Britain’s Special Forces on service in at least 19 countries since 2011
Executive Summary: This analysis of credible English-language news reports reveals that Britain’s Special Forces, UKSF, have been deployed operationally in at least 19 countries, regions or territories and involved in missions in several others in the past decade, raising questions over the level of transparency and democratic oversight these shadowy units operate under.
The UKSF operates distinctively from the rest of the British military, and despite being accountable to the Defence Secretary and Prime Minister, there is no parliamentary oversight or mechanism to conduct retrospective reviews.
There have been several controversies associated with the UKSF, including assassinations, alleged cover-ups, deniability outsourcing, fighting alongside child soldiers, and friendly fire incidents. Calls have been made for greater transparency and oversight by various MPs and committees.
Mapping of national and international credible newspapers, undertaken by research charity Action on Armed Violence, shows that, since 2011, UK Special Forces (UKSF) have been primed to contact or surveil hostile forces in Algeria, Estonia, France, Iran/Oman (Strait of Hormuz), Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mediterranean (Cyprus), Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
There are a further six sites where UKSF have trained foreign forces or where they have based themselves before launching into another country. These are: Burkina Faso, Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Djibouti. There are also another seven locations, not included in the above lists, known to be used by UKSF for their own exercises and engagements. These are: Albania, Falklands, Gibraltar, Belize, Brunei, Malaysia, and Canada, although there are likely to be far more.
In addition, the UKSF operate in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These four countries are not included.
[MRT: Why not USA?]
Made up primarily of the SAS, Special Boat Service (SBS) and Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR), and supported by the multi-tiered Special Forces Support Group (SFSG), the UKSF operate distinctly from the rest of the British military and has been bestowed a privileged level of secrecy across all branches of government.
The most senior UKSF officer, the Director Special Forces, is only accountable to the Defence Secretary and the Prime Minister.
There is no parliamentary oversight. There is not even a mechanism to conduct retrospective reviews, as there is for MI6 via the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).
As Ben Wallace said in September 2020: “They [UKSF] are accountable to me and to the law, and where we see any issues, Ministers will of course intervene.”
18 July 2018 - Britain Plans to Launch Covert Special Forces Operations Against Russia, China
The British Royal Marines are to take over some of the “traditional” roles of the nation’s special forces units – the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) – as they are preparing for some new “higher risk” counter-state tasks, Totten said.
The brigadier himself is in command of a 4,000-strong “future commando force” that is about to share the burden of the special forces such as in maritime counterterrorist missions or some “partnered operations” that involve some “higher risks".
The SAS and SBS will apparently hurl all effort into countering “big state adversaries” – Moscow and Beijing, the military official told the paper.
“What we will be able to do is allow [the special forces] to focus on more difficult, more complex, counter-Russia, counter-China [tasks]. It takes real specialist expertise, so we will allow them to have more time and people to address those and we can conduct some of the tasks,” Totten added.
The brigadier did not exactly elaborate on the nature of such future operations.
The nature of the UK Special Forces’ potential operations against Russia remains unclear, but The Times claims that they could involve surveillance of Russian intelligence and military units in cooperation with British MI6 intelligence.
Earlier, The Guardian reported that the most secretive parts of the British military are likely to get a new focus and a new remit that would involve countering Russia and other state actors through secret missions.
The paper added that the director of the special forces has drawn up a new ‘Special Operations Concept’ based on the pretense that the nature of modern warfare is changing and unconventional subtle military operations are becoming increasingly common.
The Guardian also cited the Chief of the General Staff General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith who said that peace and war were “two increasingly redundant states”, while accusing “authoritarian regimes” of “exploiting the hybrid space that exists in between".
[Mrt: Resembles Liz Truss statement from 22-09-2022 at the UN:
01:00 min: "...Geopolitics is entering a new era.."06:00 min: "We are cutting off the toxic power and pipelines from authoritarian regimes and strengthening our energy resilience.""We will ensure we cannot be coerced or harmed by the reckless actions of rogue actors abroad."
