Read Times of War Collection Online

Authors: Michael Morpurgo

Times of War Collection (39 page)

BOOK: Times of War Collection
13.29Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

he Taliban rose to power in Afghanistan in 1996, and ruled for five years. The strict regime was notorious for human rights abuses and for its extremist views prohibiting the education of women.

Following the September 11 2001 attacks in the USA, Osama Bin Laden was declared the prime suspect by President George W. Bush. Bin Laden was thought to be in Afghanistan, and the US issued an ultimatum demanding that Afghanistan hand over Al-Qaeda leaders in the country. They refused, and the US and UK began to bomb Afghan targets on 7 October. The following month the UN authorised the institution of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, to help maintain security in and around the capital, Kabul.

Since 2001 the balance of power in Afghanistan has shifted repeatedly, with Taliban forces gaining and losing control over different parts of the country at different times. When the invasion by US and UK forces began in 2001, polls indicated that about 65% of Britons supported military action. However, by November 2008, 68% of Britons supported withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

There are no official figures on the number of civilian casualties of the war, but some estimates run to the tens of thousands. As at 1
st
August 2010, 327 British military personnel have been killed while on operations in Afghanistan.

arl's Wood is an immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire, UK. The centre can accommodate 405 people and is the main removal centre for women and families who are awaiting deportation from the UK. The complex includes healthcare and educational facilities for detainees.

Since Yarl's Wood opened in November 2001 a number of protests and hunger strikes have been staged by detainees at the centre in response to alleged poor conditions including separation from their children and lack of access to legal representation.

A report by the Chief Prisons Inspector found that some children were being held at Yarl's Wood unnecessarily, and raised concerns over their welfare. In July 2010 the British government pledged to end the detention of children at Yarl's Wood.

pringer Spaniels like Shadow are commonly used as sniffer dogs by the police, prison services and the armed forces. A sniffer dog has been trained to use its sense of smell to detect substances such as the explosives used in bombs, and to signal their presence to its handler. There are about 200 Military Working Dogs including sniffer dogs in the British Army, and they are trained at the Defence Animal Centre in Leicestershire and in Cyprus.

In 2010, Treo, an eight-year-old black Labrador, was awarded the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, for saving soldiers' lives.

In November 2009 Michael Morpurgo read a newspaper story that ended up becoming one of the inspirations for
Shadow
. The story was about Sabi, a black Labrador who had worked as a sniffer dog with Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan. The previous year, Sabi had gone missing in action after an ambush in which nine people including her handler were injured. Sabi was presumed dead, but fourteen months later she was found alive and healthy, having apparently been well cared for and returned to her unit. The person who looked after her, and eventually gave her back, was never identified. But perhaps – just perhaps – it was a boy a little like Aman…

About the Author

MICHAEL MORPURGO OBE is one of Britain’s best loved writers for children. He has written over 100 books and won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Whitbread Award. His recent bestselling novels include
Running Wild, Kaspar, Prince of Cats
and
Born to Run.

Michael’s stories have been adapted numerous times for stage and screen, most recently with the phenomenally successful National Theatre production of
War Horse.
Michael was also Children’s Laureate from 2003 to 2005, a role which took him all over the country to inspire children with the joy of reading stories.

First published in hardback in Great Britain by HarperCollins
Children's Books
2010

HarperCollins
Children's Books
is a division of HarperCollins
Publishers
Ltd
77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

Visit us on the web at www.harpercollins.co.uk

Learn more about Michael Morpurgo and his stories at www.michaelmorpurgo.com

Michael Morpurgo and Christian Birmingham reserve the right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.

Text copyright © Michael Morpurgo 2010

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780007508594
Version 2

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)

Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

Canada

HarperCollins Canada

2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

New Zealand

HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited

P.O. Box 1 Auckland,

New Zealand

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

United Kingdom

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

77-85 Fulham Palace Road

London, W6 8JB, UK

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

United States

HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

10 East 53rd Street

New York, NY 10022

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com

BOOK: Times of War Collection
13.29Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Beneath the Forsaken City by C. E. Laureano
Wicked Angel by London, Julia
God Emperor of Didcot by Toby Frost
Stryker's Revenge by Ralph Compton
Branching Out by Kerstin March
A Secret Fate by Susan Griscom
Every Other Saturday by M.J. Pullen
The Reluctant Mr. Darwin by David Quammen