The next Tory government will carry out a proper review of our defence needs, says Liam Fox. t is a scandal that we have not had a Strategic Defence Review since 1998. Through the Iraq war, and the conflict in Afghanistan, Britain’s Armed Forces have been forced to operate within budgets that reflect the level of activity before September 11.  Read more... (853 words, 1 image, estimated 3:25 mins reading time)

Barack Obama is to discuss the level of military commitment in Afghanistan with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. Mr Obama will land in Germany at the start of a three-stop European leg of his world tour.

Already having visited Afghanistan and Jordan, Mr Obama, the US Democratic presidential candidate, and overwhelming favourite in European polls, Mr Obama left Israel having vowed to strengthen ties with the country. Now he is to enjoy a whistlestop tour of Berlin before leaving for France on Friday, where he will meet President Nicolas Sarkozy. He will round up his tour on Saturday in London, where he will meet Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, and David Cameron, the Conservative leader.  Read more... (332 words, 1 image, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Published Date: 14 December 2009
A £150 million package to tackle the threat of roadside bombs in Afghanistan is set to be announced today – after the Prime Minister bedded down in forces accommodation in the country at the weekend.
£150m package for tackling roadside bombs after Brown spends night alongside Kandahar troops
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Obama must call time on the Afghan war. Retreat can be spun as victory. But it can’t be conditional on impossible objectives

Go to Washington any time in the past eight years and ask what influence Britain has over America’s Afghan policy. The answer is a thumb and forefinger joined in a simple zero. The same was true in Iraq. Ever since Tony Blair kowtowed to George Bush at Crawford in April 2002, Britain has been the patsy, the poodle, the dumb ally in Washington’s wars of ideological empire.  Read more... (1132 words, 1 image, estimated 4:32 mins reading time)