Download or read book Ministry of Defence written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Operation TELIC was the UK's contribution to the Coalition effort to remove Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in Spring 2003. This was the UK's largest military operation since the 1990-91 Gulf War, involving the deployment of 46,000 personnel from all three armed services, 19 warships, 15,000 vehicles and 115 aircraft, as well as support from large numbers of Service personnel, civilians and contractors in the UK and elsewhere. Following on from a National Audit Office report (HCP 60, session 2003-04; ISBN 0102926565) published in December 2003, the Committee's report focuses on four main issues: the Ministry of Defence's ability to deploy forces at short notice; logistics and shortages of equipment at the front line; the consignment tracking system; and the Department's process of identifying and implementing lessons. Findings include i) that front line equipment shortages, such as lack of combat body armour and nuclear, biological and chemical detection/protection equipment, exposed troops to increased risks; ii) despite significant investment, the MoD still lacks a credible consignment tracking system; iii) the planning and handing over of responsibilities to civilian agencies should have been better managed; and iv) there are fundamental shortcomings in the MoD's ability to learn and act upon lessons from previous experience.
Download or read book UK Operations in Iraq written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Defence Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-08-10 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report seeks to highlight some of the issues raised during the Committee's visit to Iraq in June 2006, which was undertaken in order to examine the operating environment being experienced by UK forces and to meet senior members of the new Iraqi Government. Amongst its findings, the Committee notes its concern at the deteriorating security situation in South Eastern Iraq, particularly Basra, and the implications for the security of UK forces. It welcomes the progress being made in the development of the new Iraqi army but highlights the serious challenges remaining in the development of the Iraqi police service. The report also raises concerns over the problems with equipment which requires urgent attention from the MoD, the effects of the extreme temperatures which troops are having to deal with, the shortage of helicopters and the strain on both air and ground crews. The Committee's report questions the Government's confidence that UK armed forces are not being overstretched, and calls for urgent action to address the growing capability gaps; and concludes that the issues raised in the report gives rise to fundamental doubts as to whether the UK armed forces are structured, trained and equipped to fulfil the role envisaged for them in the Strategic Defence Review and subsequent policy documents.
Download or read book British Generals in Blair s Wars written by Jonathan Bailey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: British Generals in Blair's Wars is based on a series of high profile seminars held in Oxford in which senior British officers, predominantly from the army, reflect on their experience of campaigning. The chapters embrace all the UK's major operations since the end of the Cold War, but they focus particularly on Iraq and Afghanistan. As personal testimonies, they capture the immediacy of the authors' thoughts at the time, and show how the ideas of a generation of senior British officers developed in a period of rapid change, against a background of intense political controversy and some popular unease. The armed forces were struggling to revise their Cold War concepts and doctrines, and to find the best ways to meet the demands placed upon them by their political leaders in what was seen to be a 'New World Order'. It was a time when relations between the Government of the day and the armed services came under close scrutiny, and when the affection of the British public for its forces seemed to grow with the difficulty of their operational tasks. This is a truly unique and invaluable book. For the first time, we are offered first-hand testimony about Britain's involvement in recent campaigns by senior participants. In addition to touching on themes like civilian-military relations, the operational direction of war and relationships with allies, these eyewitness accounts give a real sense of how the character of a war changes even as it is being fought. It will be essential reading for those in military academies and staff colleges, not only in Britain but throughout NATO, and especially in the USA. It also has profound policy implications, as both the UK and NATO more generally reassess their strategies and the value of intervention operations. It will also become a primary source for historians and students of the wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan in particular.
Download or read book UK Operations in Iraq and the Gulf written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Defence Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: UK operations in Iraq and the Gulf : Fifteenth report of session 2007-08, report, together with formal Minutes
Download or read book Losing Small Wars written by Frank Ledwidge and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-13 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thought-provoking analysis of military failure and its costs examines the British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, revealing how and why it went so wrong. Original.
Download or read book Counterinsurgency in Crisis written by David H. Ucko and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British military confronted significant challenges during the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Adhering to the principles and doctrines of previous campaigns, they failed to prevent Basra and Helmand from descending into lawlessness, criminality, and violence. By juxtaposing the deterioration of these cities against Britain’s celebrated legacy of counterinsurgency, this investigation identifies both the contributions and limitations of traditional tactics in such settings, exposing the gap between the ambitions and resources, intent and commitment, that proved so disastrous to the operation. In its detailed account of the Basra and Helmand campaigns, this volume conducts an unprecedented assessment of British military institutional adaptation in response to operations gone awry. It calls attention to the effectiveness of insurgent tactics and the danger of ungoverned spaces shielding hostile groups and underscores the need for the British military to acquire new skills for meeting irregular threats in future wars.