"The free world needs this economic strength and resilience to push back against authoritarian aggression and win this new era of strategic competition. More on this here]
Still, Totten’s comments were a rare instance of a British military official openly admitting that London plans to deploy the UK Special Forces on covert missions specifically targeting Russia and China.
4 February 2021 - THE UNITED KINGDOM DOUBLES DOWN ON COVERT OPERATIONS
Two weeks ago, the British government published its most significant review of defense, security, and foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. It will likely usher in a new era of British covert interventionism.
The 114-page integrated review, titled “Global Britain in a Competitive Age,” emphasizes “Global Britain,” a slogan coined by the governing Conservative Party in the aftermath of the country’s vote to leave the European Union in 2016. The review highlights that the British government wants to maintain global influence, including by tilting toward the geographically distant Indo-Pacific region. At the same time, however, Britain perennially lacks the capabilities sufficient to meet its ambitions—and even more so now given the damage Covid-19 has done to the British economy.
In an attempt to reconcile global ambitions with limited means, the review, together with an accompanying Defence Command Paper, emphasizes secret intelligence, special operations forces, and offensive cyber capabilities. They will be used to disrupt, deter, deny, and degrade Britain’s adversaries. All are tools of force multiplication; the power of the hidden hand will allow Britain to do more with less.
The defense paper emphasizes that special forces will maintain an impressive global reach. They will continue their “precision strike operations,” but will also maintain their equally important function of surveillance in hostile environments—a less glamorous role consistently overlooked in press coverage. Working alongside intelligence agencies in a whole-of-government approach, they will operate below the threshold of conflict to disrupt hostile states.
The paper also establishes new forces capable of special operations, creating a new “Ranger Regiment.” Apparently modeled on the US Army’s Green Berets, it will draw on four battalions and consist of between two thousand and four thousand soldiers. It will allow more British forces to discreetly train, advise, and—most importantly—accompany partners in high-threat environments. According to the review, it will “project UK global influence and pre-empt and deter threats below the threshold of war as well as state aggression.” And it will free up tier one special operations forces for more covert surveillance and deniable disruption work.
The review’s emphasis on intelligence and special forces is consistent with Britain’s traditional approach to covert operations. The United Kingdom has long used the hidden hand to influence events overseas in a deniable or unacknowledged manner. It has done so since before the United States was even created. Indeed, back in the sixteenth century advisors to Queen Elizabeth I talked of “covert meanes” to counter the Spanish.'
[MRT: Did the sinking USS Maine in 1889 create the "special relationship?]
...Successive UK governments have long sought to disrupt adversaries, dislocate threats at source, and keep enemies—in the words of one recent chief of MI6—“in their half of the pitch.”
The danger here, however, is whether disruption is enough to meet the UK’s objectives. And the reviews are vague on this question. Using covert means, whether through special forces or offensive cyber operations, to disrupt hostile states will not solve the UK’s foreign policy problems.¨
[MRT: So what about a disruption to enforce certain chain of events then? A Thought.]
And while the emphasis throughout the review on support for NATO allies makes sense, the review does not clearly define “partners.” In an accompanying press release, the Chief of the General Staff offered only “regular and irregular partners and proxies.”
11 Oct 2021 - Global Britain, Global Army? The Review and Land Warfare
This essay was first published in October 2021, in the second volume of the Centre for Defence Studies series on The Integrated Review in Context: Defence and Security in Focus.
This article examines the implications of the United Kingdom government’s 2021 policy paper, Global Britain in a Competitive Age: The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, which lays out the Boris Johnson government’s external policy aims for the 2020s, the Ministry of Defence Command Paper, Defence in a Competitive Age which accompanied it and the British Army paper Future Soldier: Transforming the British Army which followed shortly afterwards. It focuses on what these implications might be for Britain’s land warfare capabilities, in particular the British Army and the Royal Marines, and asks how well-prepared they might be for what the Integrated Review expects of them. This matters for a range of reasons. The Integrated Review and Command Paper identify, and, indeed, at times centre on the most ‘acute threat’ to the UK and Europe as coming from Russia.
