I write today with very particular pride and on one of the very, very few occasions in the rank that Her Majesty the Queen saw fit to permit me to retain by way of a courtesy title, for life. This is indeed special to me, for it is only senior officers who are normally given this honour,and I am indebted to my then Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Ian Todd, for exercising his right to make the recommendation without my knowledge after I had relinquished my final command and resigned my Commission after 21 years incredibly enjoyable service.
I remember to this day, the arrival of the embossed letter signed by the Secretary of State for Defence and having to actually go and sit down at the long breakfast table to gather my thoughts before driving straight over to Mum and Dad.
It has therefore formed that umbilical chord to this day with all of our Armed Forces, regardless of rank, and to feel such pride and emotion for all the men and women currently serving in the Afghanistan War. On land, sea and air, our servicemen and women are exemplary in their duties and undaunted by the savagery of the fighting; fighting that has seen 77 men and women killed in action since the Trooping the Colour 2010 and a total of 371 since the war started.
I urge all readers to take a brief look at the incredible spectacle that this annual parade denotes, as each year one of the Regimental Colours is paraded before our Sovereign. For me it is doubly special this year, for it is the Colour of the Scots Guards. Yes, I might be English, but I am also British, and it is this curious phenomenon that few can understand beyond these shores, that as an Island People, putting aside the usual family squabbles, we are able to stand as one when the Colours of the Four Nations are paraded.
In watching the Parade through BBC iplayer, let us remember too that off the parade square, these men and women, of all ranks, are in active service. The horses are replaced with the Warrior Tanks; the scarlet red dress uniforms are replaced with full combat battle armour; the officers dismount and take up their commands in the field. Some have not returned.
On parade today were men who had been severely wounded in the last year, but having made full recovery, one for example having been shot in both legs, march once again to the Colours and before their Sovereign.
This is why I attach so much importance to the page on my website www.ianbradleymarshall.com - War in Afghanistan. Whether it is realised or not, we are a Nation at war. There is a determined enemy that would have all the values that we hold dear, wiped from the board.
To our teachers around the world I would say this. Take your subject seriously and educate young people as to national and world history. It is disconcerting on the day of the Queen's Birthday and this vitally important parade, that I found myself talking with young people and peers who have bought into conspiracy theories and who seem hell bent on seeing the United States of America as 'the great satan'. When outlining some very basic points - points that to be frank I take for granted - the reaction was thus: why have we not been told these things?
To young people particularly I counsel and urge you to read widely; be investigative; do your research. Learn to advocate. Above all, be mindful of the sacrifices that our troops are making for the sake of freedom, and not just our troops, but the troops of all the allied nations who are assisting us in this war. Those killed in action come from all the nations, but by agreed convention, each nation reports only its own fatalities and casualties.
Ian Bradley Marshall
Kenneth T Webb
Flight Lieutenant RAF VR(T) Rtd
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Human Nature
We people really do get our lines crossed at times. We hurt each other because we put commitments before people, or fail to understand the importance of the work being done that puts commitment before relationships.
For 30 years I have chaired family squabbles on a daily basis, often three or more, as I watch families tearing each other apart over the reading of the Will or the imposition of Intestacy; acted as the go-between for siblings sitting either side of me just feet away from each other; grown men and women who have somehow allowed a lifetime of resentment to build up and then threaten to destroy everything.
Given the extreme exceptions that we see on the media reports, the vast majority of us should always remember to honour, love and respect our parents. Already they have lived a lifetime before we've even started; and it is they who have put us on the starting block. They have made sacrifices that all too often we learn of only after they also have departed.
Many a time I have received the question from children who are suddenly bereft - "I never knew that Mum or Dad had done this. They never said. I never realised they'd suffered this trauma."
Come on! Look beyond our own immediate world view and look back over the years and decades. Discover who we are by looking up our history; not by genealogy, though that certainly is to be commended, but by asking questions direct. Has it ever occurred that Grandma at 85, looking at the beautiful photograph of herself at 25 in fact feels absolutely no different inwardly to the day that photographer attended the house or, if it could be afforded, she attended the studio?
