Just Government Lies

Subrosa blogged about Wootton Basset yesterday.

Well on todays Brown Broadcasting Corporation news and also Sky news a couple of stories where run on the people of Wootton Bassett and how they respect and honour they show our war dead upon repatriation came around.

The people of that town have shown respect to over 70 repatriations and I for 1 thank them deeply.

Today at approx 4pm the town will again stop as the coffins of 8 servicemen return to the UK after a 24 hours period which saw the biggest single loss of life since the conflict began.

However yesterday afternoon using the power of the "interweb" I listened to the biggest load of mouth drivel that ever extended by the PM and by that loathsome individual and much hated Bob Ainsworth, giving statement in the commons on Afghanistan.

They talked about equipment, helicopters, medical supplies, ammunition and indeed trotted out a statement from a ground commander.
Well lets be honest here, a ground commander of a tender age will say anything he is told, as he is trained to do the wishes of his CinC without question, and a speech about how the lads are being supported is one of those things.

Utter cobblers.

Ainsworths command even at readings was weak and shwed him for the union shop steward he is who is catapulted into his role as no other person wants the poison chalice.

Helicopters ....... hot topic and the PM announced he has doubled the number in theatre since 2006.
Well if we look at that, in 2004 he halved it when we had 4000 troops deployed. We have now 9000 deployed so do the maths and you will see that we actually have 50% less helicopter capacity per troop head now, in theatre since 2004.

Make your own judgement

And finally despite the spin in the commons, despite the ground commander statement, yesterday the details from the journal of a Welsh Guards platoon commander who died in May after being injured in Afghanistan were published last night.

Lieutenant Mark Evison, 26, wrote: “I have a lack of radios, water, food and medical equipment. This, with manpower, is what these missions lack. It is disgraceful to send a platoon into a very dangerous area with two weeks’ water and food and one team medics’ pack. Injuries will be sustained which I will not be able to treat and deaths will occur which could have been stopped. We are walking on a tightrope and from what it seems here are likely to fall unless drastic measures are undertaken.”


This is in direct contradiction to government statements yesterday.

H/T to the Penguin for the journal info