There is a growing tendency by Western powers to apply military force ‘remotely’ or ‘discreetly’. Risk-aversion among the Western political class and distrust of politicians among the voting public following the debacles of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya combine with shrinking defence budgets to incentivise Western governments to wage war via ‘remote’ means – airpower, Special Forces and proxy local forces, all having limited physical and political footprint – rather than via large numbers of ‘boots on the ground’ in theatre. This is traceable to President Obama’s replacement of the Bush administration’s strategy in the Global War on Terror of ‘regime change’ in countries designated by the US as supporting jihadi terrorists with one based on strikes against high-value targets – terrorist leaders and facilitators – by crewed aircraft, Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVS) and Special Forces alongside generous material support for local actors fighting against terrorist groups and regimes likely to support them. The UK has followed suit closely as demonstrated by its actions in Libya in 2011 and Syria since 2014. The Chief of the General Staff – official head of the British Army – General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith commented in May 2021 that this ‘form of remote warfare has almost become our house style.’..
As Prime Minister Boris Johnson lays out in his introduction: ‘We will play a more active part in sustaining an international order in which open societies and economies continue to flourish and the benefits of prosperity are shared through free trade and global growth’. The Review states explicitly it ‘signals a change of approach’ away from defending the post Cold War rules-based international order towards active competition in a world in which the values Mr Johnson outlines are under challenge from authoritarian peer competitors and in which the UK must try to shape the situation rather than just stabilise it...
Where there is an immediate threat, British forces will engage in ‘campaigning’, an apparently open-ended and flexible set of actions ranging from aggressive deterrence to countering subversive activity to all-out warfighting and taking place across the five ‘domains’ of land, sea, air, space and cyberspace.
[MRT: Was this where NOR blew a whistle? ]
One way in which this might be done is through ‘remote warfare.’ The Command Paper states clearly there will be a leading role in ‘Global Britain’ for UK Special Forces (UKSF), the tri-service command incorporating the UK’s ‘Tier One’ assets, the Army’s 22 Special Air Service Regiment (22 SAS) the Royal Marines’ Special Boat Service (SBS), The Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR), the Special Forces Support Group formed from First Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (SFSG) and their support elements.
Indeed, ‘special operations’ will, apparently, expand with the re-constituting and re-tasking of some existing units who will receive arresting new titles reflecting their new status. A new Army Special Operations Brigade will: ‘conduct special operations to train, advise and accompany partners in high threat environments….[and] project UK global influence and pre-empt and deter threats below the threshold of war as well as state aggression.’
Similarly, speaking on the flight deck of HMS TAMAR in London in September our Secretary of State said “the global picture has changed … the static concept of war versus peace no longer applies as we are contested on either side of the threshold of armed conflict on a regular basis … Our Armed Forces must be more forward-deployed, deterring Russian activity in Europe, combating terror in the Middle East and the Sahel and countering Chinese activity in the Asia Pacific”.
7 Dec 2021 - Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC, Chief of the Defence Staff Speech to the Royal United Services Institute
But the simple demarcation of peace and war is less prevalent today. Our forces need to be out in the world supporting British interests, deterring and shaping on a continuous basis.
This is what our politicians demand, and it gets after the frustrations felt by our people when they find themselves stuck in barracks or delayed by training or equipment when they should be deployed as ambassadors for Global Britain – shaping, training and influencing. ‘Winning the war before the war…’ as my French opposite number calls it.
There are risks with a shift from ‘contingent’ to ‘active and engaged’. But it makes us potentially a much stronger contributor to the National Security Architecture, to be harnessed all the time rather than ‘just’ called for in a crisis. And there are opportunities too, through joint projects and defence sales as well as supporting communities at home.