Let us think beyond our own immediate world. Let us think beyond ourselves and be thankful that we breathe the air and live the life and freedom that our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents have done so at a cost that most of us will never have to pay.
Let our grandchildren know these things. It is never too late to teach them or to gently remind them.
Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
10 June 2011
For 30 years I have chaired family squabbles on a daily basis, often three or more, as I watch families tearing each other apart over the reading of the Will or the imposition of Intestacy; acted as the go-between for siblings sitting either side of me just feet away from each other; grown men and women who have somehow allowed a lifetime of resentment to build up and then threaten to destroy everything.
Given the extreme exceptions that we see on the media reports, the vast majority of us should always remember to honour, love and respect our parents. Already they have lived a lifetime before we've even started; and it is they who have put us on the starting block. They have made sacrifices that all too often we learn of only after they also have departed.
Many a time I have received the question from children who are suddenly bereft - "I never knew that Mum or Dad had done this. They never said. I never realised they'd suffered this trauma."
Come on! Look beyond our own immediate world view and look back over the years and decades. Discover who we are by looking up our history; not by genealogy, though that certainly is to be commended, but by asking questions direct. Has it ever occurred that Grandma at 85, looking at the beautiful photograph of herself at 25 in fact feels absolutely no different inwardly to the day that photographer attended the house or, if it could be afforded, she attended the studio?
Let us think beyond our own immediate world. Let us think beyond ourselves and be thankful that we breathe the air and live the life and freedom that our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents have done so at a cost that most of us will never have to pay.
Let our grandchildren know these things. It is never too late to teach them or to gently remind them.
Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
10 June 2011
Friday, 3 June 2011
An Open Letter to President Medvedev of The Russian Federation
110 Waterloo Warehouse
Liverpool
L3 0BQ
2 June 2011
President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev
The Greater Russian Peoples
Via His Excellency
The Ambassador
Embassy of the Russian Federation
6/7 Kensington Palace Gardens,
London,
W8 4QP
Dear Mr President,
I write to introduce myself and to draw most urgent attention to the plight of my people in your Country, and which has been reported in the media during the past week.
A petition has been raised and signed by many and sent to you by one of the UK’s important social institutions, “All Out”.
In light of the subject I am taking the unprecedented step of writing to you personally, Sir.
I remember watching live the BBC News 24 coverage of your investiture and inauguration as President of Russia in 2008. I watched it in full because here was history in the making, and something that even in 1991 when I stood talking with East German and Russian guards at the Berlin Brandenburg Gate ‘checkpoint charlie’, I could not have comprehended.
I remember our journey across East Germany in the British Military Train; our own armed guards patrolling the carriages and the East German guards standing to, fully armed, at every siding and junction whenever the train stopped, to ensure that none of us alighted the train.
I recalled the sacrifices of your people in one of the most horrendous wars in history and the brute savagery of Nazism on the Greater Russian Peoples.
But your people prevailed. Somehow you withstood the dreaded Einsatsgruppen; and whilst military victory became the stalemate of the Cold War, nevertheless, justice and commonsense prevailed. The cause of the people became paramount and the voice of the people was heard and in time revolutionised Russia and thus eventually led to your own appointment as this Great Nation’s head of state.
A few days ago I was reading afresh President Nelson Mandela’s speeches; one in particular registered and is his address from the dock of the South African Supreme Court in Pretoria on 20 April 1964 as the First Accused.
He quotes the then South African Prime Minister Mr Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd during an earlier debate on the Bantu Education Bill 1953, about which Mr Verwoerd had declared:
When I have control of Native education I will reform it so that Natives will be taught from childhood to realise that equality with Europeans is not for them. . . . People who believe in equality are not desirable teachers for Natives. When my Department controls Native education it will know for what class of higher education a Native is fitted, and whether he will have a chance in life to use his knowledge.
I confess, Sir, that that pulled me up short! It was difficult to comprehend the mindset. But I recall also being taught about the War of 1939-1945 by my parents. Mum and Dad both lost brothers over Germany. But it was Mum’s comment one day that really stayed with me. “We suffered but nothing like the Russian People. They went through hell, and you must never forget that!”
For me it made your victory even more important.
