicking on this link! Also if you live in the city of Manchester and wish to get involved with helping Britain's leading Veteran's mental health charity, then join us on Facebook at Combat Stress Manchester Support.

Players Unite Against Anti-Semitism

2011-04-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

England's Frank Lampard is among Premier League stars spearheading a campaign to rid English football of anti-Semitism.

The Chelsea midfielder has joined Tottenham's Ledley King and Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs in a film, written and produced by David and Ivor Baddiel, which tackles anti-Jewish abuse.The Kick It Out campaign is behind the new initiative which targets chants of 'Yiddo'. Frank Lampard, is in the video message being sent out to clubs, said: "For some reason some fans still shout the Y-word. Some might think it's just a bit of a laugh, but racist chanting is against the law.

"It's against the law to call someone the Y-word on the street."Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, who used to play for Tottenham, also appears in the one-minute film, which has the backing of the FA and the PFA and features a clip of fans hissing: 'Spurs are on their way to Auschwitz, Hitler's going to gas them again.'

David Baddiel, the television comedian and novelist whose mother Sarah was a refugee from Nazi Germany, said: "The film is not intended to censor football fans."It's simply to raise awareness that the Y-word is - and has been for many, many years - a race hate word."It's our belief that some football fans may not even realise this, and the film is designed therefore to inform and raise debate."

Tottenham executive director, Donna Cullen, said: "It is unthinkable and wholly unacceptable that, in this day and age, supporters are subjected to anti-Semitic abuse such as hissing to imitate the gas chambers used during the Holocaust in the Second World War."We are committed to eliminating all forms of racism and we shall support efforts to kick anti-Semitism out of the game."

This article was published by The Mirror but I'd also like to draw people's attention to the work of the Anne Frank Trust UK and an upcoming event that they are taking part in to raise money for their amazing work with young people within Great Britain. You can find out more about this by clicking on a previous post Anne Frank and You!

Child poverty risk in the UK

2011-04-29T13:33:00.001-07:00

Public spending cuts could undo all the work done in the UK to tackle child poverty over the last 15 years, an international think tank has warned.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published its first ever report on family well being, which looks at investment levels in 30 different countries.

The report found that UK was one of the biggest investors in families between 2003 and 2007 and had made great strides to tackle child poverty.'Early-years spending rose substantially, driven by new cash supports for children around birth and increased investment on childcare services,' said report author, Dominic Richardson.

But he added that progress has now 'stalled' and that long-term projects to help families and combat poverty need to be protected.

OECD report on family well-being.

Poor children 'tired and hungry'

2011-04-23T16:37:00.001-07:00

Teachers are reporting a rise in pupils entering the classroom feeling tired, hungry and dressed in worn-out clothes.A study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers found almost eight-in-10 staff had pupils living below the poverty line and a quarter believed numbers had increased since the start of the recession.

One teacher from Nottingham told of a sixth-former who had not eaten for three days as her “mother had no money at all until pay day”.A teaching assistant from a West Midlands comprehensive told researchers that some pupils had “infected toes due to feet squashed into shoes way too small”, while another member from Halifax reported a boy who was ridiculed in the PE changing room because his family could not afford to buy him any underpants.

Some teachers told how pupils were consistently late for lessons as parents could not cover the bus fare to school. Other children from middle to lower income families have been forced to cut out school tips because money is so tight, it was claimed.The disclosure follows the publication of figures showing a rise in the number of pupils eligible for free school meals as families struggle to stay above the breadline in the recession.

Almost 1.2 million five- to 16-year-olds claimed free lunches last year – a rise of more than 83,000 in just 12 months.Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, claimed that problems would escalate further because of Government funding cuts – putting the Coalition’s social mobility drive in jeopardy.“It is appalling that in 2011 so many children in the UK are severely disadvantaged by their circumstances and fail to achieve their potential,” she said.

“What message does this government think it is sending young people when it is cutting funding for Sure Start centres, cutting the Education Maintenance Allowance, raising tuition fees and making it harder for local authorities to provide health and social services.“The Government should forget empty rhetoric about social mobility and concentrate on tackling the causes of deprivation and barriers to attainment that lock so many young people into a cycle of poverty.”

The ATL, which represents 160,000 school staff, surveyed members ahead of its annual conference in Liverpool next week.Some 86 per cent said poverty was having a negative impact on pupils’ ability to learn. Eight-in-10 said pupils from the very poorest families came to school tired, three-quarters claimed they arrived hungry and some 72 per cent suggested they were unable to complete homework.

Four-in-10 said poverty levels had increased over the last three years. The comments follow claims from Lesley Ward, former ATL president, that poverty levels in some parts of Britain now mirror "the times of Dickens".Craig Macartney, a secondary school teacher from Suffolk, said: “More children from middle to lower income families are not going on school trips and these families find it difficult to meet the basic cost of living.

“A family with two or three teenage children who have one earner who loses hours, or their job, will struggle to reach the minimum income to pay for basics.“This will get worse as the impact of the cuts affects families. The number of young people with mental health problems has been on the increase in the last three years.”Anne Pegum, a further education college teacher from Herfordshire said: “We have students who miss classes because they cannot afford the bus fare or cost of other transport to get to college.

“We have students who miss out on meals because they do not have money to pay for them and in some cases then feel unwell and have to be helped by our first-aiders.”A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “We’re overhauling the welfare and schools systems precisely to tackle entrenched worklessness, family breakdown, low educational achievement and financial insecurity.“We’re targeting investment directly at the poorest families. The most disadvantaged two year olds will get 15 hours free child care.

“We’re focusing Sure Start at the poorest families, with 4200 extra health visitors. We’re opening academies in areas failed educationally for generations and bringing in the Pupil Premium to target an extra £2.5billion a year directly at students that need the most support”.

By Graeme Paton, Education Editor for the Telegraph.

Older People in Poverty

2011-04-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

One in five pensioners has had to cut back on everyday essentials such as food and heating because of the rising cost of living, a study by Age UK has revealed.The survey of 1,250 over-60s found that inflation and rising energy costs are causing significant hardship, with nearly half of pensioners (47%) saying they are "just getting by" and one in 10 admitting they are "really struggling".

A fifth of pensioners say they are now going out less, while one in five of those questioned have had to cut back on their heating over the winter to make ends meet. Age UK estimates that 1.8 million pensioners are living in poverty and many more are living close to the breadline.The majority of pensioners on low and middle incomes say they spend the bulk of their budgets on food and have been hit hard by inflation. The cost of the average weekly shop rose by 6.4% last year, and more than a third of those surveyed said they now buy less food or cheaper brands to compensate.

The charity claims a rise in energy costs of 4.2% in the past year, exacerbated by the government's decision to allow the £50-£100 winter fuel allowance top-up to expire, is "particularly worrying" given data from the Office for National Statistics which shows around 25,000 extra older people have died during the last five winters.

Age UK also highlighted the fact that, despite increasing pressure on pensioners' household budgets, only 22% claim their full benefit entitlements, with about £5.4bn going unclaimed each year because people do not realise what help is available.Slightly less than 2 million older people are also missing out on council tax subsidies, which could boost their annual incomes by around £728, and up to 350,000 older people are failing to claim housing benefit.

Michelle Mitchell, director of Age UK, said: "At a time when so many people are struggling financially it is unacceptable that vital benefits are failing to reach some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society. This money could make a huge difference to people's quality of life.

"Ultimately, the best way to ensure that people receive the benefits they are entitled to is for them to be paid automatically. But in the meantime the evidence shows that clear, independent information and advice and face-to-face communication are key to improving the take-up of benefits."Age UK's More money in your pocket campaign aims to encourage older people to claim the benefits they are entitled to by launching an online benefits checker.

The charity also says debt is increasingly a problem for the over-60s, with one in 10 pensioners claiming they owe significant amounts of money – up from one in 12 in 2008. The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) says that of the 500,000 calls it received last year, about 10% were from people aged over 60, and their average unsecured debt was £24,642.

A spokesperson from the CCCS said: "Older people are finding themselves in debt for a number of reasons – it may be that their pensions and investments are not performing as well as they had anticipated, they may have become ill, or they may have had to help their children."People in general are being squeezed, but older people have less leeway because they are on budgets based on a limited income. In many ways it is harder for people in their 80s because they cannot just go out and get a job.

"We are expecting things to get more difficult over the next few months because both inflation and interest rates have gone up. For people with larger assets, selling their houses or releasing equity could be an option, but we realise that for many older people this can be a difficult emotional decision, especially if that is where they raised their family."

By Carri Ann Taylor for the Guardian

Rugby's Dallaglio Humbled by Vets

2011-04-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

A GIANT sportsman who served his country on the rugby field has put his weight behind the charity supporting those who have done the same in combat.

World Cup winner and former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio visited the Leatherhead home of Combat Stress, where military veterans receive treatment for psychological conditions related to their service career.Mr Dallaglio went to the Tyrwhitt House short-stay treatment centre to meet veterans and staff and tour the facility.

He said: “Today has been quite a moving and humbling experience for me. It’s always flattering when rugby fans refer to players as heroes but the people I have met today are the real heroes, not someone who plays sport for a living.“It has been incredible listening to their stories and finding out more about the charity from the staff and veterans here today.”

The charity cares for men and women suffering from depression, anxiety, phobias or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of their time in the armed forces.Since 2005, the number of veterans seeking its help has risen by 72%. There is currently a caseload of more than 4,600 people, including 159 who served in Afghanistan and 517 in Iraq.

Mr Dallaglio added: “So many people think of war veterans returning from active service with physical injuries but it’s staggering to hear the growing number of men and women who suffer from psychological injuries.“People who try and return to living a normal life but are unable to cope with the effects of war and fighting for our country, these are the people who deserve our respect and support.”