The fourth potential priority is the need to be far more lethal. We have to up the punch we bring across all domains. Increasingly, the need is for ‘high impact and low footprint’ operations. That is not to be interpreted as everything will become ‘SF-tastic’. But it is to recognise that our aim must be to provide the right military tool, in the right place at the right time for just as long as it takes to complete a task.
I want to conclude by reflecting what a pivotal time this is for Defence.
We are returning to a more classical model of persistent inter-state competition.
8 Jan 2022 - Chief of Defence Staff: Russia cutting underwater cables could be 'an act of war'
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said underwater cables that transmit internet data are "the world's real information system", adding any attempt to damage them could be "an act of war".
Speaking to the Times in his first interview as head of the UK's Armed Forces, Admiral Radakin, the former Royal Navy chief, said there has been a "phenomenal increase in Russian submarine and underwater activity over the last 20 years".
6 Feb 2022 - Britain sent special forces to Ukraine
The United Kingdom sent dozens of special forces to Ukraine amid fears of Russian invasion.
More than 100 British elite troops have been sent to Ukraine as military advisors. Soldiers from SAS (Special Air Service), SBS (Special Boat Service), Special Reconnaissance Regiment and Special Forces Support Group deployed to Ukraine last week.
7 Feb 2022 - UK sends more than 100 SAS and SBS special forces advisors to Kiev as more than 1,000 elite US troops arrive in Poland'
The UK has sent more than 100 special forces advisors to Kiev to train Ukrainian soldiers as tensions reach boiling point over fears of a Russian invasion.
8 Feb 2022 - EXU-1, FBI Host Maritime Post-Blast Investigation Course at NAS Key West
One such briefing given by U.K. Royal Navy DTXG Commanding Officer Cdr. Sean Heaton, who described the investigation of a series of underwater bombings to oil tankers transiting near the Strait of Hormuz in 2019. Heaton — who was recognized in 2020 as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) after overseeing the safe disposal of a 500-pound World War II era Luftwaffe bomb found at London’s King George V Docks — discussed how the investigation into these series of bombings required not just his technical training as an EOD officer, but the necessary crime scene investigation techniques to collect evidence, interview witnesses, and make logical deductions into who and what was responsible for the attacks.
Cdr. Heaton also stressed the collaboration with EXU-1 as a means of success and excellence for both countries, since exploiting these scenarios in the same way allows for good information to be gained and shared.
11 Feb 2022 - Defence Secretary meets Russian counterpart in Moscow“In terms of our outlook on current geopolitical events, what helps is having both of our groups looking at the same problem sets. Working together, information exchange is quite easy and prevents numerous delays. We are often in the same places and operating jointly, so our partnership constantly sharpens our skillsets and allows us to be more prepared,” he said. “Different events tie into intelligence gathering which we can all share with each other. That is critical because it allows us to be on the same page with one another before conflict happens. So when conflict does happen, we are all prepared.”
The Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace MP, today (11 February) held talks with the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergey Shoygu.
Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin also met his counterpart, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov.
armed with world class expeditionary diving and explosive ordnance capabilities to defeat and exploit complex conventional and improvised threats.
...UK military can 'kick Russia's backside', defence sec says Defence Secretary Ben Wallace tells military personnel that Vladimir Putin has gone "full tonto" over Ukraine and left himself with "no friends". The British army "kicked the backside of Tsar Nicholas I in 1853 in Crimea", he adds, and "can always do it again". (video)
25 Feb 2022 - Britain will lead by example in standing up to Vladimir Putin: article by Liz Truss
With so much at stake, the United Kingdom is leading the charge to rally international support for Ukraine and to respond alongside our allies with strength. That’s why we have been at the forefront in supplying defensive weapons and economic support to Ukraine. We have also been consistent in calling out Russian disinformation and the false flag operations aimed at creating a pretext for invasion.
Yesterday, I summoned the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Office, where I made clear that he should be ashamed and Russia had lost its last shred of credibility within the international community. Shortly, I will embark on a round of shuttle diplomacy across Europe and the United States to galvanise a united, decisive and determined response to this aggression.
