Saturday 22 January

Not a bad day by any standard. Although it was mostly cloudy, there were some chinks in the overhead cloud cover, and neither was it really cold. 9C this afternoon. At the moment, we're having spring tides, with the most interesting aspect being the low tide. Tomorrow afternoon's ebb tide will clock in at 0.3m (1 ft), which should allow for some exploration of the tide line for any shellfish.


These men are two of the kidnappers of Linda Norgrove, who was kidnapped last autumn. She died when American troops mounted a rescue bid, which went disastrously wrong. The picture was taken by Linda herself, and is one of several found on her camera and mobile phone. The image has been released by Linda's parents, John and Lorna Norgrove, to highlight the humanitarian issues that are current in Afghanistan. Apparently, Linda was kidnapped for money. It also puts the US rescue mission in a different perspective. Whilst I do not fault them for mounting the rescue bid, I maintain that a peaceful, negotiated, settlement could have been reached. And at the end of the day, the responsibility for Linda's death lies squarely with the two pictured above - and their comrades. They paid the price.
Over the past decade, I have felt that American troops have gone barging into places like Iraq and Afghanistan without doing their homework - shoot first, think of the consequences later. Perhaps I should qualify this, as it's the politicians that send the poor sods in without giving them the proper background information.
(Image courtesy scotsman.com)