The Army And Iraq

Now the head of the British Army has stated publically that the presence of the Army exacerbates security problems in Iraq, and he recommends withdrawal "sometime soon". And by all accounts he is expressing a view common in the British military.

Well, fantastic! One man associated with the occupation of Iraq who can look at himself in the mirror. How unlike the view of Gordon Brown painted by David Blunkett in the transcriptions of his private tapes recorded as the invasion and the war were getting underway. Blunkett claims that Tony Blair told the Chancellor he would sack him if Brown, who had reservations about the Government's Iraq policy, didn't publically back the invasion. Brown, of course, did as he was alledgedly told.

In modern life you are so rarely able to speak your mind. Or you don't feel able. Most bosses in any institution like to believe their rule is democratic. But there is always the hidden understanding that speaking out is a sign of difficulty in an individual, a sign that he is some kind of malcontent who carries the rotten smell of the outsider. Speak your true mind anywhere in the modern world, other than perhaps on the internet, and you are squashed like a bug.

But a man of real integrity doesn't care what happens when he speaks his mind, because his message is more important to him than working the percentages.

Blair, I understand, is now saying that he actually agrees with the head of the Army (okay, yes, I've forgotten his name!) A truly puke-making piece of Blairite spin being attempted there: yes, we do exacerbate it, but only we, at this stage, can resolve the problem we are contributing to (it'll go something like that). But how long can the Army guy last in his job? How long will it be before his fatal car crash on a rainy night coming back from a private function?

How long before he retires ro spend more time with his family?