The UK is proud to lead by example. We warned repeatedly alongside our allies that any further invasion would incur massive consequences with severe costs...
The Kremlin is leading the Russian people into a quagmire and turning Russia into a global pariah. This is the moment to take a hard-headed approach, which means being ready to accept short-term pain for long-term gain – in the knowledge that the pain felt by Putin will be exponentially higher. German Chancellor Scholz has recognised how vital this is by suspending Nord Stream 2, as Europe moves to cut its dependence on Russian gas.
[MRT: Looks like the mission has been studied but a date has not been set, yet. This rethoric syncs with the Truss infamous UN talk about ]
1 March 2022 - Royal Navy divers transform to create new elite mission teams
Operating under the new banner of the Diving & Threat Exploitation Group (DTXG) – which replaces the long-standing Fleet Diving Squadron – the expert frogmen/bomb disposal experts aim to do more and be more agile, while using the latest tech, in order to keep the Navy’s fleet and the public safe, globally.
10 March 2022 - Royal Navy’s DTXG: Revolutionizing Clearance Divers’ Capabilities7
In what Royal Navy clearance divers describe as their biggest shake-up since 1996, the long-standing Fleet Diving Squadron has been reshaped into small, elite mission teams said to be better equipped to deal with the latest threats. They are now called the Diving & Threat Exploitation Group (DTXG).
Based in Portsmouth, Plymouth and Faslane, RN divers’ tasks include explosive disposal of historic ordnance and rendering improvised explosive devices safe in the UK, as well as clearing sea mines and deterring terrorists overseas.
The DTXG’s explosives exploitation experts are Echo Squadron. Lt-Commander Tom Forbes said of his unit: “This transformation means we can focus our attention on becoming experts in the field of maritime exploitation of conventional and improvised explosive devises and munitions – a capability that doesn’t exist anywhere else across UK defence.
17 March 2022 - Major Overhaul, British Royal Navy Creates New Navy Elite Diving Team
The Diving & Threat Exploitation Group (DTXG) is based in Portsmouth and Faslane, the UK's Royal Navy Divers
19 March 2022 - Boris Johnson tells The Economist about his anti-Russia coalition
The British-led Joint Expeditionary Force is moving quickly against Russia
JEF largely unknown outside defence circles, was established a decade ago as a high-readiness force focused on the High North, North Atlantic and Baltic Sea regions (see map for its members). Unlike NATO, it does not need internal consensus to deploy troops in a crisis: Britain, the “framework” nation, could launch operations with one or more partners. As one British officer puts it: “The JEF can act while NATO is thinking.”
April - October 2022 - Navy News (publication access currently limited)
Admiral Sir Antony David Radakin, KCB, ADC, Chief of the Defence StaffJEF recognises that the character of warfare has evolved, and the distinction between peace and war is not as clear as it once was.
The grey area this creates has allowed our adversaries to develop new ways of threatening us, and we recognise the need to counter this by protecting, engaging and constraining the threat.
We therefore see advantage in the JEF being able to take collective action below the traditional threshold of conflict, if necessary, before NATO declares Article V, in a complementary capacity to NATO.
[Mrt: Nordstreamis a UK´s Public enemy #1. Data about JEF here]
The fortnight-long exercise – on top of several months of preparatory training both in the UK and Arctic – allowed the Royal Navy to demonstrate some of its unique capabilities, from launching commando raids from submarines to operating a fifth-generation aircraft carrier in sub-zero conditions for the first time.
[MRT: Plural]
29 April 2022 - First British Nuclear Submarine Docking in Tromsø
For the past month, the HMS Ambush has largely operated in Norwegian waters, the British Navy writes.
During Cold Response 2022, the HMS Ambush and five other British marine vessels practiced operating in cold, Arctic waters in Northern Norway, according to the British MoD.
