A critical report by the House of Commons Defence Committee, published today (Sunday), questions the coalition government's plan to remove troops by 2015, saying such a decision should be based on circumstances, not artificial deadlines. And it says the shortfall in troop numbers and the poor state of equipment they were given on deployment in Helmand in 2006 was "unacceptable". BAFF comment:

But this is not an argument that can or should be left to the military chiefs or the boffins. In the end it is also about the kind of British military effort that fits with the kind of nation we want to be. It is a debate that should be at the heart of the general election campaign too.

From a Guardian Editorial, 19 January 2010

And from Thomas Harding in The Daily Telegraph: Whitehall's civil war will decide our place in the world.

In its final issue after 168 years, the News of the World reports that HMS Liverpool has made the Royal Navy's first use of main armament gunnery since the Falklands Campaign:

From the libertarian blog Jess The Dog, Aug 2009:

Most would agree that those who risk their lives to defend democracy should be the first in line to participate in it. However, the Labour government takes the opposite view. There was wide-scale electoral disenfranchisement of the Armed Forces in the 2005 general election and only a high-profile campaign forced the government into limited action.

Once more, there is a real danger that soldiers on operations will be denied the vote once more….and it is difficult not to conclude that this is a deliberate omission on the part of Labour ministers who realise their appalling treatment of the Armed Forces over the past five years – despite their sacrifices – will win them few votes.

The Sunday Mirror has a controversial interview with a serving warrant officer who received devastating injuries on IED disposal duty in Afghanistan:

The Chairman of the Baha Mousa Inquiry has announced that he intends to publish his report on 8 September 2011. The Sunday Telegraph says that the three-year inquiry into how Mr Baha Mousa died while in British custody in Iraq "will clear the Army of operating a systematic regime of torture". There is no room for complacency, because according to the newspaper, the inquiry will instead criticise individual soldiers and failings in the chain of command which led to his mistreatment:

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Coalition Government has delayed a vote on the Armed Forces Bill - and that the Prime Minister has hinted that the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan could be hastened by the death of Osama bin Laden:

Sir John Chilcot, Chairman of the Iraq Inquiry, has issued an open invitation to UK military personnel who served in Iraq between 2003 and 2009 to attend an event at Tidworth Garrison on 14 September. Alternatively, views in writing are also welcome.

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), which was introduced and subsequently reviewed under the previous Labour Government, treats the most seriously wounded personnel more generously than the War Pensions scheme which preceded it. BAFF members who had suffered serious but not catastrophic injuries told us that their claims have been settled promptly and satisfactorily under AFCS. Yet the scheme remains controversial. The Sunday Mirror reports that:

The widow of a REME soldier killed in Afghanistan in 2008 has accused the Government of breaking its promise to British troops.