Combat Stress is one of four charities benefiting from the London Wasps St George’s Day match against Bath, and current player Josh Lewsey is an appeal board member for the charity’s Enemy Within Appeal.

This article was written by Guy Martin for Get Surrey, meanwhile Combat Stress are holding a St George's day event of their own in the city of Manchester, to hopefully raise allot of money and awareness for this vital service! Please check out my earlier post Support Our Services, where you can find out more information and hopefully come along and to see what other events maybe going on in your area also check out http://www.combatstress.org.uk/

British Pupils in Poverty

2011-04-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

Nearly 80 per cent of teachers say they have pupils who are living below the poverty line.One teacher from Halifax told researchers that a boy had been laughed at by classmates when changing for PE because he had no underpants.In another case, a teacher said a sixth-form student had not eaten for three days because their mother had no money until pay day.

More than 600 teachers were questioned in the poll by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.Around 150 believed poverty among their pupils had increased since the start of the recession.They reported children suffering higher stress levels and poor physical or mental health.

Many were victims of bullying

A teaching assistant in a West Midlands secondary school told researchers: ‘Every day I become aware of a child suffering due to poverty. Today I have had to contact parents because a child has infected toes due to feet squashed into shoes way too small.’

Craig Macartney, a secondary school teacher from Suffolk, said: ‘More children from middle to lower income families are not going on school trips and these families find it difficult to meet the basic cost of living.‘A family with two or three teenage children who have one earner who loses hours, or their job, will struggle to reach the minimum income to pay for basics. This will get worse as the impact of the cuts affects families.’

Job losses and a lack of employment were given as the main reason for the rise in poverty, followed by the increased cost of food and utilities.The association’s general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: ‘It is appalling that in 2011 so many children are severely disadvantaged by their circumstances.’

Aidan Radnedge for the Metro Newspaper

Anne Frank & You!

2011-04-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

The Anne Frank Trust UK came into existence following a very successful visit of the first Anne Frank exhibition, known as Anne Frank in the World 1929-1945, to Bournemouth College of Art and Design in April 1989. The exhibition was at that time run directly from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, whose historians had created it in 1986.

The Bournemouth Anne Frank Exhibition Steering Committee was chaired by Rabbi David Soetendorp, whose late father had been a close friend of Anne's father, Otto Frank. Gillian Walnes, the Trust’s founding and current Executive Director, was also on the committee.

After the Bournemouth exhibition, Rabbi David, Gillian and Eva Schloss, Anne Frank’s step sister, decided to create a British charity to ensure that the exhibition continued touring the UK.The charity was founded in 1990 and continues to operate under a licence agreement with the Anne Frank House and was launched at the House of Commons in November 1991.

Twenty years after its initial founding, The Anne Frank Trust is delighted to be taking part in the 2011 Community Fun Run, where the money raised will help the Trust continue to inspire young people, by taking a positive role in their local communities.

There is a route to suit everyone, 1k, 5k or 10k. Run it, walk it, push a buggy, walk your dog, take your kids, we want everyone to join in. Taking place on Sunday 29th May 2011, it's really easy to sign up, just go to http://www.communityfunrun.org/ and choose the Anne Frank Trust as your chosen charity! It is only through your support that the Anne Frank Trust can continue to sustain and develop its innovative programmes.

Don't miss out, sign up today and get training and if you can't make the date, then please consider sponsoring one of the Anne Frank Trust team by donating on Just Giving and quoting "Community Fun Run".You can also learn about the fantastic work being carried out by the Anne Frank Trust by checking out their website here http://www.annefrank.org.uk/

Check out Anne Frank's message for modern times by Gillian Walnes, the director of the Anne Frank Trust UK that was published by the Times newspaper in 2009, there is also Eva Schloss attends award ceremony that was published by the BBC in January 2011 and Painsley College receives Anne Frank Trust sapling which was also published by the BBC on March 31st 2011.

Support Our Services

2011-04-11T16:47:00.001-07:00

Come along to Support Our Services, a family friendly day dedicated to showing support to all British ex-service men & women, in overcoming the many disabilities which can effect them as a result of their services career.

Support Our Services is being organised by supporters of Combat Stress and will be held in the south of Manchester. Combat Stress delivers dedicated treatment and support to British ex-Service men and women who are living with conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The support provided by Combat Stress is given by fully trained and experienced staff and is carried out in the Veterans home or in one of the three treatment centres, which are run by the charity itself. All services provided by Combat Stress are free of charge to the Veteran and their family, with much of the costs incurred by the charity being covered by donations from the public.

Another charity that will be present on the day, will also be St Dunstan’s, who for almost a century have been giving invaluable physical and emotional support to blind and visually impaired ex-Service men and women. With the help of the unique expertise of this charity, St Dunstan’s enable people to lead independent and fulfilling lives.

At Support Our Services, there will be stalls with cakes, leaflets, T-shirts, posters, badges and other items for purchase, with all proceeds raised going to advance the work of those who are at the forefront of assisting these men and women. Everybody is welcome to attend and for those who wish to bring their children along, there is also an outdoor sports pitch, where various sports games will be put on!

Support Our Services!

Saturday, April 23rd

11:00am - 4:00pm

Chorlton-C-Hardy Cricket & Sports Club, Hardy Lane,

Chorlton-C-Hardy, Manchester, M21 7LB.

You can also obtain more information on the work of these Forces charities, by clicking on the following links Combat Stress - the Veterans Mental Health Society and St Dunstan’s.

We hope to see you there!

PTSD: The invisible division

2011-04-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

Something is happening at the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that mental health experts are finding hard to explain: British and American soldiers appear to be having markedly different reactions to the stress of combat. In America, there has been a sharp increase in the number experiencing mental-health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Between 2006 and 2007 alone, there was a 50 per cent jump in cases of combat stress among soldiers and suicides more than doubled. Why the precipitous rise? And why hasn't there been an accompanying rise in these symptoms among British troops?

The conclusion that British soldiers appear to have a different psychological reaction to the stresses of these modern conflicts was the finding of several recent high-profile studies. This year, in a Royal Society journal, Neil Greenberg of the Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health at King's College London and colleagues reported that studies of American soldiers showed PTSD prevalence rates of in excess of 30 per cent while the rates among British troops was only four per cent. UK soldiers were more likely to abuse alcohol (13 per cent reported doing so) or experience more common mental disorders such as depression (20 per cent).

Such differences were found even when comparing soldiers who served in the most intense combat zones. In addition, while researchers found increased mental-health risk for American personnel sent on multiple deployments, no such connection was found in British soldiers.One theory to explain these differences is that the minds of soldiers are responsive to cultural expectations of how they should feel – and that those expectations can be different from one place (or time) to another. One theory to explain these differences is that the minds of soldiers are responsive to cultural expectations of how they should feel – and that those expectations can be different from one place (or time) to another.

"Despite some claims to the contrary," Greenberg et al write, "PTSD seems not to be a 'universal stress reaction', arising in all societies across all time. Evidence from both world wars suggests that the ways in which service personnel communicate distress is culturally determined and that the development of PTSD may be one more phase in the evolving picture of human reaction to adversity."

This suggests that the psychological reaction to war does not happen in a flash like a shrapnel wound. Rather, it evolves as the soldiers integrate their experiences with the values and expectations of their culture. British soldiers in the Boer Wars were likely to complain of joint pain and muscle weakness, a condition their doctors called "debility syndrome". In the US Civil War, soldiers often reacted to the trauma of battle by experiencing an aching in the left side of the chest and having the feeling of a weak heartbeat, labelled "Da Costa's syndrome". In the First World War, soldiers experienced "shell shock", with symptoms that included nervous tics, grotesque body movements, and physical paralysis. It was not until after the Vietnam war that soldiers began to describe their symptoms primarily in terms of the intrusive thoughts, memory avoidance and uncontrollable anxiety and arousal that makes up the core of the PTSD diagnosis.

The simple but mind-bending truth is that mental illnesses such as PTSD can be both culturally shaped and utterly real to the sufferer.There is evidence, in short, to suggest that American and British soldiers come home to significantly different expectations for their psychological recovery and those expectations matter a great deal. In America, soldiers frequently return to a culture that fully expects them to be psychologically wounded by the experience.

Diagnosis of PTSD began to take shape in the US after the Vietnam war and represents much more than a clinical set of symptoms. It has become a world view; a weapon in a battle between a militaristic view of the world – where going to war and using deadly force can be both morally justified and personally uplifting – and a therapy view of the world, where violence is an aberration that inevitably damages the human psyche and spirit.

Originally called post-Vietnam syndrome, modern PTSD began in hothouse rap sessions held by Vietnam Veterans Against the War and supervised by antiwar psychoanalysts. The motivations behind the creation of the diagnosis are clear in early descriptions of post-Vietnam syndrome such as this one written by a young psychoanalyst named Chaim Shatan and published in the New York Times in the spring of 1972: These veterans were suffering because they had been, "deceived, used and betrayed" by both the military and society at large. That the creation of this syndrome would help the anti-war effort was clear. Shatan wrote in a memo to his colleagues at the time: "This is an opportunity to apply our professional expertise and anti-war sentiments."

The diagnosis of post-Vietnam syndrome was intended to highlight the psychological cost of participating in what many mental-health providers perceived to be an unjust war.

A generation later, the concept of PTSD at first appears to have come a long way from post-Vietnam Syndrome with its overt anti-war meaning. It has become much more clinical and de-politicised to the point where the military itself now recognises and employs the diagnosis. But American trauma counsellors still constitute a population with a direct intellectual lineage to the anti-war psychiatrists who forged the PTSD diagnosis. In their rush to help American soldiers, these healers often carry with them anti-war sentiments and other cultural assumptions about how the experience of war will manifest itself in psychological injury.

