http://www.scribd.com/doc/83910973/British-Army-Stations
This is my Article about the Armed Forces. the focus is Operational impacts such as Afghanistan and the Strategic Defence Reveiw
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Drugs Trade
The drugs trade in Afghanistan was one of the worst in the world. As from 2007, Around 92% of the world’s opium market was distributed from Afghanistan.
Terrorists use this income to fund and promote terrorism. This is because the Taliban buy opium from the Afghan famers for a very small price as the famers do not know how much the opium sells for in the worldwide market.
The Taliban then chop the opium down and add chemicals and other ingredients to the drugs to make larger portions of the drug before selling the drugs to the drug lords who then ship the opium into places like the UK and America where the drug is popular and drug habits are commonly known. They then sell the opium to main suppliers all across these countries who then sell the opium on to smaller suppliers to sell on to the streets etc.
Also the currency of America and the UK (Dollars and Pounds) amounts to a lot more than the currency of Afghanistan ( Rupee) and therefore they will receive a lot more money due to there street value prices of Opium. This amounts to an export value of about $4 billion a year, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, drug traffickers and the Taliban. Prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income (one quarter) from opium is divided among 200,000 families. This averages at around $5000 a year per family before tax rates which are very high as they have to pay for farming rights etc.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 1,300 km² of opium was exported from Afghanistan in 2004.
The UK and US Armies tried to make agreements with the Afghan government to prevent the production of opium. The results of this were record numbers of opium poppies grown in that year. Another solution The UK and US Armies tried was to work with Afghan police and Warlords to hunt down the drug traffickers so that the opium couldn’t be passed on. Also the Afghan Warlords made sure that Al Qaeda and Taliban forces were not permitted on their land.
A New York Times article dated July 27, 2007 by Thomas Schweich, suggested that the U.S. military were turning a blind eye to opium production and taking bribes from the afghan farmers as they (US) seen opium production as not being central to its anti-terrorism mission.
Terrorism/Removing the Terrorist training camps
At the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America , Indian intelligence officials estimated that there were over 120 training camps operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, run by a variety of militant groups, mainly Al Qaeda.
Terrorist training camps are training camp, built purposely to teach students methods of terrorism. Terrorists train there to launch attacks, ranging from suicide bombing practice to field combat. They are often located in regions for the aims of those conducting the training, or in traditional areas of Afghanistan
Homegrown terrorists sometimes travel to these camps to receive training, as was the case with some of the London Underground bombers. Mohammad Sidique Khan, the operational leader of the cell, received military and explosives training at a camp in Malakand, Pakistan in July 2003 and later took Shezad Tanweer to Karachi, Pakistan, in late 2004 to February 2005 where they received training at al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.
These camps funded money toward providing the tyrants with money to buy or trade equipment to carry out their attacks.
What is the purpose of removing these camps ?
In response to attacks made on America, and to prevent further terrorist attacks like the one in London,
9/11 Terrorist Attacks
On the 11th of September 2001, 4 American commercial passenger jet airlines( American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, United Airlines Flight 93) were hijacked by 19 terrorists led by war criminal Al Qaeda in a series of suicide attacks on the United States of America. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings.
Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others.
The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.
The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew apparently attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C and was thought to be heading towards the Whitehouse.
7/7 Bombings
The 7/7 bombings on7 July 2005 London, were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. Four terrorists detonated four bombs, three in quick succession aboard London Underground trains across the city and, later, a fourth on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. 52 people, as well as the four bombers, were killed in the attacks, and over 700 more were injured. The Armed Forces responded to the attacks by setting up patrols and defences in London to prevent any further attacks on the civilians. The Armed Forces also went into Afghanistan to eliminate the terrorist threat by destroying training camps and removing the leaders.
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Dictators- Osama Bin laden, Al Qaeda
Al Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad. It has been designated a "terrorist organization" by the United States, the European Union, NATO, and various other countries. Al-Qaeda has attacked civilian and military targets in various countries, such as the September 11 attacks, 1998 US embassy bombings the 7/7 bombings of London and 2002 Bali bombings.
Osama Bin laden is the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. Bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists for his involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. From 2001 to 2011, bin Laden was a major target of the War on Terror, with a US$25 million bounty by the FBI
After being placed on the FBI's Most Wanted list, bin Laden remained in hiding until May 2, 2011, when Bin Laden was shot and killed inside a private residential compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs and CIA operatives in a covert operation ordered by United States President Barack Obama. Shortly after his death, bin Laden's body was buried at sea
Human rights of Afghan people
When the Taliban controlled Afghanistan it was notorious for human rights abuses against women. Women were being used as slaves by the Taliban, being assaulted and raped. The Taliban, while trying to consolidate control over northern and western Afghanistan, committed systematic massacres against civilians.
