July 18, 2009
Prime Minister under fire on helicopters
Earlier today our much criticised and somewhat useless Prime Minister Gordon Brown took some serious hits under fire at Prime Minister’s Question Time. Rather predictably he was facing a repeat of the difficult questions on soldiers’ kit. Of particular interest was the lack of helicopters available to British armed forces in a prolonged war that had not been anticipated.
The callous implication being that his repeated cost cutting in recent years is now coming home to roost with a painfully high death toll. British casualties are beginning to mount. Eight British soldiers killed in one day at the end of last week – the heaviest death toll in one day for many, many years.
Previous political point scoring on kit has been about the lack of body armour, protective vehicles, radios… you name it our soldiers have apparently lacked it. Probably they can never ever have enough kit in a war situation. But we are a small nation in a recession - which makes the cheap political posturing all the more sickening.
Not surprisingly, more British people now want the troops out than want them there. Like many Brits I have no idea why we are in Afghanistan. It’s a country that has never, ever been successfully subdued in the whole of human history. And to suggest that western values and democracies can be imposed on such a diverse and difficult country always seemed a little bizarre. The suspicion is that our troops are in the firing line for no good reason
David Cameron, the less than convincing leader of the Tory party of course thinks it is a national scandal. He does have a point of course. If we as a country insist on invading other people’s countries we really should equip our troops with everything they need to succeed – and stay alive.
I read somewhere the other day that we have sent less than 300 armoured trucks to Afghanistan in the same time that the Americans have sent 12,000. I also read somewhere that their casualties are pretty fearsome too. And they have plenty of helicopters.
Which brings me to the point of this ramble. Some other loathsome politician, anxious to score brownie points at the expense of soldier’s lives asked our revered Prime Minister about our commitment to aircraft carriers. Those soldiers dodging bombs and bullets in Afghanistan will be relieved to know that our commitment to aircraft carriers remains strong. Apparently we are going to get 3.
That should prove really useful in the deserts and mountains. Which is kind of the point. You don’t buy warmongering machines off the shelf. They have to be planned for – and built.
Aircraft carriers probably seemed a good idea several decades ago when the idea of invading Afghanistan for no good reason would have been considered insanity. Now we need helicopters – but when they turn up in five or ten year’s time – our leaders will probably be invading some far-off island paradise.
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