Every nation, every people, every community on earth gets it wrong occasionally. But we also have the ability to stop injustice, and none more so than now Mr President.
My people have as much right to breathe the air and drink the water of life, to give to the greater good of our nation states and for the benefit of humankind, as the next man or woman.
I cannot accept that the Greater Russian People are acting as one as did the Nazis. That just doesn’t add up Sir.
I am a lawyer, and served as a police officer and in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. And I learned that when bigots (and believe me, the UK has its fair share of bigots) start trouble, it is the duty of the nation state from central government down to the local police station, to step in and protect those who are being victimised and bullied. It is the duty of every police officer to protect all people and to bring the bigots to justice where they have committed criminal offences.
There are some who argue that to even ‘think’ a hate crime, should be a criminal offence. That is a dangerous precedent for obvious reasons. A crime is a crime, regardless.
But I ask you to use your executive powers to give guidance and leadership to those communities who might still be a long way back in entering our 21st Century.
May I ask that you step forth, Sir, and protect my people in the same measured way that you stepped forth as you walked with determination and confidence through the Palace to your inauguration and to one of the most important global roles and international offices of state that anyone can ever hold.
I have the greatest admiration for the Russian People. I recall the amazing conversations with the Russian Guards at the Brandenburg Gate in 1991 and the pride I felt in actually meeting your people in the embassy gardens later that day in East Berlin.
Let us all move forward and be determined to bring freedom to all, and the sword of justice to those who seek to impose upon a section of its people the same twisted logic that President Nelson Mandela identified on the basis of race, and which we now see repeated in the current situation – one’s sexuality.
I have the honour to be,
Mr President,
Your obedient servant
Ian Bradley Marshall
Cc: His Excellency, the British Ambassador, Moscow
Liverpool
L3 0BQ
2 June 2011
President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev
The Greater Russian Peoples
Via His Excellency
The Ambassador
Embassy of the Russian Federation
6/7 Kensington Palace Gardens,
London,
W8 4QP
Dear Mr President,
I write to introduce myself and to draw most urgent attention to the plight of my people in your Country, and which has been reported in the media during the past week.
A petition has been raised and signed by many and sent to you by one of the UK’s important social institutions, “All Out”.
In light of the subject I am taking the unprecedented step of writing to you personally, Sir.
I remember watching live the BBC News 24 coverage of your investiture and inauguration as President of Russia in 2008. I watched it in full because here was history in the making, and something that even in 1991 when I stood talking with East German and Russian guards at the Berlin Brandenburg Gate ‘checkpoint charlie’, I could not have comprehended.
I remember our journey across East Germany in the British Military Train; our own armed guards patrolling the carriages and the East German guards standing to, fully armed, at every siding and junction whenever the train stopped, to ensure that none of us alighted the train.
I recalled the sacrifices of your people in one of the most horrendous wars in history and the brute savagery of Nazism on the Greater Russian Peoples.
But your people prevailed. Somehow you withstood the dreaded Einsatsgruppen; and whilst military victory became the stalemate of the Cold War, nevertheless, justice and commonsense prevailed. The cause of the people became paramount and the voice of the people was heard and in time revolutionised Russia and thus eventually led to your own appointment as this Great Nation’s head of state.
A few days ago I was reading afresh President Nelson Mandela’s speeches; one in particular registered and is his address from the dock of the South African Supreme Court in Pretoria on 20 April 1964 as the First Accused.
He quotes the then South African Prime Minister Mr Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd during an earlier debate on the Bantu Education Bill 1953, about which Mr Verwoerd had declared:
When I have control of Native education I will reform it so that Natives will be taught from childhood to realise that equality with Europeans is not for them. . . . People who believe in equality are not desirable teachers for Natives. When my Department controls Native education it will know for what class of higher education a Native is fitted, and whether he will have a chance in life to use his knowledge.
I confess, Sir, that that pulled me up short! It was difficult to comprehend the mindset. But I recall also being taught about the War of 1939-1945 by my parents. Mum and Dad both lost brothers over Germany. But it was Mum’s comment one day that really stayed with me. “We suffered but nothing like the Russian People. They went through hell, and you must never forget that!”
For me it made your victory even more important.