Download or read book UK Operations in Iraq written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Defence Committee and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Private Contractors and the Reconstruction of Iraq written by Christopher Kinsey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-09-10 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Private Contractors and the Reconstruction of Iraq examines the controversial role of military contractors in the reconstruction of Iraq. When 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' was launched in March 2003, few, if any, of the Coalition's political leaders could have envisaged that within a few months the number of private contractors engaged to keep the troops supplied would exceed their actual combat strength. This alternative 'army' was not only to become the largest assemblage of contractors in living memory to accompany a military force into a war zone, but was also responsible for a fundamental transformation of how military logistics were delivered. This book explains how and why the US and UK governments became so dependent upon military contractors during the war in Iraq. It also examines the ramifications this new dependency will have on future military operations, as the conflict in Iraq has shown that private contractors are now indispensable to the attainment of both the military and political objectives of war. Finally, the book discusses what advantages and disadvantages these companies have brought to the reconstruction of Iraq, and what lessons need to be learned from this experience. This book will be of great interest to students of military and strategic studies, Middle Eastern politics and international security, and as well as policymakers and military professionals. Christopher Kinsey is a lecturer in international security at King's College London, Defence Studies Department, at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham. His previous publications include Corporate Soldiers and International Security: The Rise of Private Military Companies (Routledge: 2006)
Download or read book Operation Telic United Kingdom Military Operations in Iraq Ministry of Defence written by Great Britain. National Audit Office and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Operation TELIC was the United Kingdom contribution to the Coalition effort in Spring 2003 to create the conditions in which Iraq would disarm (and remain disarmed) in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions. It was the UK's largest military operation since the 1990-91 Gulf War, with the participation of some 46,000 personnel from all three armed services.The NAO found that the Operation was a significant military success, but important lessons should be need to be learnt, by ensuring that frontline troops receive appropriate levels of equipment and supplies, and by more efficient transition from conflict to the post-conflict phase.
Download or read book Wars in Peace written by Malcolm Chalmers and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Changing of the Guard written by Simon Akam and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revelatory, explosive new analysis of the British military today. Over the first two decades of the twenty-first century, Britain has changed enormously. During this time, the British Army fought two campaigns, in Iraq and Afghanistan, at considerable financial and human cost. Yet neither war achieved its objectives. This book questions why, and provides challenging but necessary answers. Composed of assiduous documentary research, field reportage, and hundreds of interviews with many soldiers and officers who served, as well as the politicians who directed them, the allies who accompanied them, and the family members who loved and -- on occasion -- lost them, it is a strikingly rich, nuanced portrait of one of our pivotal national institutions in a time of great stress. Award-winning journalist Simon Akam, who spent a year in the army when he was 18, returned a decade later to see how the institution had changed. His book examines the relevance of the armed forces today -- their social, economic, political, and cultural role. This is as much a book about Britain, and about the politics of failure, as it is about the military.
Download or read book The British Experience In Iraq From 1914 1926 What Wisdom Can The United States Draw From Its Experience written by Major Matthew W. Williams and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis examines the British experience in Iraq from 1914-1926. Britain invaded Iraq to secure its oil interests and to protect its lines of communication to India. The British initially defeated Ottoman forces and captured the Basra vilayet (province) in December 1914. Although Basra’s capture accomplished the objectives that Britain had sought to achieve at the outset of the campaign, it was followed by an ill-advised advance to Baghdad that culminated in defeat by the Ottomans at Kut-al-Amara in 1916. The British regrouped, however, and resumed the offensive, capturing Baghdad in 1917 and Mosul in 1918. After the war, Britain managed Iraq as a League of Nations Mandate from 1920-1932. The British installed Iraq’s first ruler, King Feisal I in 1921 and helped demarcate its northern border with Turkey in 1926. This thesis explores the British military campaign in Iraq during World War I and its subsequent civil administration. The thesis will examine the actions Britain took during this time period and determine, what wisdom, if any, that the United States (US) can draw from these experiences in relation to its current efforts in Iraq. This study concludes that, if the US is going to accomplish its objectives in Iraq, it should base its future relationship with Iraq primarily by incentives and not coercion. Furthermore, any attempt by the US to simultaneously develop Iraq into an independent nation-state and maintain dominant, long-term influence will likely result in failure. Overall, if the US wants to accomplish its goals in Iraq, it should treat Iraq like an equal and strive to be the best friend it has never had.