At what level are the British Army deployed in Afghanistan?
overview of Public Perception in relation to the Armed Forces in general and the War in Afghanistan?
There are currently around 9,500 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan. However the amount of number has fluctuated over the last year. By the end of 2011, the British Army were looking to withdraw around 4,000 troops from Afghanistan.
The British army have around 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, the United States have 90,000 soldier deployed. As you can see, the British Army cannot operate as a super power like the US anymore, therefore, the British Army have been forced to operate as Part of NATO and the UN.
Since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001, public perception has changed massively and it seems that the public have turned on the Government.. When the terrorist began their attacks on America on 9/11, the British public were adamant on sending our forces over to Afghanistan to remove this threat. Also at this time, researchers and news reporters started publishing stories about the opium drugs trade over in Afghanistan and how the Terrorist were treating the Afghan women and people. The reason for these stories being released at that exact moment was to get the publics backing on the deployment.
However, 11 years later, the public perception on the war has changed massively. The public feel they have been cheated as the war, that was only supposed to take 1 year to resolve is still going on and over 100 British soldiers have died. Also, the public feel that the war is one of the main causes for the UK’s current recession.
Since the Death of Osama Bin Laden, the British public feel as though it is “job done” and that our forces should come home. What they do not realise is the fact that there are many other terrorist leaders like Bin Laden all over Afghanistan setting up training camps and training terrorists to become part of Al Qaeda
How do you believe the Armed Forces is likely to operate in the near future?
In the future, the British Armed Forces is likely to operate as part of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).
NATO’s headquarters is based in Brussels, Belgium, and is a organisation system of defence where the countries agree to respond to an attack by any eternal party on one of its members. The NATO alliance consists of 28 members of North America and Europe. NATO also partners an additional 22 countries in “NATO’s Partners For Peace” campaign. The British Army will no longer be able to go into a major operation solo unlike other super powers such as ( the US, China, Russia) and will have to work as Part of NATO. Our powers as a Super power country are reducing rapidly. The British Army will no longer have the power to choose which wars we enter and which wars we don't as they have to be confirmed by NATO. For example if the UK wanted to intervene with an incident elsewhere, for I.E. the Falkland's, if Argentina wanted to retake the Falklands, than the UK would have to inform NATO about the situation and the leaders from NATO would have to make a decision.
Strategic Defence and Security Review
As of October 2010, The Government announced that the Strategic Defence and Security Review would be taken into action. The Review will reshape the British Army making cuts on the things the Government seem “less important” .
British Army
Personnel will be reduced by 7,000 to 95,500
More Chinook helicopters to be made available/ may replace Apache’s
This settlement represents an eight per cent reduction in real terms which predicted a £1 billion shortfall for each year
718 million cut on armoured vehicle
Man power/ recruitment
1813- 203,000 troops now 100,000
Lowering recruitment
Personal reduced to 95,000
UK will end their presence in Germany by 2020
By 2020 decrease of 1000 soldiers
No cuts in support for Afghan operations
Equipment
Armoured vehicle cut until 2025, no more being built until 2025
The amount of Challenger Tanks cut by 40% to 200 tanks
Heavy artillery cut by 35%
More Chinook choppers available
Funding
Reduce costs by £750 million over the period of the spending review, and by £3.2 billion over the next ten years.
Government has agreed funding for Defence of:
£33.8bn in 2011-12,
£34.4bn in 2012-13,
£34.1bn in 2013-14
£33.5bn in 2014-15.
Why is there a reform?
The reform consists of 5 major points:
· The financial crises, the recession and the depression on the UK. Therefore the Strategic Defence review has been brought into place. It is said that too much of the Governments money is being spent on benefits. Too many families are living off benefits rather than working and paying the Government back in Taxes.
· UK debt and shrinking funds across public spending. People in the UK are not spending as much as they used therefore the Government isn’t receiving as much money as before to spend on areas like the Armed Forces
· Competition against Health Care, Education and Social Services. Due to the cuts, the Armed Forces cannot compete against these sectors as they are too important to reduce their funding.
· A change in Public Perception- in 2001- the British Public were adamant into going into Afghanistan because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America and that the media had released stories about the terrorist training camps and the drugs trades etc. however people now want the soldiers out of Afghanistan as they feel its cost Britain too much as they were told it would only take 1 year to resolve. The amount of dead being announced on the news constantly.
· Its current deployments have ensured that the budget cannot be cut too swiftly but with cuts over time happening.
Nathan
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Regards
TH
MERIT
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