As several historians have pointed out, Vietnam veterans didn't return from that conflict with their PTSD symptoms fully expressing themselves. Many came home believing they were psychologically healthy, only to succumb – sometimes decades later – to cultural expectations that they were indeed suffering from the trauma of the experience. Vietnam veterans applying for PTSD disability doubled between 1999 and 2004.

"This raises the possibility of post-combat 'belief, expectation, explanation, and attribution'," wrote Dr David Marlow in a Rand report. "Participation in Vietnam caused veterans to see themselves and to be seen as a population suffering from a host of psychological symptoms. The public's view of them increased their stress, exacerbating whatever problems may have already existed." The reason that veterans have been prone to becoming psychological casualties, Marlow and others suggest, is because their unconscious minds were responding to a culture and a PTSD-focused mental-health community that predicted this turn of events.

This sort of cultural expectation has not yet fully taken hold in the UK where many remain resistant to a conception of the human mind as fragile in the face of trauma. Indeed many UK scholars and mental-health providers have pushed back at the spread of this American diagnosis."In a momentous shift, contemporary Western culture now emphasises not resilience but vulnerability," laments Derek Summerfield, of King's College, who has worked extensively with victims of war and genocide. "We've invited people to see a widening range of experiences as liable to make them ill."

Humans have suffered a great deal throughout history and have developed myriad cultural beliefs to sustain themselves in the aftermath of horror. PTSD appears particularly weak in this light. By isolating trauma as a malfunction of the mind that can be connected to discrete symptoms and targeted with specialised treatments, the disorder removes trauma from other cultural narratives and beliefs that might give deeper meaning to suffering. It claims to be value-neutral to cultural beliefs but this is problematic, given that those beliefs – be it God's plan for someone who's lost a child or patriotism for the soldier crippled in battle – are the very places where we once found solace and strength.

As it evolved away from Post-Vietnam Syndrome and into its modern clinical form, PTSD left behind the quests for social meaning in tragedy. In doing so, it has set adrift those struggling in the aftermath of trauma. In contrast to those angry but socially engaged Vietnam War veterans, the personal accounts of current-day US soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq often seem pigeonholed into a PTSD diagnosis that is tied to a particularly modern style of lonely hyperintrospection.

The frustration, anger, and unhappiness of modern soldiers have been moved from the social (where one might find moral anger, nationalistic justification, or religious meaning to justify the sacrifice) to the biopsychomedical. Because the disorder focuses largely on internal states and chemical imbalances within the individual brain, this explanation for psychological problems often leaves the soldier – to borrow a recent US military marketing slogan – feeling like "an army of one".

Patrick Bracken, of Bradford University's Dept of Health Studies, argues that the emergence of PTSD is a symptom of a troubled postmodern world. "In most Western societies there has been a move away from religious and other belief systems which offered individuals stable pathways through life, and meaningful frameworks with which to encounter suffering and death," Bracken writes. "The meaningful connections of the social world are rendered fragile."

Although we might be able to ignore the absence of these belief systems during our normal day-to-day lives, truly traumatic events have a tendency to startle us into awareness of a heart-stopping emptiness. The diagnosis of PTSD can categorise some of our reactions to trauma, but in the end it is cold comfort. It cannot replace what we've lost.

Ethan Watters is the author of 'Crazy Like Us: the Globalisation of the Western Mind', published by Robinson. (£9.99). To order a copy (free P&P) call Independent Books Direct on 08430 600 030, or visit http://www.independentbooksdirect.co.uk/

Sexual assault is not who we are!

2011-04-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

A class action lawsuit, filed in February against the Department of Defense by 17 members and former military members, is more than disturbing. It is sickening to think service members are capable of committing sexual and physical assault against another person who wears the same uniform. The victims of these assaults, mainly young men and women who volunteered to serve this nation in a time of war, were betrayed by those closest to them -- their peers, comrades, supposed friends and by persons in positions of leadership. These crimes against other service members violate the essence of our service creeds. This is not who we are!

Given the gravity of these accusations, we know what is coming, an institutional emphasis on sexual assault, with lectures, training, education, and yes, articles like this one. While warranted, these efforts will only serve to confirm what we intuitively discern -- sexual assault is an insidious and devastating crime. And as insidious and devastating as these assaults might be, they are also all too frequent.

The Service Women's Action Network says more than 16,000 service members reported rape or sexual assaults throughout the military in 2009. Assault victims often choose to remain silent, and when they do come forward, frequently they must bear callous scrutiny by peers and leadership blaming the victim.

Service member attacks on other service members have consequences not only for the victims themselves but also on the cohesion, morale, discipline and effectiveness of units and organizations. Victims feel betrayed not only by their assailants but also by their service institution and, many times, by their own chain of command. We must do better as leaders and as an institution; our nation has entrusted us with their sons and daughters. When sexual assault occurs against these young people who are in our charge, we fail them, our nation and ourselves. There is no act, legal or illegal, that is punishable by sexual assault. A victim is never at fault, and blaming victims is not who we are.

My experience informs me that we are beginning to see the tip of a disgusting iceberg. Unfortunately, we have been here before with sexual assault incidents at Aberdeen in 1996, and with the 1997 trial of Gene McKinney, the then-Sergeant Major of the Army. The young people involved in this most recent lawsuit have displayed true courage in telling their personal stories. Think about the character required to come forward and speak out. Some reports indicate that 80 percent of all sexual assaults in the military are not reported, and when reported, many are not acted upon. Again, this is not who we are!

As a crime, sexual assault can be difficult to prove. Sometimes evidence is reduced to conflicting statements. Unfortunately, over the course of a long career, we directed several assault investigations as a brigade commander and also served as investigating officers and as members of courts martial in sexual assault cases. The story and statement of the 17 service members now suing the Department of Defense brought back memories of just how unpleasant sexual assault situations are. Every investigation from our past bared an ugly truth; assaults could have been prevented. At least one person in every case knew what might or would actually occur but they did not act. Being a bystander and doing nothing is the same as being an unwitting accomplice. This is not who we are.

The assaults we have personal knowledge of ranged from peer-on-peer assault to superior-on-subordinate attacks. Too often, influence, rank and power were factors. In every instance, we were surprised at who was accused, because a few of my subordinate leaders lived dual existences -- one as a Soldier, the other as a predator. Convictions were not easy to obtain, trials were painful, and often lives were destroyed. Given my past experiences, my emotions once again ran high as we read and listened to the statements of these assault victims -- disbelief, disgust and anger. We are mad as hell because we know this is not who we are.

Even today, we wish we had done more to prevent the assaults. Units were wounded for a period of time after each incident. Camps were formed, those for the victim and those for the alleged perpetrator. An atmosphere of mistrust and betrayal permeated what had been a good military organization. Time, leadership and communications eventually healed these wounds; however, the injuries to the victims lingered long after the unit recovered.

In an earnest attempt to transfer a few hard-learned lessons about sexual assault, the following is offered for leaders and commanders to ruminate upon.

Beware of chameleons. Predators sometimes hide behind the facade of professionalism. They are often charming but always calculating. Watch for irregular work hours and undue attention given toward another service member. In cases of superior-on-subordinate assault, I was always taken aback when charges were levied. Predators are good at concealing who they really are and their intentions. Do not be fooled by the false professional. This is not who we are.

Someone knows what is going on. In every incident, there was at least one person, and sometimes several, who knew something was awry. They either saw or sensed irregularities in actions, yet they did not act. When asked afterward why they did not come forward before the assault, many said they did not want to draw attention to themselves or they were not sure. There is pressure on junior service members not to "rock the boat." Leaders are obligated to relieve this pressure, to provide a way out and make it possible for even the most junior of service members to come forward. Open lines of communications built on trust are important in preventing these assaults. This is who we are.

Command climate, alcohol and drugs are catalysts for assault. Small things matter. Off-color jokes, inappropriate comments, cat-calls and even running cadences that are in poor taste contribute to environments that might foster assaults. This is not about being politically correct -- it is about having respect for oneself and others. Take action to correct the small things before they get out of hand.

Alcohol and drugs are often part of the equation leading to an assault. Rendering a victim helpless is usually inherent in a predator's plan, and drugs and alcohol serve as accomplices in the majority of assault cases. This is one area peers must do more to care for their buddies and friends on- and off-duty. Everyone has a role in creating a command climate of respect and dignity, free of the abuse of alcohol and drugs used to victimize each other. This is who we are.

Protect the vulnerable. The first 90 days are important. The most vulnerable in our ranks are those newly arrived service members, particularly those reporting in from basic training. Predators are always searching for victims, and they will befriend someone who has yet to establish ties and relationships.

Leaders must stress situational awareness to all newly reporting members. Sound sponsorship programs and a good buddy system allow people to get established and understand their new environment. This is who we are.

Part of the solution to this predator-like cancer living within our military is increased awareness of the problem, a change of attitudes and education. The impending classes and focused emphasis by leaders will help. These efforts alone, however, will fall short in eradicating sexual assault. Eradication must be our goal. One assault is one too many. What is also demanded is that every service member recommit to their buddies and peers. Needed is the same commitment demonstrated daily in Iraq and Afghanistan, the same sense of genuine care, concern and willingness to give all for each other on the battlefield must be carried over and instilled in every unit and organization regardless of location. Just as it takes teamwork to defeat our enemies in battle, teamwork is required to isolate and defeat the sexual predators within our own ranks. This is who we are.

