War on a Bloody Shoestring

At the end of a week in which two coroners have criticised the UK Government for failures of the supply of adequate equipment to our troops in Afghanistan, the media have made a big thing of exposing the inadequacies of the politicians and bureaucrats whose competence (or lack of it) can make the difference between life and death on the front line.
Down on our little allotment plots, my best mate Nosher and I remain perplexed at how some people are apparently without shame when it comes to taking responsibility for their failures when those failures cost human lives.
We were, as usual, sitting on our old deckchairs outside our little allotment huts after a hard day's digging. As we watched the sun dip towards the willow trees, we pondered on the tragic consequences of the failure of vision and conscience in those who lead us.
Now, Nosher and me, well, we were opposed to both the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, but that does not stop us from being whole-hearted in our support for the brave men and women consigned by political cynicism to fight and die for a cause that is at best questionable, and, at worst, a tragic waste of human life.
We also believe that if people are prepared to fight and die for their country, even if led by cynical and incompetent politicians, they should at least be given the best equipment, training, and back-up to do the job with. And yet our fighting forces in Afghanistan have around one sixth of the money spent on them per capita than the American forces, and less even than those Nato countries whose forces are not in the front line.
Our fighting forces went into battle with insufficient body armour, weapons that jammed, unsuitable clothing (necessitating borrowing from the Americans), communications equipment that sucked, and with armoured vehicles that were already obsolete and completely unprotected against roadside bombs and grenade launchers (they were, in fact, battered old Land-Rovers left over from the conflict in Northern Ireland).
In allotment gardening terms, it would be like sending someone out onto their vegetable plot with a broken shovel. Except that vegetables do not open up with AK47s or leave bombs inbetween the rows of cabbages, or fire rocket-propelled grenades at you.
The decision to send our troops into battle with inadequate equipment lies with the politicians - those very people, lest we forget, who put themselves forward for election whilst claiming they are fit and responsible people to hold the reins of power. Their lackeys - the officials in the MOD who do their bidding - must do as they are told and say the 'right' things or they won't get their long-service medals for sitting behind their comfortable desks. The people at the sharp end, our troops, have no say in the process at all, but suffer all the bloody consequences.
It's easy to discover where the greatest responsibility lies, amongst all the slimy politicians who are now claiming that they're spending more than ever on the armed services and that any failures have been rectified. No wise person believes such assurances. These are, after all, politicians, whose main claim to competence lies in making empty promises and giving assurances that things will improve (which, in political code, means protecting their reputations at all costs - so long as it's someone else who pays).
The person who is most to blame for the predicament our armed forces now find themselves in is none other than our Prime Minister Gordon Brown (or 'Gordon the Moron' if you are any judge of intellectual and moral adequacy). But you won't find Gordon the Moron being interviewed on this issue - he pushes a hapless junior minister in front of the cameras to take the heat. And yet it is Gordon the Moron who was Chancellor of the Exchequer for ten long years, during those very years when the crucial financial decisions were taken that resulted in the shambolic military supply situation we now see in operation today.
True, Gordon the Moron can claim that spending on the UK's armed services rose during this period, but, like all pronouncements from unscrupulous politicians, this claim disguises the real truth. In fact military expenditure has not kept pace with the ever-rising inflationary rate in the cost of the increasingly high-tech equipment now needed to win wars. Which means that in real terms the actual value of military spending has gone down. And the demand to replace hugely expensive items like aircraft carriers and fighting planes has meant that the ordinary foot-soldier has fared worst of all.
The infantry, the poor bloody infantry! These are the guys who actually go in on foot and face the enemy. And they do get bloody, very bloody. So they deserve the best. But they're not getting it. And it's not just on the front line that they're suffering.
Gordon the Moron, when he was Chancellor, was responsible for swingeing cuts in the budget for military hospitals and rehabilitation centres, so that many wounded and disabled soldiers now have to queue up alongside civilian patients in NHS hospitals to be treated by staff who have little or no experience dealing with the casualties of war.
Don't be fooled by the few (arguably) lucky ones who've got nice new prostheses and who are treated in the few specialist military rehabilitation centres that now remain. Most of our military casualties will be in NHS facilities, isolated from their comrades, and, once they're discharged from the services (which happens with disgraceful rapidity for those who have little hope of improvement) will be cast adrift in a civilian world that struggles to comprehend the unfathomable suffering of people damaged by war.
Is this how politicians show their appreciation and respect for our brave fighting men and women who are prepared to lay their lives on the line for their country?
If so, Gordon the Moron has scant respect for anyone.
So, as Nosher and I put our deckchairs away in the hastening gloom of nightfall, we asked ourselves whether we could, with a clear conscience, actually recommend a career in the armed services to any young person.
In all honesty, the answer has to be 'No'. Do media studies and become a journalist, or train to be a hairdresser. Or, if you have no conscience at all, how about a career in politics?
More from http://www.overthegardenfence.blogspot.com/ soon.
You can read more at http://www.paulsturdee.co.uk/