On a day when broadcast and print media continue to be dominated by Jeremy Corbyn’s election as leader of the Labour party, the papers report on the fight against ISIL and defence procurement.
ISIL
There is widespread reporting and comment on Monday’s announcement of the RAF strike in Syria, focusing on the legal and moral justifications for action and the implications for the future of the counter-ISIL campaign.
In the Sunday Times Max Hastings writes that politicians have yet to properly consider the moral and legal justifications for, and implications of, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Referencing the increased use of the technology and its cost and manning advantages, he argues that independent scrutiny is required to provide oversight of decisions made given the risks of misreading intelligence, and a published form of rules with some international agreement. In the Independent on Sunday Patrick Cockburn argues that UAVs are a mark of tyranny and counter-productive because they generate new terrorist threats rather than reducing them. In the Mail on Sunday Peter Hitchens argues against their use, saying that it gives legitimacy to other countries and actors to use the weapons against us here, while Tony Parsons in the Sun on Sunday writes that we have a right to defend ourselves and to not do so would not make us any safer.
In a separate article, The Sunday Times reports that military commanders who planned the strike demanded lawyers were present at all stages of the process, to ensure the operation was legally watertight. Intelligence sources say the Director of Special Forces (DSF) was determined to have ‘legal top cover’ before approving the mission. The piece says that DSF had received authorisation to launch the attack by the Prime Minister weeks earlier, and in London the DSF informed SofS, in the absence of the Prime Minister, that the strike was about to be launched. The MOD position, that we do not comment on Special Forces, is carried. The Sun on Sunday reports that the jihadis targeted in the attack were killed after they made a phone call and confirmed their position to GCHQ.
The Sunday Telegraph and Sun on Sunday carry quotes from the Defence Secretary in articles praising Australia and France for planning strikes against ISIL in Syria. He said: “I applaud the French and Australian decisions to help tackle this barbarous terrorism at its source. Degrading and defeating ISIL is all of our responsibility.”
Pakistan
The Observer carries a story stating that concerns have been raised over the UK’s role in ‘drone’ attacks in Pakistan. The piece says that UK personnel are suspected of having participated and that the government has declined to confirm whether its personnel have been embedded with US teams operating drones above Pakistan.
Our position is included in the article and can be seen below in full:
UK personnel embedded with the US Air Force have only flown remotely piloted aircraft systems in support of operations in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq.
Defence procurement
The Sunday Times reports that Kuwait has said it will buy 28 Typhoon aircraft from Eurofighter and the consequent benefits it will have for BAE Systems. The Sunday Telegraph reports that Lockheed Martin is proposing to take C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft currently in service with the RAF and repurpose them with advanced sensors to take over the surveillance role left by Nimrod’s following the 2010 SDSR. Meanwhile the Mail on Sunday reports that the MOD is considering buying a solar-powered drone capable of flying on the edge of space for up to three months. The 90-ft wide Zephyr 8, the article claims, will be considered as part of the SDSR and the MOD’s future focus on unmanned systems. Minister for Defence Procurement Philip Dunne is quoted as saying, “As you go closer to space there are innovative opportunities that are being considered as part of SDSR – ranging from things that are not yet into production to the things that are.” We blogged about the original article in Defense News last week where we stated that “No decisions have been taken as to whether the MOD is intending to investigate the military utility of High Altitude Pseudo Satellites.”
Marine A
The Sunday Times previews the expected publication this week of the Royal Navy’s report of its review of the Marine A case, saying that it will say that military seniors did not do enough to prevent a ‘Lord of the Flies’ mentality where individuals became detached from reality in a hostile environment. The article quotes Richard Drax MP saying that diminished responsibility and other factors were not offered to Sgt Blackman during his trial as mitigation before his conviction for murder.
As we have blogged previously, our statement on this can be seen in full below.
The MOD followed and supported the legal process throughout. This involved a full criminal investigation and a court martial where witnesses were called by both the independent Service Prosecution Authority and defence counsel. We respect the authority and decision of the court and would, of course, co-operate fully with any future legal process. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.
EU Army
The Sunday Telegraph reports that Angela Merkel will expect David Cameron to drop his opposition to an EU Army in exchange for supporting Britain’s renegotiation of its relationship with Europe. A Berlin source said agreeing not to block Mrs Merkel’s plan for greater integration of Europe’s continental armed forces is ‘a favour’ that she would seek in exchange for support. The paper reports that it has seen a briefing paper arguing that greater integration would improve efficiency and the relationship with America, which the paper says threatens to damage the UK’s role.
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