To the vast majority of service members serving honorably and with distinction, we say take care of each other, keep alert for predators inside our own wire and take action before things go too far. To the small number of sexual predators lurking among us, we say your actions are shameful and will not be tolerated. Seek appropriate and readily available assistance or counseling before you act. You do not represent us. You are not who we are.

Although a sensitive issue, sexual assault must be discussed, confronted and eliminated. This will take time because we will have to face some distasteful truths. We may have to change our attitudes -- not an easy task, but we will succeed. We will succeed for several reasons, among them honor, pride, love for each other and -- this is who we are.

Courtesy of Gene Kamena, professor of leadership, Air War College and Dr. Tony Klucking, Squadron Officer College

Care cuts are already biting

2011-03-31T05:28:00.000-07:00

Nearly one in four disabled and older people have experienced cuts to services and increased charges for care, even before local authority spending cuts are implemented, say charities.Many families are already being "pushed to breaking point" by reductions to the amount of care they receive, including transport help and respite care, with more than half saying increased charges mean they can no longer afford food and heating.

"We are extremely concerned that services which were already failing to keep pace with changing demographics are being cut back further. These cuts are having an impact on families before the major cuts to local authority funding bite from April 2011," said a joint statement by 40 leading care charities.

In a survey conducted by the charities, more than a fifth of respondents said services had been cut back even though their needs had stayed the same. More than half of respondents said they had seen their health suffer as a result of the changes to services, while 52% said they were struggling to maintain their independence.

The findings, published by the 40 charities, were based on responses from more than 1,000 disabled and older people and their carers. It comes as councils in England prepare to embark on cuts of 26% over the next four years. By 2014-15 there could be a £1.2bn funding gap in adult social care, according to the King's Fund health thinktank.

The charities said vulnerable people's care needs were increasingly unmet. More people were not receiving enough care, or had been declared ineligible for state-funded care because their disability or long-term health condition was not considered to be "critical".

Significant numbers of families were going without the care and support services they needed and this would be exacerbated by bigger cuts to come, the charities said. "Too often people are falling between the gaps in the health and social care systems, leaving disabled and older people without support, and heaping more pressure on families. There is no doubt that this mix of chronic underfunding and sustained cuts could have serious economic and social consequences unless these challenges are met now."

The survey was carried out to underpin the charities' evidence to the government's Commission on the Future Funding of Social Care, which is expected to report in July.The Care and Support Alliance includes household names such as Carers UK, Alzheimer's Society, Macmillan Cancer Support, Mencap, the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, Rethink and Scope.

The Department of Health said the government had allocated an additional £2bn a year by 2014/15 to support the delivery of social care and protect the most vulnerable in society. "This funding should enable local authorities to protect people's access to services and deliver new approaches to improve their care."

Patrick Butler, The Guardian

Punishing the defenceless

2011-03-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

Read the government's spin on state pensions and you could be fooled into thinking our older generations are going to emerge relatively unscathed from the cuts. Think again.One of the cruellest fronts of assault by the coalition has been its total demolition job on our welfare system.The groundwork for this assault was laid by a relentless campaign, also pursued by new Labour, praising "hard-working families" and attacking "lazy benefit scroungers."

Under the government plans a lot of formerly hard-working people are going to join the long list of the unemployed and be forced onto benefits.The government says that its plan will make benefits simpler and ensure that work pays more than benefits. But there aren't enough jobs to go round - unemployment is approaching 3 million - meaning that the welfare bill is set to mushroom.

The government is currently forcing its Welfare Reform Billl through Parliament. It plans to cut £18 billion from the welfare bill - 10 per cent of the total.Its targets include some of the most vulnerable people of our communities - children, the elderly, the mentally ill and the disabled.

The Bill applies to Wales and England. However some of its provisions will require the consent of the Scottish Parliament.Its central proposal is to limit the amount paid to households in benefits to about £26,000 a year and pay it via a single universal credit to be introduced in 2013.

This would be a means-tested payment that would replace benefits including jobseekers' allowance, employment and support allowance, income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit, child tax credit and the working tax credit.Like all state payments including pensions since the Tories changed the rules last year, the new payout would rise in line with the consumer price index, which doesn't include housing costs, rather than the higher retail price index.

The coalition has also employed private firms to reassess 1.6 million people being paid the disability allowance.A tickbox test decides whether people are "fit to work" and should receive lower benefits. Mental health charities have warned that people suffering from hard-to-see illnesses are particularly vulnerable. In one case a terminally ill man was told he was "fit" to work.

Disabled charity Scope chief executive Richard Hawkes warns: "The new assessment is a blunt tool that will find many disabled people fit for work, but in the real world, faced with intense competition for few jobs, negative attitudes from employers and very limited access to specialist help, they will struggle to find employment."Private businesses have also been employed by the coalition on multibillion-pound contracts to force people into jobs.

As well as a basic payment for the contract, these "providers" can get up to £14,000 of taxpayers' money for every long-term benefit claimant they get into work.Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud, a former City banker, believes that the "payment by results" model could be expanded to include drug addicts and prisoners.

"There is no reason why we can't replicate this approach more widely," he has said.Charities warn that the new system will plunge thousands into "in-work poverty" and see child poverty rates spiral upwards.

Unfair welfare

- Housing benefits capped at £400 a week

- Childcare allowance costs cut by an average of £436 a year

- Health in pregnancy grant of £190 abolished

- Child benefits frozen for three years despite prices currently rising at a rate of 5 per cent - and much faster for those on lower income

- Surestart maternity grant worth £500 to low-income mothers-to-be at 29 weeks pregnant restricted to first child

- Child trust fund worth £500 at birth abolished

- Baby tax credit worth £545 for mothers with children under 12 months scrapped

- Employment support allowance, which helps those who've paid into the national insurance scheme and have become unable to work through disability, limited to 12 months

Welfare facts

- The poorest and most vulnerable will suffer most from cuts. The worst-hit of all will be low-income single mothers from black and ethnic minority backgrounds who suffer from mental or physical disablity

- Women rely on benefits twice as much as men do because of their caring responsibilities and unequal pay and career prospect

- Research by the TUC shows that single parents - more than 70 per cent of them single mothers - will lose 18.5 per cent of their net household income because of changes to welfare and tax system

- The Bill threatens lone parents of children aged five and over with benefit cuts of up to 100 per cent if they "fail" to find work

- The benefit cap has a disproportionate impact on large families - 80 per cent of those hit will be families with three or more children which will lose £93 a week

by Louise Nousratpour, The Morning Star

Change you can't afford!

2011-03-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

So the human rights of Libyan rebels has come at a price and for the Obama administration “it’s a price worth paying”, with the expense of supporting the so-called Libyan "revolutionaries", coming out of the pockets of every working man and woman.

While people talk about abstract idea’s like democracy, something that has been really successful and worked so well in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the pro-war pundits on both the left and right have been really eager about keeping the following information from the eyes of the general public.

You may ask why? But talk of Freedom and Democracy is allot easier to digest and it does sound sexier than number crunching, or talking about dead bodies, the costs of such ventures, the details that go into any kind of military action, along with the long term commitment needed to carry out and maintain operations such as a No Fly Zone.

The article below is “Cost of Libya Intervention $600 Million for First Week, Pentagon Says” and it will give anyone with half a functioning brain cell some food for thought and with this military action having been “invited” by the Libyan rebels, maybe people should think a bit more carefully about the company that their governments choose to keep.

Its change you can believe in ladies and gentleman and trust me, it’s change that you and your families are each paying for, along with the disabled, the elderly, your children, the sick, the employed, the unemployed, the low paid and the high paid.

One week after an international military coalition intervened in Libya, the cost to U.S. taxpayers has reached at least $600 million, according figures provided by the Pentagon.U.S. ships and submarines in the Mediterranean have launched at least 191Tomahawk cruise missiles from their arsenals, costing $268.8 million, the Pentagon said.

U.S. warplanes have dropped 455 precision guided bombs, costing tens of thousands of dollars each.A downed Air Force F-15E fighter jet will cost more than $60 million to replace.And operation of ships and aircraft, guzzling ever-more-expensive fuel to maintain their positions off the Libyan coast and in the skies above, could reach millions of dollars a week, experts say.

"Each sortie, even if it drops no munitions, is very pricey," said Winslow Wheeler of the Center for Defense Information. "These airplanes cost us tens of thousands of dollars to operate per hour, and the fancier you get in terms of planes, the costs get truly astounding."

The three B-2 stealth bombers that flew from Missouri to Libya and back on an early bombing mission each cost an estimated $10,000 per hour to fly, a defense official said.That means the planes, each on a 25-hour round-trip flight, ran up a bill of $750,000, and the 45 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) they dropped added at least $1.3 million more.

So far the Pentagon has financed the mission to take out Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's air defenses and disrupt his attacks on opposition forces using money in its existing budget, which has room for unanticipated military actions. The White House has not been forced to ask Congress for additional funds for the campaign.

Service member salaries, fuel costs and equipment maintenance are all part of annual military operating budgets. And hundreds of munitions, including the $1.4 million cruise missiles, are acquired each year and routinely used in action and training, officials say.

But experts say the administration may have to submit an emergency supplemental budget request for Libya later this year, assuming U.S. involvement in the international military operation does not end swiftly.The cost of operating the no-fly zone over Libya alone could cost the U.S. an estimated $30 million to $100 million a week, a study by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments found.

While many Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have questioned President Obama's constitutional authority to engage in Libya without their consent, some are voicing concern about the effect on the skyrocketing federal deficit.

"We have already spent trillions of dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which descended into unwinnable quagmires," Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio wrote in a letter to colleagues last week. "Now, the president is plunging the United States into yet another war we cannot afford."

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have together cost more than $1.2 trillion so far, excluding troops' pay, medical costs and interest payments on debt incurred, according to the National Priorities Project, a nonprofit budgetary research group.