Download or read book UK land operations in Iraq 2007 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Defence Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-12-03 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report considers recent developments in the political and security situation in Iraq, the prospects for political reconciliation at national and local level, the progress in implementing security sector reform, including the development of the Iraqi Army and Police as well as the transition of Basra to Provincial Iraqi control. It also examines the changing role of UK Forces in South Eastern Iraq as they prepare to hand over responsibility for security and assume the position of overwatch. The report therefore examines what overwatch means and whether the force levels proposed by the Government are sustainable. It concludes that the security situation continues to cause concern and that although there has been a decrease in attacks against UK and Coalition forces since the withdrawal from Basra Palace, there has been no reduction in attacks against the civilian population. The development of effective Iraqi Security Forces is fundamental and although there has been progress with the army, there are still murderous, corrupt, militia-infiltrated elements within the Police. It is unclear how the trainers will be supported when the UK force levels are further reduced. The plan is to reduce to 2,500 troops in Spring but there are questions about the sustainability of a force of this size and whether they will be able to do little more than protect themselves.
Download or read book Chilcot Report written by Sir John Chilcot (chairman) and published by Canbury Press. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All the key findings of the public inquiry into the handling of the 2003 Iraq war by the British government led by Tony Blair. Chaired by Sir John Chilcot, the Iraq Inquiry (known as the 'Chilcot Report') tackled: Saddam Hussein's threat to Britainthe legal advice for the invasionintelligence about weapons of mass destruction andplanning for a post-conflict Iraq. This 60,000-word executive summary was published in July 2016. Philippe Sands QC wrote in the London Review of Books: 'It offers a long and painful account of an episode that may come to be seen as marking the moment when the UK fell off its global perch, trust in government collapsed and the country turned inward and began to disintegrate.' Published under an Open Government Licence, this book aims to make better known the findings of the Iraq Inquiry, which took seven years to complete at a cost of £10 million. The text, headings, footnotes and any emphasis are exactly those of the original document. Contents Introduction Pre-conflict strategy and planning The UK decision to support US military action Why Iraq? Why now? The UK's relationship with the US Decision-making Advice on the legal basis for military action Weapons of mass destruction Planning for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq The post-conflict period Occupation Transition Planning for withdrawal Did the UK achieve its objectives in Iraq? Key findings Lessons Timeline of events REVIEWS The Iraq Inquiry, chaired by Sir John Chilcot and composed of five privy councillors, finally published its report on the morning of 6 July, seven years and 21 days after it was established by Gordon Brown with a remit to look at the run-up to the conflict, the conflict itself and the reconstruction, so that we can learn lessons. It offers a long and painful account of an episode that may come to be seen as marking the moment when the UK fell off its global perch, trust in government collapsed and the country turned inward and began to disintegrate. — Philippe Sands, London Review of Books A more productive way to think of the Chilcot report is as a tool to help us set agendas for renewed best efforts in creating more effective and accountable statecraft. Chilcot has confirmed that... we still do not have intelligent long-range planning by the armed forces in close and active cooperation with other government agencies, nor an adequate and integrated system for the collection and evaluation of intelligence information, nor do we have the highest possible quality and stature of personnel to lead us through these challenging times. — Derek B. Miller, The Guardian Although sceptics wondered how much more the very-long-awaited Report of the Iraq Inquiry by a committee chaired by Sir John Chilcot could tell us when it appeared at last in July, it proves to contain a wealth of evidence and acute criticism, the more weighty for its sober tone and for having the imprimatur of the official government publisher. In all, it is a further and devastating indictment not only of Tony Blair personally but of a whole apparatus of state and government, Cabinet, Parliament, armed forces, and, far from least, intelligence agencies. Among its conclusions the report says that there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein; that the British chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted; that military action was not a last resort... — Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The New York Review of Books Ideal for any student of politics, diplomacy, or conflict.
Download or read book High Command written by Christopher L. Elliott and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the circumstances that led to Britain's support of the United States in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how the Ministry of Defence coped with challenges including rivalry and diffuse responsibility among the Service Chiefs, lack of clear strategy, and weak domestic political support.
Download or read book The Paras in Iraq written by Craig Allen and published by . This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For Operation Telic, the UK was the junior partner alongside their American allies but still contributed a substantial force. Beginning with 3 Para's entry into Basrah, it then moves to 1 Para at Baghdad, securing the British Embassy. With over 200 color photos, it shows the reality of British forces in a modern-day war.
Download or read book Lessons of Iraq Report together with formal minutes written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Defence Committee and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report looks at the British contribution to the operation in Iraq and pays attention to both the preparatory and deployment stage, and the transition from combat to peace keeping. The 15 main areas it examines include topics such as: command and control; planning and strategy; equipment; use of reserves; information and the role of the media. It looks at the lessons the military has learned and also what can be learned for the future. The examination is quite detailed, for example the performance of each major piece of equipment is evaluated. Although the MOD is criticised for showing less co-operation than a parliamentary select committee should have been expected; the report concludes that the men and women of the armed forces deserve the highest praise for their conduct and performance in Iraq.