Of interest for Defence in today’s news, President Barack Obama is reportedly planning to send an extra 250 soldiers to Syria to help in the fight against Daesh, bringing the total US deployment on the ground to 300.
The plan was announced by US officials ahead of a meeting in Germany today attended by Mr Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister David Cameron. The additional deployment aims to accelerate recent gains against Daesh and it is suggested that it reflects renewed confidence in the ability of US-backed forces inside Syria and Iraq to claw back territory from the militants.
CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER
The Daily Telegraph carries an opinion piece from retired Col Richard Kemp, who argues that soldiers will be put at risk on the battlefield if the MOD is held liable for deaths during training. Defence chiefs could face corporate manslaughter prosecutions for training fatalities, it has been reported recently, after a committee of MPs called for a long-standing protection to be removed. But Col Kemp has warned such a move could lead to training becoming 'sterile' and result in more deaths on the battlefield because troops will not be fully prepared. He says that the Government needs to think carefully before imposing further legal constraints that could affect the operational capability of the Armed Forces. An MOD spokesperson said:
The safety of our personnel is an absolute priority and, while each death is tragic, deaths in training are rare. We are grateful for the committee’s acknowledgement of how seriously we take the risks associated with training and that we are moving in the right direction. We acknowledge that more needs to be done, which is why we set up the Defence Safety Authority last year. We will now carefully consider this report and respond in due course.
The Department has a system of robust internal assurance and investigations in the event that an incident occurs. We also have strong relationships with external organisations such as the Health and Safety Executive and Coroners. There are well established procedures in place for the Department’s interaction with such agencies in the event of a death or death or accident in training. Training is necessarily challenging to ensure that individuals are prepared to deal with the extreme challenges they will face on operations; if we were fail to prepare them adequately we would simply be moving the risk to a time when the consequences of failure would be catastrophic for them and their colleagues. We have a very strong focus on mitigating risks to as low as reasonably practical, but these risks can never be reduced to zero.
LIBYA
The Daily Express, New Day and The Sun all follow up on comments made by the Foreign Secretary yesterday that British troops could soon be sent to Libya. The suggestion is that plans are being drawn up for a UK strike force to stop Daesh using Libya as a springboard for attacks on mainland Europe. Philip Hammond declared Britain is ready to act if it gets a request from the Libyans, with action by “ground, sea or air” forces not be ruled out. The Foreign Secretary was speaking on the eve of today’s summit in Hanover of world leaders, where Libya is expected to be high up on the agenda. The Sun references the weekend’s announcement by the Defence Secretary, that HMS Enterprise would be extending its mission to intercept migrant smugglers coming from Libya.
The Daily Mirror reports that British Special Forces are poised to launch a lethal two-pronged strike against Daesh in Iraq and Libya within weeks. The article suggests that several hundred SAS and SBS troops are working with their French and American counterparts, and are preparing to lead Iraqi and Kurdish troops on as assault on Mosul, and help coordinate strikes by American B-52 bombers.
An MOD spokesperson said:
The UK continues to work with international partners on how best to support the new Libyan government. All planning has been focussed on training Libyan Security Forces to provide their own security to the Government and Libyan people. No decisions have been made about the future deployment of any British military forces.