More than 5,800 American military service members have been killed in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom since 2001.Kucinich wants the House to vote to cut off funding for the Obama administration's military action in Libya, which he has suggested could be an impeachable offense.

Meanwhile, Obama has defended his decision to intervene in Libya, saying the mission is in support of an "international mandate" with a limited, humanitarian scope. The president has also said the U.S. military would only be actively involved for "days, not weeks" before other allied partners take on a leading role.

But Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and many of his peers say regardless of the president's intentions, the costs to taxpayers -- and potentially in American lives -- coupled with an uncertain outcome make the military intervention unwise.

"It's a strange time in which almost all of our congressional days are spent talking about budget, deficits, outrageous problems. And yet same time, all of this passes -- which is a very expensive operation even in a limited way, always is," Lugar said last week.

POVERTY: Sound The Alarm!

2011-03-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

According to The Guardian on Wednesday 23rd February 2011, Ministers should draw up an emergency plan to tackle extreme levels of poverty as new research showed that more than one in four children live in penury in some major UK cities.

The figures, compiled by Save the Children, show that 1.6 million youngsters live in severe poverty, which the charity condemned as a "national scandal". With unemployment rising and a radical shake up of the welfare system seeing £18bn wiped from benefits, the charity fears the number of children living without the basics will rise unless action is taken.

Save the Children says more than one in five children now lives in severe poverty in 29 areas of the country. The highest proportion – 27% – is in Manchester and the London borough of Tower Hamlets. More than 20% of children experience severe poverty in Birmingham and Liverpool.

Wales has the highest proportion of children living in severe poverty (14%), followed by England with 13%, then Scotland and Northern Ireland which have 9% each.

There are also more than one in three people admitted to hospital across the UK, who are at risk of malnutrition, according to a survey of nearly 10,000 patients. The charity BAPEN, which ran the survey, have said they are concerned about a rise in malnutrition among people being admitted into the NHS from their own homes.

The charity stated that Government cuts in community services, including meals-on-wheels, were likely to put extra pressure on hospitals. Councils have also said that tough decisions on spending cuts are unavoidable and with Hospitals routinely screening patients for the risk of malnutrition, BAPEN's survey has suggested the problem may be getting worse.

More than one in three were found to be at risk, which was higher than in previous surveys, though this was the first to be carried out in winter. BAPEN is particularly concerned that more than 30% of those admitted from their own homes were found to be at risk, compared with 26% in the two previous surveys.

The warning comes as the National Association of Care Catering (NACC) reported cuts in funding for local food services in London, Buckinghamshire, Norfolk, Hampshire and Nottinghamshire. The charity Age UK Camden runs the Henderson Court day centre in north London, which services more than 6,500 hot meals a year to elderly and other vulnerable people.

But Government cuts in funding means that services like those provided at the Henderson Court will be forced to close. One of the members at the centre, Cynthia Philpot told the BBC, "What are these elderly people going to do if they can't cook? You've only got to look around this room and they're in wheelchairs, they've all got disabilities of one sort or another, and I definitely think places like this should be kept open. "

Meanwhile the Independent have warned that Unemployment has reached a 17-year high with more than 2.5 million people being out of work, with youth joblessness being at record levels, according to new figures.

The jobless total jumped by 27,000 in the three months to January to 2.53 million, the worst figure since 1994, while the number of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work increased by 30,000 to 974,000, the highest since records began in 1992.

Further Reading:

A State of Disorder

The Politics of Courage

Networks of Terror

2011-03-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

The following is taken from a speech presented by Hussein Al-alak, in response to the terrorist bomb attacks by Al-Qaeda on the city of London. The speech was given in Britain and made on the 20/7/2005.

“On Thursday July 7th 2005, the United Kingdom was rocked by a number of bomb blasts that ripped through London, killing many people and injuring hundreds. The attacks occurred just hours after it was announced the United Kingdom is to hold the Olympic games in 2012 and at the same time as the G8 summit, which was being held by world leaders up in Scotland.

It has been claimed the attacks on the capitol were carried out by a European network, that is connected to the Al-Qaeda organisation, with Al-Qaeda having come to represent the face of political Islam, with this perspective having been aided by the ignorance of Western governments and their repeated allegations, that conflicts in the modern Middle East, are based upon religion, ethnicity and inter-tribal rivalries.

But what separates political facts from the fiction, in relation to the London attack and those carried out by Al-Qaeda suicide bombers elsewhere - is the fact their actions hold no discrimination towards the nationalities of their intended targets, irrespective of the point of detonation.

In a press release issued on 7/7/2005 by the National Association of British Arabs, NABA were the first to illustrate that “Edgware Road is in the heart of London’s Arab community, as the bombing of Aldgate East is in the heart of a massive Muslim community, which is made up mostly of North African and Somali Arabs.”

Further evidence of the indiscriminate nature of Al-Qaeda, includes the fact that less than a week after the London bomb attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Iraq, killing thirty two children, one US soldier and injuring a further thirty people.

This incident occurred in Baghdad on the 13th July 2005, six days after the attack upon London, with the incident in Iraq occurring in response to a US soldier handing out sweets to children. The majority of the children killed, were under twelve years of age.

Within the chaos that followed, parents carried out a frantic search but tragically, the majority were unable to find or even identify their children. Reports from the scene described one father, who was only able to recognise his son from his head, with the hands of two younger victims still holding onto the wrapping of the sweets, that were given to them by the soldier.

While the loss of each life rips through the fabric of our own humanity and as we sit here listening to each countries experiences with suicide bombing, the questions that still need to be explored, is how have we got to this stage?

Since the attack upon London, like the pre-recorded statements from those who carried out the bomb attacks in Britain, some prominent politicians have pointed to the Governments actions within the Middle East, as being some of the causes behind the sudden growth in terrorism -especially since the invasion of Iraq.

It has also been suggested that the economic situation and instability created through the invasion and occupation of Iraq, has established a swamp like effect, which is apparently attracting people into filling the ranks of organisations like Al-Qaeda but rather than having created a swamp like effect, a better definition would be to describe the situation as being more like a giant vacuum.

A report was commissioned in 2004, which looked into the dynamics of what is now called Al-Qaeda of Iraq, where the following points highlighted that as a movement, it had little or no support among ordinary Iraqi people and that the failure of the US/UK led Coalition to secure the borders in 2003, allowed a steady stream of foreign fundamentalists to travel freely, in and out of the country.

It was also discovered that many Iraqi’s saw organisations such as Al-Qaeda as being responsible for much of the violence being experienced inside of Iraq, as people viewed their attacks as being directed against civilians and military alike, unlike the “native-born resistance” and believed a distinction needed to be drawn between the two.

As most Middle Eastern countries can testify, the presence of Al-Qaeda has increased dramatically since the collapse of the Taliban regime, with the United States warning only last month, that the situation inside of Iraq, is “producing better trained militants than Afghanistan”.

These sentiments have been echoed by the Saudi Arabian government, who are predicting that many of the militants returning to the Kingdom from Iraq “will be worse”, with them having previously engaged in combat against Soviet Forces during the 1980’s, or having been trained in Afghan camps throughout the 1990’s but according to the Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia, “A new generation of young Saudi’s drawn to the insurgency in Iraq, could return home armed with even deadlier combat skills.”

While the figures on the amount of suspected militants has been disputed by Saudi authorities , with some reports claiming that anything from hundreds into their thousands have gone into Iraq, Gulf based analysts have claimed the government is unable to “stop these people from going”, while a clear warning to such regimes has also been issued, “when you export terrorists, they will come back as mature terrorists and back in to your society.”

Britain's Gulf War Legacy

2011-03-01T06:17:00.000-08:00

The UK and Kuwaiti Governments celebrated this week, the 20th anniversary of the end of the 1991 Gulf War, by agreeing to double bilateral trade and investment opportunities, worth up to a total of £4 billion by the year 2015.

Kuwait is currently the UK's fourth-largest trading partner in the Gulf, buying over £1 billion worth of exports a year but while Prime Minister David Cameron celebrated this development over in the Gulf, back in London sick war veterans marked the occasion with a protest march to Downing Street.

The former military personnel were demanding proper testing, treatment and compensation for those suffering from Gulf War Syndrome, following their service in the campaign, which forced then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.

Monday was 20 years since US president George Bush senior declared a ceasefire, as Allied forces advanced to within 150 miles of Baghdad, with the six-week Gulf War starting on January 16th 1991, after the expiry of a United Nations Security Council deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, which it invaded in August 1990 in a dispute over oil.

Saddam famously declared that "the mother of all battles has begun" as the US and UK-led coalition of 34 nations, launched a massive air offensive that involved more than 100,000 sorties and the dropping of 88,500 tons of bombs.

A total of 47 UK troops died in the war and thousands more have experienced ill-health in the years since the ceasefire was declared but campaigners say that 9,700, of the 53,000 British veterans of the conflict, have suffered from Gulf War Syndrome, a cocktail of health problems that includes chronic headaches, cognitive difficulties, depression, unexplained fatigue, rashes and breathing problems.

A landmark study for the US Congress concluded in 2009, that the sickness was caused by soldiers being given nerve gas pills and exposed to pesticides during the war, the Ministry of Defence's official position remains that Gulf War Syndrome is a useful "umbrella term" but comprises too many different symptoms to be characterised as a syndrome in medical terms.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: "The UK and the US have undertaken a substantial amount of research into Gulf veterans' illnesses. "The research has indicated that there is no illness which is specific to Gulf veterans."

A 2001 study of 15,000 U.S. combat veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, found that Gulf War veterans were more likely to have children with birth defects and after the careful examination of medical records two years later, found that birth defect rates had increased by more than 20%.

