Comments on: Why the head of the army is right http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2007/04/09/why-the-head-of-the-army-is-right/ Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Wokingham Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:29:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Neil Craig http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2007/04/09/why-the-head-of-the-army-is-right/#comment-1617 Neil Craig Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:48:19 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=192#comment-1617 The thing that worries me is not soldiers getting coverage but the sort of events being covered. There is serious fighting going on in Afghanistan with the SAS taking on & usually surviving attacks by enormously greater numbers. Just the stuff that used to delight Victorian boyhood. But the public interest is in a foul up in which none of the protagonists have behaved heroicaly (not a criticism heroic action would have got them dead). I think this worryingly suggests a society more interested in victimhood than heroism. The thing that worries me is not soldiers getting coverage but the sort of events being covered. There is serious fighting going on in Afghanistan with the SAS taking on & usually surviving attacks by enormously greater numbers. Just the stuff that used to delight Victorian boyhood. But the public interest is in a foul up in which none of the protagonists have behaved heroicaly (not a criticism heroic action would have got them dead). I think this worryingly suggests a society more interested in victimhood than heroism.

]]> By: a-tracy http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2007/04/09/why-the-head-of-the-army-is-right/#comment-1593 a-tracy Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:39:47 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=192#comment-1593 I agree, and didn't buy a newspaper yesterday and won't be buying one all week until the stories have run their course. I agree, and didn’t buy a newspaper yesterday and won’t be buying one all week until the stories have run their course.

]]> By: APL http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2007/04/09/why-the-head-of-the-army-is-right/#comment-1575 APL Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:41:46 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=192#comment-1575 Redwood: "It beggars belief that this government now wishes to undermine the armed forces by disapplying all these normal rules of conduct..." This is not a deliberate attempt to undermine the armed forces, but obvioulsy it will corrode dicipline. This is an attempt to frustrate the search for the causes of the current debacle and protect the government from criticism. The opposition should be all over them on this, Liam Fox has been ineffectual. We don't know; 1.Were the captured Marines unable to defend themselves because of their rules of engagement. 2.Why was the helicopter air cover withdrawn. Did this mean the group were out of radio contact with HMS Cornwall. 3.Why was the boarding party so far from Cornwall? The water where the merchantman was lying was supposed to be shallow, but she could reasonably have been closer. 4.Why was no assistance requested from other allied assets in the Gulf? By the way, there has been far too much trimming of fighting ships, too many officers sitting administrating a shrinking navy as a result. Finally, does no one else notice how the capture of a female was exploited by the Iranians? Should the roll of our fighting forces be to fight? Or to present equal opportunities. In this case I am sure it provided a very unequal psychological weapon to the enemy. Redwood: “It beggars belief that this government now wishes to undermine the armed forces by disapplying all these normal rules of conduct…”

This is not a deliberate attempt to undermine the armed forces, but obvioulsy it will corrode dicipline. This is an attempt to frustrate the search for the causes of the current debacle and protect the government from criticism.

The opposition should be all over them on this, Liam Fox has been ineffectual. We don’t know;

1.Were the captured Marines unable to defend themselves because of their rules of engagement.
2.Why was the helicopter air cover withdrawn. Did this mean the group were out of radio contact with HMS Cornwall.
3.Why was the boarding party so far from Cornwall? The water where the merchantman was lying was supposed to be shallow, but she could reasonably have been closer.
4.Why was no assistance requested from other allied assets in the Gulf?

By the way, there has been far too much trimming of fighting ships, too many officers sitting administrating a shrinking navy as a result.

Finally, does no one else notice how the capture of a female was exploited by the Iranians? Should the roll of our fighting forces be to fight? Or to present equal opportunities. In this case I am sure it provided a very unequal psychological weapon to the enemy.

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