Defence in the Media: 31 January 2012

Summary
In an ITV report last night Brigadier Bill Aldridge, Commander of British Forces in the Falklands, made clear that the forthcoming deployment of the Duke of Cambridge to the Falkland Islands was entirely routine for a search and rescue pilot. | The Times reports that coalition forces in Afghanistan suffered a fresh setback yesterday when a French court began an unprecedented criminal inquiry into alleged blunders that led to the deaths of ten soldiers in a Taliban ambush. | The Wall Street Journal looks at whether statements released by the Taliban calling on insurgents to reduce civilian casualties and a softening of their approach to female education is an attempt to improve their image. | The Guardian runs a comment piece critical of the US and UK's use of unmanned aerial vehicles. | In the Telegraph, Major General Julian Thompson, Commanding Officer of 3 Commando Brigade during the 1982 conflict in the Falklands, criticises recent defence cuts and claims that should Argentina try to take the Falkland Islands back now, the UK would be unable to prevent them. | The Sun reports that International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has visited Somalia, and, notably, the prison where convicted pirates are held, ahead of the international conference on Somalia in London next month. | The Daily Star reports that the Army has been put on standby as Britain braces itself for freezing weather. | The Independent runs a comment piece attacking expenditure on the 2012 Olympics. | The Sun reports that Prince Harry was hooded and threatened during brutal hostage training to prepare him for his return to the Afghanistan front line. | The Guardian reports on the humanitarian and security situation in Mogadishu and states that though confidence is slowly returning to the Somali capital, capital aid remains scarce and Al-Shabaab still control much of the country. | Finally, the Telegraph and Financial Times report that there is increasing diplomatic pressure on Russia to consent to UN Security Council resolutions on Syria that will be discussed at a council meeting in New York.