Another One Bites The Dust

Oh how times have changed.  I can remember my father, a staunch Labour supporter, describing rallies or hustings he'd attended and how he judged the politicians by the manner in which they handled those who were in disagreement with their views. 

In those days 'security' wasn't called to remove objectors. Politicians argued their point and used their skills to reduce any tension.  Today's politicians don't even have to do that.  They just give the nod to a 'heavy' and low and behold their critic vanishes.

Retired officers, Joe Eastwood and Ian Brazier, accused the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, of betraying their regiment yesterday - the first day of the Tory Party conference. The BBC reports their removal was due to their refusal to sit down when asked by the Defence Secretary. 

The two men were complaining about the plans to disband the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.  This is a regiment which came into being in the 1950s.  Most ex-military have an attachment and pride in their regiment all their lives but few of today's politicians understand the intensity of such attachments.

One particular of Col Brazier's rant caught my attention.  It was the fact that the colonel had written to Mr Hammond several times but had not received a reply. Why do we allow our paid representatives to ignore our communications?  I hear, all too often, that it's not worth contacting politicians because they seldom respond.

Philip Hammond's statement laying the blame for the disbanding firmly on the Army's leaders is an opt out.  It's well known that the Army heid bummers were told to reduce their full-time soldiers by X millions of pounds and arguments have been flying around for a considerable time as senior officers tried to protect their own.

Sadly, Col Brazier and his colleagues will lose. Just a few years ago thousands took to the streets in Scotland in an attempt to save some of Scotland's historic regiments, but their protests were in vain. The 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is just a continuation of a long term plan to reduce UK Forces to a shadow of what was once a great defence force. 

This is a further attempt to make our forces more 'palatable'. A disgraceful effort to hide the ravages of war.  The reason for most wars is because politicians fail to do their jobs. Let them feel the shame of their failures.

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What A Difference Two Days Make

French troops boarding transport to Mali

On Saturday it was reported that David Cameron had offered to send aircraft to Mali to assist the French fight against the rebels. His offer involved the transportation of foreign troops and equipment, but Downing Street said British troops would not join the French military mission to help recapture the north of Mali from al-Qaida linked rebels acting against the country's government.

Yesterday David Cameron ordered 330 troops to the troubled West African state on the pretext 'training purposes' and the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed there was 'no intention' of UK units being involved in combat.

From 2 aircraft to 2 aircraft and 300 soldiers shows the difference two days make in politics.

Some military and other commentators suspect that UK forces could be sucked deeper into another open-ended conflict in a Muslim country. I suspect that too.

The latest deployment comes as Westminster continues withdrawing troops from Afghanistan - a war which has left 440 British servicemen and women dead and thousands more wounded in 12 years of fighting.  Although the MoD insist they are reducing the number of troops, they continue to send troops to Afghanistan.

Mr Hammond told the Commons: 'We are very clear about the risks of mission creep and we have defined very carefully the support that we are willing to provide to the French and Mailian authorities.'  Perhaps he's unaware that the American catastrophe in Vietnam started off with a deployment of troops in a training capacity.

Why is Britain always the first to offer our troops to help others? Mali's neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger have offered 500 troops each and Senegal and Nigeria have also agreed to send soldiers but no numbers have been announced.

Mali is unfortunate insofar as it has no clear leader at the head of the country and its military simply gave up when the rebels arrived. Who are our troops going to train if all the troops are in retreat hundreds of miles to the south?

The rebels hace occupied Mali's northern half, an area larger than Afghanistan, amid the chaos after a coup in Mali's capital last March. They have used their nine-month siege of the north to dig in, create elaborate defences, including tunnels and ramparts using construction equipment abandoned by felling construction crews.

I foresee Mali as another Afghanistan, do you?

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