Every nation, every people, every community on earth gets it wrong occasionally. But we also have the ability to stop injustice, and none more so than now Mr President.
My people have as much right to breathe the air and drink the water of life, to give to the greater good of our nation states and for the benefit of humankind, as the next man or woman.
I cannot accept that the Greater Russian People are acting as one as did the Nazis. That just doesn’t add up Sir.
I am a lawyer, and served as a police officer and in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. And I learned that when bigots (and believe me, the UK has its fair share of bigots) start trouble, it is the duty of the nation state from central government down to the local police station, to step in and protect those who are being victimised and bullied. It is the duty of every police officer to protect all people and to bring the bigots to justice where they have committed criminal offences.
There are some who argue that to even ‘think’ a hate crime, should be a criminal offence. That is a dangerous precedent for obvious reasons. A crime is a crime, regardless.
But I ask you to use your executive powers to give guidance and leadership to those communities who might still be a long way back in entering our 21st Century.
May I ask that you step forth, Sir, and protect my people in the same measured way that you stepped forth as you walked with determination and confidence through the Palace to your inauguration and to one of the most important global roles and international offices of state that anyone can ever hold.
I have the greatest admiration for the Russian People. I recall the amazing conversations with the Russian Guards at the Brandenburg Gate in 1991 and the pride I felt in actually meeting your people in the embassy gardens later that day in East Berlin.
Let us all move forward and be determined to bring freedom to all, and the sword of justice to those who seek to impose upon a section of its people the same twisted logic that President Nelson Mandela identified on the basis of race, and which we now see repeated in the current situation – one’s sexuality.
I have the honour to be,
Mr President,
Your obedient servant
Ian Bradley Marshall
Cc: His Excellency, the British Ambassador, Moscow
Thursday, 26 May 2011
A TEMPORARY GLITCH
One of the most important principles taught to us two Millennia ago is that enshrined in Matthew 22:39 when The Lord quietly reminded us all that it is incumbent upon us all to love our neighbours as ourselves. In contemporary society - don't just think of yourselves but think of those around you.
"Oh no. That was then. And that's just Jesus outlining a principle which was okay for then, but in the real world, today's world, is not practical."
We have the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament. We also have the principle referred to above and which, upon closer inspection of the passage that we find The Man Christ Jesus referring to as being none other than the Scripture outlined in the Scroll of Leviticus, or what we today refer to as the Book of Leviticus 19:18.
Look it up for yourself. He was quoting a Scripture that was already a couple of millennia in standing.
I've been brought up, as all my generation have been, with that as the cornerstone; and even if not a Christian, it will be found as a cornerpiece of every organised religion or system or belief and faith. It is practical. It is streetwise. It is a principle by which we should all live. When we ignore it, we have injustices which are bad enough when they stand alone. Heaped together, they eventually add up to a Holocaust or two. Exaggeration? Yes, if you do not bother following history. If you do follow history, you'll probably be saying I'm not stressing the point strongly enough.
When we ignore this principle, however we look at it, we do so because we put into place the cornerstone of selfishness.
In September 1939, even though we could do nothing immediately practical to assist the Polish People, we nevertheless acted as we had promised. We 'dared' to declare war on a monstrous tyrant who had not, until then, experienced such a kick up the backside of his pomposity and evil. History reports that Hitler was as one turned to stone, and further reports Herman Goering, that tyrant's Head of the Luftwaffe, remarking "May God have mercy upon us if we lose this War!"
When we realise that something is amiss; that our next door neighbour might be going through some hassle, it is late 20th and current 21st century thinking to utter those detestable words, 'it is not my problem', resting as it does on that equally irresponsible premise: 'out of sight, out of mind'.
Being ex police, ex military and of course being a probate lawyer for 30 years, has emphasised the importance of Matthew 22:39 and Leviticus 19:18. Many a morning starts off with two or three death certificates being placed on my desk and an instruction to my secretary to call out the last will and testament and then for me to make that fateful call to the next of kin.