Veterans' groups say the response by the MOD, has led to sufferers experiencing medical neglect and facing battles with bureaucracy, to get the war pensions they deserve, with protest organiser Kerry Fuller saying that, "Over a thousand British veterans of the first Gulf war are no longer with us as a result of illnesses like Gulf war syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

In a statement to the Morning Star, Fuller continued, “We believe successive governments have engaged with the Ministry of Defence in denial and word play to negate proper testing, treatment and compensation for thousands who are blatantly ill."

According to the National Gulf War Veterans and Families Association, “After returning from the Gulf War in 1991, service personnel developed illnesses and could not understand why. Many told their stories in local and national newspapers, and began to realise how wide-spread and common the problems were amongst Gulf Veterans“.

Support Iraqi orphans

2011-02-23T16:48:00.000-08:00

Thousands of orphans have been joining the fresh wave of protests across Iraq, where an estimated 4.5 million children have been calling on the government to provide them with support but are also urging that immediate action be taken to assist the 500,000 homeless children, who receive neither financial assistance from the government, or have anyone to actually care for them.

Back in 2005, a report was published by the United Nations Integrated Regional Information Networks, which brought to light the growth of child prostitution in liberated Iraq and stated that extreme poverty had lead to an increase in the kidnapping of children and forcing them into the sex trade.

It was noted that children as young as 13 had become victims of this sexual tyranny, which was being ignored by the US and UK, with the problem being intensified by the growing displacement of Iraqi nationals, as a consequence of sectarian tensions.

The Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration reported in June 2006, that around 40,000 Iraqi children had been displaced due to violence and in July, later published figures which stated that 90 children had died in Basra due to a "lack of medicine", with the number having risen from the previous year.

A shocking fact remains, that these deaths had to be recorded by local NGOs, as a consequence of the Iraqi authorities having no "official statistics about the number of children who have died", since liberation back in 2003, with a possible explanation for the lack of accounting into child deaths being the attacks against medical professionals.

The Iraq Index, compiled by the Brookings Institution in Washington, have estimated that up to 40 per cent of Iraq's professionals have fled the country since the occupation started, as a result of a campaign against them by terrorist organisations, with doctors and pharmacists topping the proverbial “hit lists“.

It is no surprise, that such findings fail to make the headlines, when silence has fallen upon the 400,000 Iraqi children, suffering from a poverty related condition called “wasting“, or the estimated 1.3 million Iraqi children, between 8 to 16 years of age, who over the past eight years have been forced to abandon education and take up jobs to supplement a families meagre income.

The Association of Psychologists of Iraq, have repeatedly warned about the damage caused to the mental health of Iraq’s children, with a dramatic growth in “learning” and other “impediments” brought on by the fear of guns, bullets and death”.

A justified fear one can safely assume, with one child describing to IRIN back in 2007, why he was afraid to go to school, “I'm scared of the killings taking place in Iraq. Many of my friends have either been kidnapped or killed.”

The article, which was titled “Id rather be illiterate”, also exposed how “attacks and kidnapping in schools have made parents afraid that the next victims would be their children“ and so they have preferred to keep them out of education until the “situation improves“.

Even University students have bore the brunt of Iraq’s turmoil, with Baghdad students complaining how "ninety per cent of our teachers have changed in the past years. The ones who have come to replace them are not well prepared or have no experience, leaving us without good professionals for teaching and training."

Over half of Iraq's population is below fifteen years of age and even former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was forced to admit, that for the children of Iraq, the war and invasion has been a "real disaster", with psychiatrists also describing the long term damage as having created a million potential Saddam Hussein’s.

But with the British people having now spent £9.24 billion on the Iraqi Government, through the invasion and occupation, along with an extra £557 million in aid packages alone, to prop up a regime described as being the “fourth most corrupt in the world“, the least that people can do now, is actually support Iraq’s orphans, by demanding a system is put in place, to provide welfare for each of these children

The Traitor of Baghdad

2011-02-17T16:31:00.000-08:00

On 15 February 2011, the Guardian reported that Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, code-named 'Curveball' by U.S. intelligence officials, admitted to fabricating knowledge of Saddam Hussein's alleged biological weapons program. Despite clear warnings from CIA officials, the Bush administration and the British Labour Government used Al-Janabi's information in public statements and official reports which resulted in military force against Iraq.

The Guardian reported on 2nd April 2004, that Mr. Janabi is the cousin of a close aide to Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress and now a senior Iraqi government official, who also played an instrumental role in the “disinformation” campaign designed to force the United States and Britain to authorize the invasion of Iraq. The 2006 US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on the INC corroborates this.

The Guardian noted that, according to the Los Angeles Times, UN weapons inspectors specifically asked Mr. Chalabi to find evidence of mobile biological weapons production facilities inside of Iraq, which has now left many questioning wherever “Curveball” was either directed or encouraged by Ahmed Chalabi, to present false information and precipitate the illegal invasion.

Deception is a second nature to Ahmed Chalabi, a convicted embezzler who was sentenced to 24 years hard labour by the central criminal court in Jordan, for having brought down the Petra Bank but having escaped the kingdom, fled to the West where opposing Saddam Hussain actually became more prestigious and even established himself as a “joint director” of the INDICT Campaign, alongside the former chairperson of Britain’s then ruling Labour Party, Ann Clwyd MP.

An arrest warrant was also issued in 2004, for the arrest of Salem Chalabi, the man who headed the tribunal of Saddam Hussain, where it was claimed that the nephew of Ahmed Chalabi was also suspected of involvement in the murder of a senior Iraqi civil servant.

Like his uncle, he is reported to have worked on various projects, including helping to draw up suggestions for a possible post-Saddam constitution, before the war was even waged and after Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the US/UK “Coalition”, Mr Chalabi - like his uncle - returned to Baghdad and was soon playing a key role in the country's so-called “reconstruction“.

Ahmed Chalabi, who was being paid roughly around $340,000 or £185,000 per month by the Pentagon “for intelligence“, had this cut off after allegations arose that he was also spying for the Iranians, where it was alleged that Chalabi told Iranian intelligence officials in Baghdad, that he had been informed the US had broken Iranian communications codes and were reading the internal documents of Tehran's ministry of intelligence and security.

Even though Chalabi admitted that he had met Iranian officials frequently as part of his political functions, he went on to accuse George Tenet, then head of the CIA, of fabricating the information as a smear campaign against him.

A not so strange conclusion to draw for anyone with sociopathic tendencies, especially when David Kay, the former chief weapons inspector in Iraq was to later state: "the reason George Tenet and the top of the (CIA) agency came over to the argument that Iraq had W.M.D. was that they really knew the US vice president had come to that conclusion anyway, They had been getting information from Chalabi for years."

While it is estimated that over one million people have died inside of Iraq, as a result of the “lies” told by Al-Janabi aka “Curveball”, according to the UNHCR, millions more have been displaced and over five million children have also been left as orphans. The racially degenerate “Curveball”, has also showed no remorse for his actions either, as he and his children appear “proud” of the fact that they were the reasons Iraq now has “democracy."

Human Rights Watch recently reported that torture in Iraqi prisons continues under the authority of elite military units reporting to Al-Janabi’s “Democratic” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Meanwhile, thousands of men and women have also lost their lives, with countless others suffering from the wounds of war in both Britain and America, just so eight years after Bush and Blair launched the invasion of Iraq, Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi could say, “maybe I was right, maybe I was not right“, while clearly admitting to be the cause behind the increasing numbers of veteran suicides, homelessness, substance abuse and domestic violence.

A Sweet Valentines Kiss

2011-02-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

Young people held a Valentine’s Day rally in Baghdad, to call on leaders to love the war-battered country rather than rob the resources of this oil rich nation. According to those participating, ”We do not want Valentine’s Day to be only one of love but a celebration for reform, citizenship and freedom”.

The protesters are determined to be part of a progressive change inside of Iraq, which according to the watchdog Transparency International, now has the fourth most corrupt regime in the world. Even the head of Iraq's own anti-corruption body told AFP last week, that ministers prefer to hide corruption because they view each ministry “as a family concern and prevent others from fighting against it".

Meanwhile Iraq has also witnessed protests in the wake of the Arab revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, with ordinary Iraqis demanding improvements to basic services such as clean water and a functioning electricity supply. Last week also saw Iraqi lawyers protest the government, in a call for an end to judicial corruption and prisoner abuse, while one man set himself on fire in protest to the high levels of unemployment.

According to Iraq’s Valentines Day protesters, “Our salvation and the salvation of future generations will only come by ending the political system that is based on sectarian and ethnic lines, created by a foreign occupation, who in the Green Zone have proven to us day after day, that they did not come to serve Iraq, as they claim, but to serve in their own interests”.

The following pictures were taken at the protest.

A State of Disorder

2011-02-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

Members of Parliament have approved a package of police cuts, which Labour say will see around 10,000 officers axed from England and Wales, with Britain’s Policing Minister Nick Herbert, describing the cuts as "challenging". Herbert has also insisted the Government cuts to the Police force were "manageable" and that the service could actually be "maintained and indeed improved".

But shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has condemned the "crazy scale and pace of the cuts" which she said were the "biggest in a generation". The Labour opposition have also claimed: "The Government is taking a gamble with crime and policing“, while accusing the Coalition Government of “risking public safety and the fight against crime", in the effort to curb public spending.

Only last November, 69 year old Anthony O'Brien was head-butted as he walked along Sherwood Street in Fallowfield, Manchester. The former Royal Air Force Veteran had only been wearing a Remembrance Day poppy and his old RAF jacket, when two men shouted 'death to all soldiers' before viciously attacking the pensioner.