British Defense Minister Ben Wallace (Conservatives) visited Bardufoss, Norway during the exercise and there presented a new British defense strategy for the Arctic region.
After the exercise, the HMS Ambush appears to have continued its winter training in the North, just like forces from the US Marine Corps.The American amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge was docked at Grøtsund during Easter. This is allegedly the largest warship ever to have docked in Tromsø.
20 June 2022 - European Defence Agency’s C-IED Exercise BISON COUNTER
Commander Sean Heaton, commanding officer of DTXG, said: “The relevance of what the Royal Navy and our NATO partners have been doing here in Lithuania, could not be clearer.
“Putting Royal Navy Bomb and Mine Disposal Divers from the Diving & Threat Exploitation Group, through these challenging scenarios ensures we are operationally prepared, and able to respond with agility to any threat to UK and NATO interests.”
6 Sept 2022 - Cabinet reshuffle: The ministers with links to the military
A number of MPs in the cabinet have served in the military - Forces News takes a closer look.
Ben Wallace - Former British Army officer Ben Wallace is staying on as Defence Secretary
James Heappey - Another former British Army officer is James Heappey in the cabinet is James Heappey.
James Cleverly - In one of the changes to the leadership team, British Army reservist James Cleverly is appointed the new Foreign Secretary.
Penny Mordaunt - Former Defence Secretary, and Tory leadership candidate this year, Penny Mordaunt is the new Leader of the Commons.
Tom Tugendhat - Another Conservative leadership candidate, Afghanistan veteran and Army reservist Tom Tugendhat is Minister for Security.
23 Sept 2022 - Truss axes National security council, sparking ‘talking-shop’ concerns
[MRT Post with details here]
26 Sept 2022 - SBS mentors Kyiv's special operations in the Black Sea
The highly secretive British Special Boat Service is training operatives from Ukraine's 73rd Naval Centre of Special Operations, which carries out special missions for the GUR in the Black Sea.
26 Sept 2022 - UK, Russian defence officials meet in London;
26 Sep 2022 - 19:01 (19:01 GMT)
The UK’s chief of defence staff has held talks with the Russian defence attaché at the Ministry of Defence in London.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and Colonel Maxim Elovik met as part of ongoing efforts to “strengthen military to military channels of communication” with Russia.
26 Sept 2022 - Russian submarines: Threats and opportunities for Britain
While Moscow stumbles in its imperialist war against Ukraine, it continues to develop and deploy assets like the Belgorod and engage in a level of undersea activity not seen since the end of the Soviet Union.
This danger is one that Britain has well recognised. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the current Chief of Defence Staff, stated that such interference by Russia would be tantamount to an act of war.
October 2022 - UK Defense minister for Logistics visiting Faslane/Clyde submarine base
Ukraine’s conflict with Russia is “as much our war as it is theirs”, the UK’s minister for defence procurement has said.
[M: Sounds to me that he says UK is in undercover undeclared war with Russia]
Alec Shelbrooke, who was appointed to the role last month, insisted the two countries are working together “to fight back against a fascist dictatorship”.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Shelbrooke said: “This is our war as much as it is Ukraine’s war."
“We are seeing that in terms of fuel prices, in terms of food, in terms of fertilisers, but fundamentally in terms of freedom and democracy.
“It won’t end if we were to withdraw from Ukraine.
“That would embolden Russia, it would embolden Putin, it would be a direct threat to Nato, which we are absolutely crystal clear that any invasion of Nato territory triggers Article 5."
“Fundamentally, this is a fight against a fascist dictatorship.”
[Mrt: More details here]
1 Oct 2022 - Putin could launch attacks on West in SPACE says head of Britain's armed forces Admiral Sir Tony Radakin
Sir Tony Radakin said Russia would be heavily targeted by Western allies it would garner a strong response and be hurt significantly.
He argued the UK had the resolve to see the crisis through and overcome the impending threats of Russian aggression.
The 56-year-old went on to argue that Putin did not want war with NATO.
