Was Des Browne talking to the Swedish Defence Minister outside on a fag break when he opined on the future of Afghanistan? He was certainly making up policy on the back of his supply. Perhaps he meant the Americans:
"I don't want to tell you the colour of the face of the Swedish defence minister when I suggested to her at some stage it may be necessary, in order to get to where we want to be in Afghanistan, for us to accept that there is some route through an Islamic-based legal system that will get us there," he said.
Since Afghanistan is already based upon the Islamic legal system, albeit a more liberal version than the Taliban state, is Browne actually stating that he wished to help the homophobic, right violating torture machine back to power. That he wishes to negotiate with the very powers killing British troops.
Mr Browne said that the participation of the country's former rulers was necessary in the peace process if it was to be successful.
"In Afghanistan, at some stage, the Taliban will need to be involved in the peace process because they are not going away, any more than I suspect Hamas are going away from Palestine," he told delegates.
The defence secretary suggested that that those overseeing the peace process would probably expect the former rulers to obey some "basic parameters" before becoming involved.
Since Browne annot even spit without the Americans giving permission, his colourful prejudices on eliminationism and appeasement remain expressed rather than policy. Such statements still undermine the actions of the armed forces. Does the dath of a soldier count if his Minister is willing to question colaition policy in public?