I recall, at 16, being called out on parade at RAF Locking at 11am one Friday and the Squadron being informed by the Padre that Colin, with whom Don and I had been playing putting shot on Wednesday night on the green in Weston-Super-Mare, had died that morning after collapsing on military exercise on Thursday morning. I recall too the heroic efforts of Mike Barnett who eventually received a commendation for doing all he could to save Colin. He too went on to a very distinguished military career.
I recall the lady who died as I knelt by her in the middle of the Tewkesbury Road dual carriageway and not one car stopping to assist me, then a 20 year old policeman, whilst I and another pedestrian attempted resuscitation pending arrival of the ambulance; on another day another lady who had decided it was all too much for her, and pulling her out of the icy waters of Pittville Lake, Cheltenham; I remember the 'suction' caused by my shin length belted gaberdine over my tunic making movement difficult; I remember the young Mum trying to keep her children in order as she too pulled this very gracious lady to the bank, all the time apologising for the problems she thought she was causing. She too later that day succumbed, but in every incident that I have attended I remember, without exception, the extreme courage of the ambulance crews, A&E staffs, the incredible resolve, kindness and decisive precision of the nurses, doctors and registrars - "all in a day's work" as they would humbly respond if it was ever commented upon.
If something appears amiss, respond, don't pass by on the other side.
Two passed by on the other side; the third was a Samaritan who was expected to pass by but stopped and saved a young man's life.
Every single one of us, from the highest to the lowest, from the most senior to the most junior, has a responsibility to our immediate neighbour. If our neighbour appears to be in some sort of trouble, and we respond by trying to hide, obscure or deaden any sound, then there will be a reckoning. If we ring that simple number that has sirens on the horizon within minutes or less, well done. It matters not that a door might be broken down in the process. A door might be broken but a life will be saved.
Responding to help is something that comes very, very naturally to our armed forces and emergency services and those who used to serve. To the older generation, those who are over 30, likewise. To those who work in restaurants, coffee shops as managers, waiters, baristas, etc, likewise. It is always wonderful to see how young people interact and learn this vital principle. To other young people such responses are the stuff of TV Soaps - "Oh, I didn't realise this stuff happened for real. But even if it does, it's not my problem."
I've learned much over the last four weeks. As I look about the library of my mind and see the windows blasted, and slowly go about putting all the books and files of memory neatly back on the shelves, it makes me realise what a privilege it was to serve with the people I did, the way they came to my rescue and even in these past few days to talk with friends who themselves served in the Royal Navy, who have that instinctive understanding; to have that reassurance from all those young people in service industries, the laughing and joking and putting books and files back in place.
The other week I was sat down quietly in the City and thinking about, of all things, the Liverpool Blitz. For the briefest moment there was a flash. Luminescent. In my mind's eye I stooped and placed the file on the shelf of my mind. What did it say?
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13.2
I report only an incredible sense of peace, and an absolute certainty about our origin and future and our individual responsibility.
Ian Bradley Marshall
May 26 2011
LIVERPOOL
"Oh no. That was then. And that's just Jesus outlining a principle which was okay for then, but in the real world, today's world, is not practical."
We have the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament. We also have the principle referred to above and which, upon closer inspection of the passage that we find The Man Christ Jesus referring to as being none other than the Scripture outlined in the Scroll of Leviticus, or what we today refer to as the Book of Leviticus 19:18.
Look it up for yourself. He was quoting a Scripture that was already a couple of millennia in standing.
I've been brought up, as all my generation have been, with that as the cornerstone; and even if not a Christian, it will be found as a cornerpiece of every organised religion or system or belief and faith. It is practical. It is streetwise. It is a principle by which we should all live. When we ignore it, we have injustices which are bad enough when they stand alone. Heaped together, they eventually add up to a Holocaust or two. Exaggeration? Yes, if you do not bother following history. If you do follow history, you'll probably be saying I'm not stressing the point strongly enough.
When we ignore this principle, however we look at it, we do so because we put into place the cornerstone of selfishness.
In September 1939, even though we could do nothing immediately practical to assist the Polish People, we nevertheless acted as we had promised. We 'dared' to declare war on a monstrous tyrant who had not, until then, experienced such a kick up the backside of his pomposity and evil. History reports that Hitler was as one turned to stone, and further reports Herman Goering, that tyrant's Head of the Luftwaffe, remarking "May God have mercy upon us if we lose this War!"
