Published by The i paper (13th October, 2023) When I wrote on Sunday as horrifying details of Hamas atrocities started emerging, my column here was starkly headlined “This is […]
Afghanistan / Defence / Feature / Policy / World
Our troops are doing their best. But Kabul shows how impotent we are without America
Published by The Daily Mail (25th August, 2021) There are few institutions that can still unite our nation in uncritical admiration after a series of scandals challenged our […]
Afghanistan / Politics / World
Blair’s hypocrisy remains unmitigated
Published by The i paper (23rd August, 2021) Ten years ago, I stood in the ransacked residence of the British ambassador to Libya, staring through a hole blasted […]
Afghanistan / Aid / World
Fleeced: How aid billions were squandered in Afghanistan
Published by The Mail on Sunday (22nd August, 2021) If you want to understand the horrifying return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan you could delve into […]
Afghanistan / Aid / World
Our folly and failure in Afghanistan
Published by The i paper (16th August, 2021) The humiliating retreat from Afghanistan has turned into a horror show, the fear and panic in Kabul stirring up dark […]
Afghanistan / Feature / Iraq / United States / World
The sickening hypocrisy of Bush, Blair and the war on terror
Published by The i paper (9th August, 2021) Twenty years after lethal attacks turned aircraft into weapons and sparked the so-called war on terror, the US has slunk […]
Afghanistan / Aid / World
High salaries, bonuses and suspect cash withdrawals
Published by The Mail on Sunday (11th December, 2016) It all sounds so positive on Adam Smith International’s website: an example of the way in which the aid […]
Afghanistan / Pakistan / World
Message written in blood shows weakness of Taliban
Published by The Daily Mail (16th December, 2014) At first staff thought it was just children playing a boisterous game, for as older pupils sat exams on the […]
Afghanistan / Africa / Aid / Mali / Politics / World
Save lives Mr Cameron, but don’t imagine you need to save Africa
Published in The Independent (February 2nd, 2013) This week, the Prime Minister went to Africa.Struggling to achieve anything at home thanks to the shaky state of her coalition, […]
Afghanistan / Arts / Books / World
The day that shook the world
Published in The Observer (September 11th, 2011) The Eleventh Day by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan (Doubleday); The 9/11 Wars by Jason Burke (Allen Lane); Granta 116: Ten […]
Afghanistan / Arts / Books / World
It’s a fiasco, says our man in Kabul
Published in the Daily Mail (July 1st, 2011) Cables from Kabul: The Inside story of the West’s Afghanistan campaign by Sherard Cowper-Coles (Harper Press) Two years ago, during […]
Afghanistan / World
False hopes and phoney democracy
Published in The Independent (July 15th, 2009) And so the charade begins once again. A state ripped apart by war, poverty and corruption promises to hold elections, and […]