Afghanistan was always likely to be an arena where the government was playing with fire. Underequipping the armed forces and mouthing bureaucratic nothings whilst soldiers is never the suitable response on political or moral grounds. The neglect of the army and high risk of deaths for the soldiers involved was always likely to feed back to the body politic.
Tonight, Liam Fox, Tory Shadow Defence Secretary, echoing earlier arguments on breaking the 'military covenant', accused the government of dereliction of duty. This followed the reported call of General Sir Richard Dannatt for more troops in Afghanistan. This call has been repeatedly refused by Gordon Brown on financial grounds, leaving the Prime Minister open to the accusation that he does not value the contribution of our troops. His euphemisms and spinning confirm this:
Paying tribute to the "sacrifice" of the fallen men, Mr Brown
yesterday said: "Despite the losses, our forces are doing a magnificent
job."
However, he refused to commit more troops to the campaign, saying only that the situation would be kept "under review".
He admitted: "I know that this has been a difficult summer - it is going to be a difficult summer."...
David Crausby, a Labour MP and member of the Commons defence committee, accused General Sir Richard of playing "party politics" with the conflict.
Such interventions by backbenchers defending their government will only reinforce the distaste with which most decent electors view this travesty.
For more information on the shortage of helicopters causing huge supply lines, one can turn to the Times.
This must become the subject of the next PMQs. The whole debate over public spending should be narrowed to this point: Brown's budget leaks red ink, now co-mingled with the blood of patriots.
Anne
Smith, whose 22-year-old grandson Lance-Corporal Dane Elson was killed by a
Taliban bomb a week ago, blamed shortages of kit for the deaths and said Bob
Ainsworth, the defence secretary, was unfit to hold office. “He’s not fit to
be a minister, sat there speaking to us on the television, uncaring. He
hasn’t got a sentimental bone in his body,” she said. “Where is he today,
he’s not here with us, is he?”
.
The whole of the government are unfit to hold office.
