By Graham Vanbergen – “We do not disclose details of all ongoing operations, (says the MoD), as disclosure would prejudice the security of the Armed Forces.” This is the stock answer given to any journalist attempting to enquire why it is that Britain is officially not at war with any country yet combat troops, special forces, fighter bombers and killer drones operate as though the opposite was true.
In 2011, as parliament was asked to approve military deployment in Libya, William Hague, Secretary of State at the time, promised that the government would “enshrine in law for the future the necessity of consulting parliament on military action”.
This was supposedly to be an historic pledge – the first time the House of Commons’ role in the very serious decisions the government takes on war and peace was to be formalised. Clearly, there was no appetite for world peace. Frenzied lobbyists for weapons manufacturers got to work, soon after, members of parliament whose pensions depend in part on war dropped Hague’s proposal.
Five years later, thousands of British servicemen and women are now serving in some of the world’s most dangerous war zones against countries we are not at war with, and all without the consent of the British people. Much of the mainstream media will have you believe that parliament is being left in the dark when it comes to British troops in active service in dangerous war-zones such as HERE, HERE, HERE or HERE but as you will read, this article is made up entirely of media reports that members of parliament can read can for themselves.