When we realise that something is amiss; that our next door neighbour might be going through some hassle, it is late 20th and current 21st century thinking to utter those detestable words, 'it is not my problem', resting as it does on that equally irresponsible premise: 'out of sight, out of mind'.
Being ex police, ex military and of course being a probate lawyer for 30 years, has emphasised the importance of Matthew 22:39 and Leviticus 19:18. Many a morning starts off with two or three death certificates being placed on my desk and an instruction to my secretary to call out the last will and testament and then for me to make that fateful call to the next of kin.
I recall, at 16, being called out on parade at RAF Locking at 11am one Friday and the Squadron being informed by the Padre that Colin, with whom Don and I had been playing putting shot on Wednesday night on the green in Weston-Super-Mare, had died that morning after collapsing on military exercise on Thursday morning. I recall too the heroic efforts of Mike Barnett who eventually received a commendation for doing all he could to save Colin. He too went on to a very distinguished military career.
I recall the lady who died as I knelt by her in the middle of the Tewkesbury Road dual carriageway and not one car stopping to assist me, then a 20 year old policeman, whilst I and another pedestrian attempted resuscitation pending arrival of the ambulance; on another day another lady who had decided it was all too much for her, and pulling her out of the icy waters of Pittville Lake, Cheltenham; I remember the 'suction' caused by my shin length belted gaberdine over my tunic making movement difficult; I remember the young Mum trying to keep her children in order as she too pulled this very gracious lady to the bank, all the time apologising for the problems she thought she was causing. She too later that day succumbed, but in every incident that I have attended I remember, without exception, the extreme courage of the ambulance crews, A&E staffs, the incredible resolve, kindness and decisive precision of the nurses, doctors and registrars - "all in a day's work" as they would humbly respond if it was ever commented upon.
If something appears amiss, respond, don't pass by on the other side.
Two passed by on the other side; the third was a Samaritan who was expected to pass by but stopped and saved a young man's life.
Every single one of us, from the highest to the lowest, from the most senior to the most junior, has a responsibility to our immediate neighbour. If our neighbour appears to be in some sort of trouble, and we respond by trying to hide, obscure or deaden any sound, then there will be a reckoning. If we ring that simple number that has sirens on the horizon within minutes or less, well done. It matters not that a door might be broken down in the process. A door might be broken but a life will be saved.
Responding to help is something that comes very, very naturally to our armed forces and emergency services and those who used to serve. To the older generation, those who are over 30, likewise. To those who work in restaurants, coffee shops as managers, waiters, baristas, etc, likewise. It is always wonderful to see how young people interact and learn this vital principle. To other young people such responses are the stuff of TV Soaps - "Oh, I didn't realise this stuff happened for real. But even if it does, it's not my problem."
I've learned much over the last four weeks. As I look about the library of my mind and see the windows blasted, and slowly go about putting all the books and files of memory neatly back on the shelves, it makes me realise what a privilege it was to serve with the people I did, the way they came to my rescue and even in these past few days to talk with friends who themselves served in the Royal Navy, who have that instinctive understanding; to have that reassurance from all those young people in service industries, the laughing and joking and putting books and files back in place.
The other week I was sat down quietly in the City and thinking about, of all things, the Liverpool Blitz. For the briefest moment there was a flash. Luminescent. In my mind's eye I stooped and placed the file on the shelf of my mind. What did it say?
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13.2
I report only an incredible sense of peace, and an absolute certainty about our origin and future and our individual responsibility.
Ian Bradley Marshall
May 26 2011
LIVERPOOL
Monday, 2 May 2011
THIS STORY ISN'T OVER
So speaks Adam Brookes, the BBC political commentator speaking from the BBC's agency in Washington DC this morning.
9/11 - 2/5 It has been a long haul, just a little less than ten years in fact, and thousands of lives have been lost along the way. The most chilling footage this morning is from 1998 when Osama Bin Laden gave a televised interview to America's ABC network. He stated bluntly that he did not have the constraints of the West, namely, the need to distinguish between military targets and innocent civilians. This man emphasised that if that person was American, then that person was a legitimate target, a fact we saw played out with grim determination less than 3 years later when the twin towers came down.