On January 21st, the Manchester Evening News reported how 92-year-old Edith Brickhill was “kicked in the head and beaten black and blue” on her own doorstep for just £30, after a thug charged at the partially sighted grandmother, as she was letting her dog out.

According to reports, the perpetrator had kicked and punched Mrs Brickhill in the face before snatching the cash from her purse and fleeing – “leaving her battered and bleeding on the ground” but after the attack, the 92 year old had managed to stagger to a neighbour’s home before being rushed to hospital.

This was the third attack against Edith Brickhill, in just over a year, which has since left her scared for her life and terrified to return to the house, which she has lived in for more than four decades but while the front line Police officers dealing with such cases describe them as being “mindless and brutal”, the Government have stated that new laws are being introduced, that will allow courts and the police to tackle persistent deviants.

The Independent reported this month, how “troublemakers could have their passports confiscated” and also risk losing “prized possessions such as iPods”, in an overhaul of the powers available to the courts. Central government also has plans to restrict an offenders movements, by placing bans on them from their home towns, while exporting the problem elsewhere.

Ministers leading these changes have also assured the public that; “we're not talking about the police being able to seize things in the community. This is about going to court, evidence being produced and what sanctions may be appropriate for the courts to consider. Obviously, if someones passport is taken away then that could have an impact on their ability to travel."

There are also detailed "community triggers" being considered, after the ordeal of Fiona Pilkington, who killed herself and her disabled daughter Francesca in 2007, after being terrorised for years by youths outside of their home in Leicestershire. The joint Conservative and Liberal Democrat Government have also been accused of overlooking the fact, that every town and city in the UK is being blighted by sexual exploitation, with child victims going unidentified due to a lack of awareness in "the corridors of Whitehall".

“We need to send a loud and clear message to perpetrators – we will find them and they will be punished for the intolerable abuse they have inflicted upon so many young lives“, declared Anne Marie Carrie, director of the children’s charity Barnado’s.

In an article published by the Guardian last month, Carrie highlighted a report titled Puppet on a String, where she warned of three new emerging issues within the UK, including child trafficking becoming more common; sexual exploitation being more organised, while child grooming has become more sophisticated. Barnado’s also warned that technology such as the Internet, is being used to find, isolate and control victims; while an increasing number of younger children are actually being sexually abused.

It was Dwight Eisenhower who stated, “The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us, in everyday life, is to recall what has happened when there is no rule of law” and with so many vulnerable people across Great Britain already living in areas where it appears that there is "no rule of law", the government, rather than making cuts in essential services like the Police force, should actually take some time to go and walk in the footsteps of those, who are experiencing the ugly face of modern day Britain.

United in our heritage

2011-02-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

David Cameron has criticised "multi-culturalism" in his first speech as prime minister, on the issue of radicalisation and the causes of terrorism. At a security conference in Munich, he argued the UK needed a stronger national identity to prevent people turning to all kinds of extremism but for many Arabs within Great Britain, Cameron’s speech has just echoed the same ignorance that was first espoused by the previous Labour Government.

According to the Daily Mail, in an article that was first published in 2010, “most Britons are direct descendants of farmers who left modern day Iraq and Syria 10,000 years ago“. After studying the DNA of more than 2,000 British men, researchers claimed they had compelling evidence that “four out of five white Europeans can trace their roots back to the Near East“.

A DNA test was carried out in 2006, in association with Channel Four’s “100% English“, also discovered that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was actually a direct descendent from the Bedouin tribes of ancient Mesopotamia, which centuries ago covered all of Iraq and large portions of contemporary Turkey, Syria and Iran.

It was Charlotte Higgins, arts correspondent for the Guardian newspaper, who in 2006 reported that the Notitia Dignitatum, a Roman document from AD400, described how battalions of Iraqis once patrolled the English North East, where archers were brought over from conquered Middle Eastern lands and were settled in close proximity to Hadrian’s Wall; where certain areas were made to undergo a “name change”, to accommodate the Romans Eastern soldiers.

In 1824, while travelling up the river Tigris, General George Keppel described an Arab population that “resembled the ancient heroes of Greece and Rome“, with boatmen being “hardy and muscular“, making “excellent models for a Hercules; and one in particular, with uncombed hair and a shaggy beard, struck us all with the resemblance he bore to statues of that deity.”

According to the 2004 paper “The Arab Population in the UK”, Dr Ismail al-Jalili noted that Britain is now home to more than 500,000 Arabs and that “in the 19th century, Yemeni seamen called the Lascars sailed with British ships, with many settling within the UK to work on the docks and other related industries, along with the burgeoning rail network; “The traditional trading skills of Syrians and Lebanese brought them to the industrialised ‘Cottonopolis’ – Manchester.

“London’s East End, Tyneside, Liverpool and Cardiff became centres of small Arab communities. By 1948 there were nearly a thousand Arabs in Tyneside alone, some marrying local women, thus giving birth to the “British-Arab” identity that many native-born British-Arabs, especially those of mixed ancestry, are now establishing”.

The BBC reported; “In 1916 the Military Cross was awarded to a captain in the Royal Welch Fusiliers for “conspicuous gallantry during a raid on the enemy’s trenches”. The citation noted that he had braved “rifle and bomb fire” and that “owing to his courage and determination, all the killed and wounded were brought in”.

The military “hero” in question was the celebrated British poet Siegfried Sassoon, whose prose are a central feature to many in English literature but what is often ignored, is that Siegfried Sassoon’s family were Sephardic Jews, who had flourished originally in Basra and that Sassoon’s grandfather was the first of his family to have arrived in England in 1858, having come to Britain as a result of the industrial revolution.

The Arab historian Albert Hourani was born in Manchester in 1915, with his book “A History of the Arab People” being described by the Harvard University Press as “the definitive story of Arab civilizations”. Upon publication Hourani’s book became “an instant classic”, with him being famed for having trained more academic historians of the modern Middle East, “than any other university historian of his generation“.

During the 20th Century, my own relatives lived and worked around coalmining in the North East of England, with them being based around the Ashington Colliery, which was opened in 1867 and eventually closed in 1986.According to the Durham Mining Museum, the Ashington Colliery employed an estimated 2343 “under ground” workers in 1902,with the number rising to 3997 in 1914.The number then rose again to 4076 in 1921.

My great-grandfather died in the 1920’s, leaving behind a wife and children, having suffered pneumoconiosis, brought on by the inhalation of coal dust. In the early 1990’s at my grandmother’s funeral in Manchester, her elderly brother and my great uncle, a man described by the family as being a “Geordie Nationalist”, patted me on the head and asked my mother “when will you teach this lad English?” He explained “you will only be Englishman when you speak like a Geordie”.

So when debating the concept of multi-culturalism, the first thought that comes to mind is a statement by Leon Trotsky, who once stated “to understand and perceive truly, to feel to the very bottom, the section of time in which we live, one has to know the past of mankind, one has to know the history of mankind, the picturesqueness and the personalities of contemporary life” and through this discovery, we may find that within Great Britain, there is more than just a common “heritage“.

A worms eye view of revolution

2011-01-31T16:53:00.000-08:00

The worms of the earth are finally turning across the Middle East and while the outcome of events within Tunisia, Jordan and Egypt have yet to be determined, the roots of these protests and revolutions lie in one common factor, which is the shared experiences of millions of people in an already turbulent region.

A joint study by the Arab League and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) indicated that in most Arab countries young people constitute 50 per cent of the unemployed - the highest rate in the world, while official figures place unemployment in the Arab world at 15 per cent but many economists believe the real rate is far higher than government statistics suggest.

According to the same report, rates of poverty remain high - "reaching up to 40 per cent on average, which means that nearly 140 million Arabs continue to live under the poverty line", with worse news being, the region seeing no decrease in rates of poverty in the last 20 years.

While Arab countries like Jordan have been working to create an open-market economy that would see a greater flow of foreign capital into a resource-barren country, already dependent on U.S. aid, the foreign debt is estimated at around $15 billion, about double the amount reported three years ago, while the economy saw a record deficit of $2 billion this year, with inflation rising to 6.1 percent just last month alone.

Like in Egypt and Tunisia, in Jordan rampant unemployment and poverty is estimated between 12 and 25 percent, with local residents complaining that "The government buys cars and spends lavishly on its parties and travel, while many Jordanians are jobless or can barely put food on their tables to feed their hungry children," said one civil servant and father of three, who earns $395 a month.

It was not until the global economic crisis that the Arab world started to witness the recovery of popular opposition - first materialising in Egypt in 2007 and 2008, where strikes and protests were the first indications of a return to organised protests against political repression and poverty inducing policies.

These movements, while in the past have either gained concessions or been unsuccessful, they did lay the foundations which brought the students and workers together to challenge the apathy and disdain of the ruling elites.

According to Firas Al-Atraqchi, a lecturer at the American University in Cairo, “In an unprecedented show of civil disobedience and open revolt, young Egyptians have clearly and forcibly delivered a message that is still resonating in the Middle East and North Africa: Authoritarian rule in the region is over“.

The protesters have been dismantling archaic forms of government, in which the ruler is considered beyond reproach and where economic policies are determined by his self-preserving allies. They are demanding equality in the distribution of wealth, an end to state corruption, greater employment opportunities and a curb to rampant inflation.

Yet when street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi poured flammable liquid over his body and set himself on fire in Tunisia, his act of protest cemented a revolt that would ultimately end President Ben Ali's 23-year-rule and send the region into flames.

Bouazizi was only 10 years old when he became the main provider for his family, selling fresh produce in the local market. He stayed in high school long enough to sit his baccalaureate exam, but did not graduate. He never attended university, contrary to what many news organisations have reported but as his mother stated to Al-Jazeera; "He didn't expect to study, because we didn't have the money“.

