RAF Wittering Uniform decision

I don’t know what makes me more mad about the story regarding an RAF base telling servicemen to remove their uniform off base to prevent abuse, the fact that the abuse is happening to serving members of the military or the craven response to it. The men and women in uniform are not in the wrong they are entitled to wear the uniform. Those who are abusing them are guilty of at the least gross disrespect. Whether you agree with UK troop deployments or not, the men and women in uniform are serving our country and are entitled to a basic level of respect. The craven response in telling service personnel to remove their uniforms is in my opinion an act of moral cowardice on the part of the MoD.

We should not be bowing to those elements who think it acceptable to abuse the military. There are times when you seek accommodation with divergent viewpoints and there are times when you don’t. Those who took this decision took the wrong decision and should reverse it. It is tantamount to admitting that the uniform is something to be ashamed of, it most emphatically is not.

Prince Harry in Afghanistan

So Prince Harry has managed to fulfil his wish to serve on the front line. I think that two facts leap out at me about this story, one is that Prince Harry is clearly a serious individual as well as one capable of having fun. That he was determined to be treated like any other soldier is of huge credit to him. I think the other thing that this speaks about is the media, Prince Harry has been in Afghanistan for the last 2 months and no-one has known. This to me shows that the media can be responsible when it wants to be. Doubtless this was known about and the media were no-doubt warned off breaking cover. That it appears to be a foreign blog that has broken this story is instructive. Sometimes there are good reasons for keeping secrets, this in my estimation being one of them. I hope that the breaking of the cover on this won’t mean that Prince Harry’s tour of duty will have to be cut short, but clearly the Army has to weigh up whether the risk to both the Prince and others is now increased and make any decisions necessary to ensure that the operational risks are minimised.

Lord Foot-in-Mouth

Gordon Brown would be forgiven for thinking that the Gods were out to get him. Not only does he seem assailed by one domestic calamity after another but his outside appointees are causing him a headache. Lord West was quite helpful the other week with his comments on extra no-charge detention. However Lord Malloch-Brown seems to be the biggest fly in Gordon Brown’s ungent at the moment. The noble Lord has an ego half the size of the United Nations, if only he was as circumspect. Today he is suggesting that the Taliban are not a credible threat in Afghanistan. See here. I think many people would beg to differ.

Senlis produced a report suggesting that 54% of the landmass of Afghanistan hosts a permanent Taliban presence. Since a chunk of the landmass of Afghanistan is mountain which would probably be hosting little more than the odd boulder, that to me suggests that the Taliban are a significant force in Afghanistan and a pretty credible threat although I am not an expert. We shall see if Lord Malloch Brown gets slapped down over this, I think he might, as if the Taliban are no longer a credible threat then why are out troops still in situ? I doubt the troops are packing up and coming home any time soon.

This presents Gordon Brown with just another headache to add to all his other travails. I wonder what Lord Malloch Brown’s next pearl of wisdom will be, I doubt we have long to wait!

Wanted: One Sense of Shame

I feel that it is tragic that Gordon Brown seems to be lacking any sense of shame at the way he has treated our Armed Forces. He was the King in the Counting house who refused to stump up the cash. It is his fault that our troops have been underequipped, his fault that the Army is hideously overstretched and his fault that the Royal Navy is now smaller than the French navy for the first time since Trafalgar. He then has the temerity to use the Armed forces for a brazenly cynical pre-election ploy, of announcing a troop draw-down which seems to boil down to announcing 500 troops coming home that had already been announced and 500 more troops that will be home for Christmas who aren’t even in Iraq!

I think all decent people should club together to get Gordon a sense of shame for Christmas, he clearly needs one!