Con Coughlin's Blog, page 13

Assad might yet win in Syria thanks to Iran's Revolutionary Guards

In recent weeks there has been a noticeable swing of the pendulum in Syria's bloody civil war in favour of forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Only a few months ago many observers were predicting Assad's impending downfall, especially after his regime was hit by a succession of well-targeted suicide bombs that killed a number [...]

MI5 has some explaining to do if the Woolwich attackers were known threats

If, as now seems likely, the two terrorists who carried out the barbaric machete attack on a British soldier in Woolwich were known to MI5, then senior officers at the Security Service are going to have a lot of explaining to do. While David Cameron this morning refused to be drawn on whether the two [...]

The Woolwich 'beheading' is straight out of al-Qaeda's terror manual

The horrific killing in Woolwich, where a man believed to be a soldier based at the nearby Woolwich barracks was beheaded by two machete-wielding assailants, has all the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda attack. At the time of writing we are still awaiting confirmation from security officials about the precise nature of the incident. But having [...]

Seventeen-year-olds are too young to die for their country

In Britain, 17-year-olds are deemed to be too young to drive a car, buy a drink in the pub, or place a bet.  They are too young to vote, nor are they deemed sufficiently adult to enter into civil contracts.  Yet, as we have learned today, it seems that in certain circumstances they are deemed to be old [...]

Richard Beeston: the finest foreign correspondent of his generation

The death of my dear friend Rick Beeston over the weekend has deprived British journalism of one of its finest exponents. From the moment the fresh-faced young Rick appeared in Beirut during the darkest days of the Lebanese civil war in 1985 (I was charged by the Telegraph foreign desk with the unenviable task of taking [...]

Arming the Syrian rebels is the same as arming al-Qaeda

Unarguably the week's most grisly story must be the YouTube video that purports to show a Syrian rebel commander eating the heart of a captured regime fighter.  Like so many of the atrocities in this vile conflict, it is impossible to verify for sure whether this really happened, or just clever propaganda put out by [...]

Iran is stepping up its preparations for war with Israel

Confirmation that Israeli warplanes have carried out a series of air strikes in Syria against consignments of missiles being shipped to Hizbollah in southern Lebanon has highlighted Iran's attempts to reinforce its regional allies in anticipation of military conflict with Israel. As I revealed last month, recent intelligence reports indicate that Iran has revived its [...]

The attacks in Afghanistan prove that the war against the Taliban is far from over

The attack on a British military patrol in Afghanistan, which killed three British soldiers and wounded six others, suggests the Taliban intends to carry on fighting until the last British troops have been withdrawn. British forces are due to complete their withdrawal by the end of next year, and throughout the winter there was much [...]

Is Iran trying to set up a new arms smuggling route to Gaza from Sudan?

Following this week's revelation by Canadian officials that two suspects detained over a plot to blow up a passenger train had links to an al-Qaeda cell based in Iran, I now gather that the Islamic Republic is trying to link up with another radical Sunni Muslim group – the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza. Iran's [...]

Our military adds a touch of class to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher

For all the criticism about the cost of the funeral for Baroness Thatcher, watching the various members of our Armed Forces that are taking part in the event makes you realise once again how good as a nation we are at putting on a show. We saw during the Queen's Jubilee last year the fantastic sense of [...]