There are times when it is necessary to take the retributive action that has resulted in Bin Laden's death, without forewarning the host nation if that nation cannot guarantee security of information.
Pakistan alas has a long history of too many people within its intelligence services being double-agents, so the US President had no alternative but to authorise the action in confidence. On this occasion it was the right thing to do. But let it not set the precedent for the future.
The euphoria in Times Square and Washington is understandable. Let that quickly dissipate and let us as a world community move on, remaining even more vigilant and ready for the inevitable reprisals from people with twisted and demented ideologies.
Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
2 May 2011
9/11 - 2/5 It has been a long haul, just a little less than ten years in fact, and thousands of lives have been lost along the way. The most chilling footage this morning is from 1998 when Osama Bin Laden gave a televised interview to America's ABC network. He stated bluntly that he did not have the constraints of the West, namely, the need to distinguish between military targets and innocent civilians. This man emphasised that if that person was American, then that person was a legitimate target, a fact we saw played out with grim determination less than 3 years later when the twin towers came down.
There are times when it is necessary to take the retributive action that has resulted in Bin Laden's death, without forewarning the host nation if that nation cannot guarantee security of information.
Pakistan alas has a long history of too many people within its intelligence services being double-agents, so the US President had no alternative but to authorise the action in confidence. On this occasion it was the right thing to do. But let it not set the precedent for the future.
The euphoria in Times Square and Washington is understandable. Let that quickly dissipate and let us as a world community move on, remaining even more vigilant and ready for the inevitable reprisals from people with twisted and demented ideologies.
Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
2 May 2011
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
OUR PHOTOGRAPHERS AND JOURNALISTS IN EQUAL DANGER
Tim Hetherington, Photographer
Although I never had the privilege of knowing Tim Hetherington, his death today in Libya is nevertheless a grim and salutary reminder of the price that freedom exacts when we are in the business of dealing with dictatorships and tyranny.
Tim Hetherington is an outstanding Photographer, who insisted on using traditional 'old fashioned' equipment, development through negative, so as to truly capture the visciousness of war, that we at home might become more aware and educated on just what price is being paid in the various theatres of war in which this country is currently engaged.
His unique ability lies also in his method of reporting; his style, his humanitarian and compassionate approach, all with one aim: to alert all of us to the sacrifices being made and to bring the full facts to us.
It is absolutely essential that our photographers and journalists be allowed access to areas of operations. We, the general public, must know what is going on. The presence of photographers and journalists just might be that final lifeline to a community that, without their presence, would be in even greater danger and possibly facing mass slaughter.
This is the horror of war.
It is the scenario upon which human nature plays itself out; and our photographers and journalists are that vital check and balance that might stay the hand of a tyrant, and which enables our own troops to complete the operation in Afghanistan, or the rebel forces on the ground in Libya, and the NATO air forces enforcing the no-fly zone above.
Captain Lisa Jade Head
Equally tragic this week is the death of Captain Lisa Jade Head from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, who died at Queen Elizabeth NHS Hospital, Birmingham of wounds suffered in Afghanistan on Monday. The second female British soldier to have been killed in action in this war and the 364th soldier to have been killed in action since operations began in Afghanistan.
The extraordinary bravery of soldiers called upon to clear minefields cannot be overstated. Few are able to even stay the intsenive course of training. Those who do and then take up operations in the field are very brave people indeed. For let us not forget that often, whilst they are very carefully and methodically defusing an explosive device, they are doing so under fire; not occasional fire, but systematic fire, a full blown battle that involves sniping, mortar fire and even hand to hand fighting; something that is not fully reported.
Let us keep the bravery of these courageous people in mind.
Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
21 April 2011
Although I never had the privilege of knowing Tim Hetherington, his death today in Libya is nevertheless a grim and salutary reminder of the price that freedom exacts when we are in the business of dealing with dictatorships and tyranny.
Tim Hetherington is an outstanding Photographer, who insisted on using traditional 'old fashioned' equipment, development through negative, so as to truly capture the visciousness of war, that we at home might become more aware and educated on just what price is being paid in the various theatres of war in which this country is currently engaged.