He later applied to join the army but was refused, as were other successive job applications and with his family dependant on him, there were few other options than to continue working at the market and nearly everyday, he was bullied by local police officers, "Since he was a child, they were mistreating him”, even claimed one close friend.

Apparently the abuse took many forms, mostly petty bureaucratic bullying that millions of Arabs know all too well, with incidents including Police confiscating his produce, fines for running a stall without a permit and even six months before his death, police fined him 400 dinars ($280) – the equivalent of two months earnings.

So while people may debate the rights and wrongs of what is taking place on their TV screens, the sound of the young angry Arabs who are leading this regional revolution, conjures up in my mind one poem by Maya Angelou, who wrote:

"Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise."

The politics of courage

2011-01-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

When we think of courage, it is often associated with a one off call to action, by someone who is forever immortalised, where observers take from that person what they want but forget the transformation, where that person goes from being average, to the people who represent us all and what makes them unique.

The people who represent us all have made the headlines this week, with the publication of a new report from Carers UK, where a survey was conducted in Scotland, that revealed how 96% of unpaid carers have experienced a negative impact on their health because of their responsibilities, with more than a quarter of people rating their own health as being either “poor or very poor“.

The survey which is titled Sick, Tired, and Caring, was published on Wednesday, with the findings giving cause for alarm, in light of the fact that some of those providing care to our country’s elderly and disabled, are infact suffering themselves with significant illnesses, including diabetes, depression, cancer or, as the Guardian highlighted; “more than a third were suffering from arthritis, osteoarthritis or osteoporosis, and a third had high blood pressure“.

As the survey illustrates, approximately 70% of unpaid carers suffer from stress, and 34% suffer exhaustion, with almost half of the recipients reporting that their conditions had started after they began caring. For those whose medical conditions predated their caring role, a quarter of Scotlands carers stated, that their conditions had worsened since they took on the extra responsibilities.

The director of Carers Scotland, Patrick Begley, while speaking to the media, stated that the NHS and Social Services “relied heavily upon the support provided by unpaid carers“, with Scotland having an estimated 660,000 carers, who are carrying out the financial equivalent of around £7.6bn of work per year, with unpaid care givers saving the United Kingdom a shocking £87bn a year.

In 2005, Carers UK reported how "316,000 carers in the UK" described themselves as being "permanently sick or disabled", with less than one-third of home carers actually being assessed by government run Social Services and with "three in every five people becoming a carer at some point in time", Carers UK pointed out the fact that "one in five carers has to cut back on food" and "one in three have trouble” paying basic utility bills.

The reasons for this lie in the fact that the previous Labour Government and now the slash and dice Coalition, see potential in slave labour, by paying unpaid carers an “allowance” of around £45.00 per week for a 24 hour, 7 days a week job and still get to save what Tony Blair once described as “Cool Britannia“, an estimated £660 million a year in unclaimed carers benefits, with the unpaid carer saving the country an extra "£24 billion pounds a year“, in further unpaid social and child care provision.

So while newspapers like the Daily Express can carry headlines like “75% on sick are skiving”, with members of parliament like Philip Davies MP, condemning abuses in the system, I for one would relish the chance to see how they would react, if they were the ones providing care to an elderly British World War Veteran and former POW in a Japanese camp, who having developed Alzheimer’s, no longer recognised his sons or his daughters but lived the last two years of his life, reliving those terrible nightmares.

Britain needs perspective!

2011-01-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

In response to the letter by Tony Dennis “We need to think hard about class” (Morning Star 21/1/2011), I absolutely agree that a discussion is needed on this matter and that a Socialist perspective, in response the situations being faced by the working class, is essential if the left are actually going to make any lasting impacts.

According to the housing charity Shelter, every two minutes someone is facing the loss of their home with the charity, having already lobbied the previous Labour Government, now petitioning the current Coalition in response to the fact that “3.4 million children” are living in poverty, with “one in 10 children” still residing in overcrowded housing, that is enough to “fill the new Wembley Stadium 10 times over.”

Shelter have also reported that “27 per cent of overcrowded families have children sleeping in living rooms or dining rooms”, with bad housing having a negative impact upon the health and education of many of these children.

A similar situation, is also being faced by the elderly, where the National Pensioners Convention have repeatedly warned that over one million pensioners across Great Britain are suffering from malnutrition and even the Department of Work and Pensions admitted, that at the time of the Iraq invasion, levels of poverty among Britain’s elderly, numbered the same as when Labour took office in 1997.

I am not sure what kind of “Socialism” Britain had under the previous Government but it was bad enough that Great Britain ranked as having the fourth highest levels of poverty amongst over-65s in Europe‚ that even before the recession set in‚ a higher proportion of older people in the UK were living on incomes far below the national average compared to those in countries considered less developed, such as Poland and Romania.

Meanwhile, up to a third of all homeless people within the UK are former soldiers, sailors and airmen and as many as 20,000 ex-servicemen and women are in prison, on probation or parole,costing taxpayers around £250million a year. Many of these Veterans suffer from a wide range of medical conditions including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

On average, it takes a Veteran approximately fourteen years after leaving the armed forces, to make contact with mental health services such as Combat Stress, who in the past ninety years have helped over 100,000 British ex-servicemen and women.

While it is unclear as to how many Veterans actually do suffer from conditions such as PTSD, regular studies have found that those who do, are experiencing drug and substance abuse, high levels of alcoholism, unemployment and family breakdowns, with many partners and in particular, their children, also experiencing the dramatic impacts of Britain’s foreign policies.

When discussing the question of the class system, one of the biggest lessons I have learned from both the left and the nationalists of the Arab world, is that one must take account of the society that exists because unless we take responsibility for what is going on around us, then our perspective of both history and what is going on elsewhere in the world, becomes nothing but a romantic concept.

Further reading: Combat Stress: A Living History by Hussein Al-alak and published by the London Progressive journal Sun 18th Jul 2010.

Did Blair Lie Over Iraq?

2011-01-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

While many are wishing to walk the plank at Chilcot and point the finger of blame over Britain’s actions inside of Iraq, its been noticed that few questions have been asked into the credibility of the evidence, that was initially provided and prompted the 2003 invasion.

The main allegations given at the time, seemed to change each day, as every government argument buckled under the failure to provide credible evidence, especially relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction, which if Blair was to be taken seriously, would have wiped us all out in 45 minutes, eight years ago.

But neither Britain or Iraq’s neighbours were exterminated by weapons, built in some secret lab and the reason for this lies not in the answers Blair has given at Chilcot but in the fact that the answers were already in the public domain and not in some shock “WikiLeaks” revelation.

The British Government have so far spent over £2.7 million looking for answers at the Chilcot Inquiry, with Britain having spent millions of pounds already chasing after Weapons of Mass Destruction, when a basic Google search would have first drawn Parliaments attention to the 1997 essay “De-Linking sanctions: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” by US activist Sara Flounders.

After the Gulf War in the early 1990’s, the UN imposed a sanctions regime upon Iraq, where the country’s ability to import and export, was put into the hands of a New York based committee, where according to Flounders, “the U.S. has already justified some of the most harmful sanctions by calling them necessary to prevent Iraq from developing any "weapons of mass destruction".

Unbeknown to the £2.7 million Inquiry in London, is that the UN sanctions committee had “banned pencils for school children because these pencils contain graphite, which is also a lubricant. It has banned batteries, X-ray machines, ambulances because they could be used in battles, computers, and even enriched powdered milk, which supposedly could be used in germ warfare.”

Sara Flounders also demonstrated how thousands of Iraq’s children, who perished under the sanctions, died as a consequence of impure drinking water, in comparison to life before the Gulf War, where over 96% of the population had a potable supply, but the destruction to water supplies in 1991 and the subsequent efforts to prevent Saddam from building his stockpile of weapons, caused the United States and UN to take the following measures;

“Washington defines chlorine as a dual-use item, as it does the pipes that would be used to carry water. The U.S. government considers these and a thousand other items as having some possible dual use, i.e. that could be used to assist the Iraqi military” and so even if sanctions had been ‘de-linked’, into categories of humanitarian and military, these prohibited items would have been placed in the dual-use category under ‘military sanctions’ and there-fore denied.

It can almost be treated as an irony, that in 2001 Andy Kershaw of the Independent included the statement, “Tony Blair, on numerous occasions, has misled Parliament and the country (perhaps unwittingly)” over Iraq, in the highly acclaimed article “A chamber of Horrors near the Garden of Eden”.

Kershaw asked the following questions, which Chilcot has conveniently brushed aside, that the severity of the UN imposed Sanctions had brought about such destitution across Iraq, did Blair seriously expect Saddam Hussein to wage war with "beef extract powder and broth"? Or did the Sanction Committee expect him to turn on the Kurds again by spraying them with "malt extract"? Or to send his presidential guard back into Kuwait armed to the teeth with "pencils"?

It seems that twenty years after the first Gulf War, both Tony Blair and the Chilcot Inquiry still haven’t heard of UN Security Council 661 Committee. If they have, then as Kershaw pointed out “they keep quiet about it“ because as the Independent revealed in 2001, “This committee, which meets in New York and does not publish minutes, supervises sanctions on Iraq. The country's requirements have to be submitted to 661 and, often after bureaucratic delay, a judgement is handed down on what Iraq can and cannot buy“.

So while people sit at home, watching the Chilcot Inquiry and reading the press reports over the allegations against Anthony Blair QC, just remember the ghost of Gertrude Bell is now haunting the corridors of Parliament and whose voice will forever echo in the ears of those who walk them, if only to serve as a warning to Britain, “You may rely upon one thing — I’ll never engage in creating kings again.”