At the same time the united front shown by the Western powers has been a huge incentive for the people of Ukraine.
European leaders believe both explosions were an intentional act carried out on the Kremlin's orders
Sir Tony declined to blame Russia but said they had the capabilities to damage the Continent and Ukraine on information battles.
The concern from the Royal United Services Institute is that the destruction of satellites could damage things like military GPS systems.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met today in Washington with the UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, the White House confirmed.
Secretary Wallace flew out of the UK yesterday on short notice amid growing concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin may act on his threats to use tactical nuclear weapons.
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Wallace was meeting with the US officials for “the sort of conversations that [are] beyond belief really, the fact we are at a time when these sorts of conversations are necessary.”
[MRT: Did James Heapey learn about NOrdstream and the UK involvement or other UK plans?]
President Joe Biden has warned recently that the world is closer to Armageddon than ever since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
“First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going,” said Biden.
[MRT: The question remains whether it was the UBritain who was prepared to strike Russia? Was this the "WARNING" that NOR brought to the USA on 19-09-2022???]
18 Oct 2022 - - Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on October 18, 2022.
19 Oct 2022 - Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Mayor of London Defence & Security Lecture
Our approach has tended to reflect the British Way of Warfare, as described by the military theorist Sir Basil Liddell Hart almost a century ago:
The belief that Britain is an expeditionary rather than a continental power.
That our interests are best served by the indirect application of power – particularly economic power - by, with and through our partners.
And that we focus to ensure we provide disproportionate effect and to achieve operational advantage.
19 Oct 2022 - Good meeting with UK Defense Secretary @BWallaceMP on Monday
to discuss support for Ukraine and the serious security threat Russia poses to Europe, the United States, and the world. We are committed to standing with Ukraine against Russia’s aggression.
20 Oct 2022 - UK - Volume 824: debated on Thursday 20 October 2022
We read of the Defence Secretary’s recent visit to Washington, which was organised so quickly that he had to miss a Select Committee meeting at the last minute, to discuss, according to Secretary Blinken, support for Ukraine and the serious security threat that Russia poses to the Europe, the US and the world. What threats were discussed? What was the purpose of this last-minute meeting?
20 Oct 2022 - Liz Truss resigns
Truss fall: British prime minister announces resignation after just 6 weeks
2 November 2022 - video about UK - US relationship
V-I-D-OE-O Wednesday 2 November 2022 Meeting started at 2.35pm, ended 4.38pm
14:46 min Special forces oversight: "no"
The transcript is here. ... 16:17:14
3 Nov 2022 - UK’s Defence Committee refused access to UK Special Forces in heated debate with Defence Minister
In a British Parliamentary Deference Select Committee on the 2nd November, 2022, the UK Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, has been challenged for his failure to permit members of the Defence Select Committee access to UK Special Forces.
In a heated exchanged, the Committee chair, Tobias Ellwood MP said that the UK Special Forces were not the best in the world ‘about scrutiny’, and that the Special Forces – including units such as the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Services (SBS) – were “not above scrutiny.”
When asked if the Ministry of Defence could facilitate a visit to Hereford, home of the SAS, the Deference Minister said “no” and went on to argue that “this committee does not have oversight of Special Forces and its operations.”
The chair of the Defence Committee disagreed, saying: “I’m sorry, we have oversight of the Armed Forces in the UK Defence.”
Mr Wallace then said the Special Forces were very busy in operational work.
***
Minister’s ambition to be the alliance’s next secretary-general thwarted as Washington reportedly refuses to endorse his candidacy
Putting his money where his mouth is, Ben Wallace, the British secretary of state for defense, officially resigned on Thursday, August 31. A supporter of "Remain" in the 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union, he was nevertheless among Boris Johnson's loyalists. He had announced his intention to leave in July, citing his desire, at 53, to devote more time to his family. He is expected to finish his term as Westminster MP but has said he will not stand for re-election to Parliament in 2024.
"That's all folks! Been a privilege to serve this great nation,"
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