His unique ability lies also in his method of reporting; his style, his humanitarian and compassionate approach, all with one aim: to alert all of us to the sacrifices being made and to bring the full facts to us.
It is absolutely essential that our photographers and journalists be allowed access to areas of operations. We, the general public, must know what is going on. The presence of photographers and journalists just might be that final lifeline to a community that, without their presence, would be in even greater danger and possibly facing mass slaughter.
This is the horror of war.
It is the scenario upon which human nature plays itself out; and our photographers and journalists are that vital check and balance that might stay the hand of a tyrant, and which enables our own troops to complete the operation in Afghanistan, or the rebel forces on the ground in Libya, and the NATO air forces enforcing the no-fly zone above.
Captain Lisa Jade Head
Equally tragic this week is the death of Captain Lisa Jade Head from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, who died at Queen Elizabeth NHS Hospital, Birmingham of wounds suffered in Afghanistan on Monday. The second female British soldier to have been killed in action in this war and the 364th soldier to have been killed in action since operations began in Afghanistan.
The extraordinary bravery of soldiers called upon to clear minefields cannot be overstated. Few are able to even stay the intsenive course of training. Those who do and then take up operations in the field are very brave people indeed. For let us not forget that often, whilst they are very carefully and methodically defusing an explosive device, they are doing so under fire; not occasional fire, but systematic fire, a full blown battle that involves sniping, mortar fire and even hand to hand fighting; something that is not fully reported.
Let us keep the bravery of these courageous people in mind.
Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
21 April 2011
JUDICIAL REVIEW
This morning's outcome of the Judicial Review in the High Court is a landmark review and one can only hope that if the banks appeal, as they are likely to do, then the Supreme Court will not bottle out at the last moment.
Meanwhile, every customer who has been sold payment protection insurance by these banks, should seriously consider lodging a claim. Lodge the claim and request confirmation of the new reference number. Keep it short and simple, direct and to the point. Do not start arguing the case in that letter. All the notification of claim is doing at this stage is to put the banks on notice that there is likely to be a groundswell of public opinion that will increase dramatically over the months ahead.
In all my years I have never seen the banks behave in flagrant disregard of the general public as we have seen over the last decade, although to be fair, some are now trying to bring some measure of order to their disordered houses. That the banks have actually done everything possible to turn the Recession that they caused, to their own personal private advantage beggars belief. In less tolerant regimes, we do not need to use our imagination as to the outcome. Thankfully, this is the United Kingdom. That does not mean that the general public is soft. Far from it.
This Judicial Review will today have made quite a few well cushioned bums on seats in high places, chairmen and chief executives, higher executives and not a few bank officials on the counter, feel a little queezy.
So be it. It is deserved.
Today's Judicial Review has all the hallmarks of turning the general public's concern into outright anger and demand for even more root and branch change as did the Daily Telegraph when it first blew the whistle on MPs Expenses.
Let the action begin.
Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
20 April 2011
Meanwhile, every customer who has been sold payment protection insurance by these banks, should seriously consider lodging a claim. Lodge the claim and request confirmation of the new reference number. Keep it short and simple, direct and to the point. Do not start arguing the case in that letter. All the notification of claim is doing at this stage is to put the banks on notice that there is likely to be a groundswell of public opinion that will increase dramatically over the months ahead.
In all my years I have never seen the banks behave in flagrant disregard of the general public as we have seen over the last decade, although to be fair, some are now trying to bring some measure of order to their disordered houses. That the banks have actually done everything possible to turn the Recession that they caused, to their own personal private advantage beggars belief. In less tolerant regimes, we do not need to use our imagination as to the outcome. Thankfully, this is the United Kingdom. That does not mean that the general public is soft. Far from it.
This Judicial Review will today have made quite a few well cushioned bums on seats in high places, chairmen and chief executives, higher executives and not a few bank officials on the counter, feel a little queezy.
So be it. It is deserved.
Today's Judicial Review has all the hallmarks of turning the general public's concern into outright anger and demand for even more root and branch change as did the Daily Telegraph when it first blew the whistle on MPs Expenses.
Let the action begin.
Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
20 April 2011
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