Away from the details of the proposals, I was taken by the phrase he used in a pre-conference interview with the Sun:
"The military are fighting that war, but I want
Whilst Cameron is not suggesting that the nation should be placed on a "total war" footing, with factories being requisitioned, there is a big problem with fighting this war (and it should be properly classed as a war) in
Last week a House of Lords debate, including contributions from a number of former Chiefs of the Defence Staff, contained heavy criticism of Government policy and resourcing in the Afghan war. Lord Guthrie, in particular, attacked the Government on the lack of helicopters, an issue which Brown & Co have consistently (and outrageously) downplayed.
I want Cameron to go further than he has. I think the future of Government/Military relations are on a knife-edge. Never before has there been such a wedge between the soldiers, their commanders and the political masters. It is dangerous and needs to be tackled.
The war is in a mess. The politicians are unable to set out in any clear way what the objectives are. Military chiefs, serving and former, are openly critical of Government policy and we all know that resources for the operations are limited.
The current situation calls into question the basis of the Military Covenant. I addressed similar remarks to the current Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, Lt Gen Simon Mayall, when he attended the ceremony marking Freedom of the City of
I think nothing less than a War Cabinet, with cross-party representation, will ensure that the current Afghan War will be given the priority it needs and turn
From what I heard about Lord Guthrie's remarks during his speech at the Oxford Union this evening, the cross-party War Cabinet proposal has certainly caught his imagination.
.jpg)
Posts
What's the point of an cross party war cabinet, when your even larger group of numpty's still wont admit they have made a complete cock up of going to Afghinstan and then staying there.All the time trying to concoct fairy tale reasons that they made the right decision bla bla bla. Public opinion will get the right decision made then I want to see heads roll.
ReplyDeleteSome fair points made there. One thing struck me though as I was reading it. You talked about a war footing, and requisition of factories, and I was wondering, what factories?
ReplyDeleteIf we had a war today they could only requisition call centres, DIY warehouses and Starbucks.
Better hope the war doesn't come over this way!
cbk: I think the idea of a War Cabinet is not to justify the going to war, or the attempts at post-conflict resolution. We are in a very difficult situation at the moment where immediate extracation would result in serious international problems, but where the strategy at the moment doesnt appear to be working. I, and I dont believe Rene, is suggesting a new strategy or justification for the war.... just a means to finding one!
ReplyDelete@CBK I think OxSp answered the points I was going to address. We NEED a strategy, the military deserve clearly expressed aims and objectives from their political masters.
ReplyDelete