Remembrance Sunday

The "Ode of Remembrance" is an ode taken from Laurence Binyon's poem "For the Fallen", which was first published in The Times in September 1914. The poet wrote For the Fallen, which has seven stanzas, while sitting on the cliffs between Pentire Point and The Rumps in north Cornwall, UK. A stone plaque was erected at the spot in 2001 to commemorate the fact. The plaque bears the inscription For the Fallen Composed on these cliffs 1914 However there is also a plaque on the beehive monument on the East Cliff above Portreath in central North Cornwall which cites that as the place where Binyon composed the poem. The poem honoured the World War I British war dead of that time and in particular the British Expeditionary Force, which had by then already had high casualty rates on the developing Western Front. The poem was published when the Battle of the Marne was foremost in people's minds. Over time, the third and fourth stanzas of the poem (although often just the fourth)were claimed as a tribute to all casualties of war, regardless of state. They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them. The line Lest we forget is often added to the end of the ode, which is repeated in response by those listening, especially in Australia. In the United Kingdom and New Zealand, the final line of the ode, "We will remember them", is repeated in response. In Canada, the last stanza of the above extract has become known as the Act of Remembrance, and the final line is also repeated. The second line of the fourth stanza, 'Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn', draws upon Enobarbus' description of Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra: 'Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale'. Today is a day for remembering those who put their lives on the line and those who are currently putting their lives on the line. It is a day for honouring those who have fallen, those who have served and those who are currently serving. It is a day for putting yourself in someone else’s shoes – the wife, the mother, the daughter – and only being able to imagine what they were going through, never fully understanding how it must have felt when their husbands, sons, fathers went away and many did not come back, and for those serving now always hoping nothing bad will happen to those they love most. It is a very emotional day for me, I cannot describe it. I always have a few tears. How does one even begin to understand …….

The Ultimate Sacrifice

I have not posted for a while.
Work has been somewhat full on but whilst going through my blog roll this morning I came across a post by The Captain.

I have reposted his clip and indeed I was stunned by what I watched.
So thank you Capt!
I have served as my blog friend know for several years.
Those days are behind me now ............ well physically anyway if you get my meaning.

I will salute all member of any armed force anywhere in the world who gives the ultimate sacrifice.
The thing is there scarifice and endeavours these days is tainted by lies, mistruths and politicians using soliders blood for personal gain.

However for the brief 3 minutes of this clip I tip my hat to the Kiwi Infantry.
A most amazing show of respect as only they can.

God Speed !

Liam Fox

From Guidos place here

CANT WAIT TO SEE THE BACK OF YA! ................. Odious Turd of a man! Oh and a lying bastard when it comes to his expences as well !!!

I never thought I would see this day!!!

Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, has said that plans which could put British combat troops including the SAS under French command make “perfect sense”. Well they might make perfect sense to an imbecile, (or politicians) but they don't make sense to me.


See here


When it comes to the defence of the realm, you make damned sure that your armed forces and all the attachments that go with it remain under your command. You for instance don't allow a foreign military however friendly to command your troops under any circumstances simply because their interests may not be in any way shape or form your interests.

And please do not give me the "That is what goes on under NATO right now" like you did on the radio this am. Thats not what goes on. They dont command our forces. NATO works on UN agends or mandates with an international military aim..........this is not the same thing to pillock.

I can imagine circumstances where the lives of French civilians or military may be in danger where the "British" contingent of their rapid response unit is used as a sacrificial lamb to get them out whilst the French contingent remain safe doing the evacuation. Far fetched? Not really, British troops on the whole have combat experience, French troops mostly don't, you want something difficult done you use the right tools for the job, in the case of the military in Europe, that's us. I can see the EU using our troops as cannon fodder when the inevitable breakdown happens either through internal division, or the rise of the Islamics and their constant attempts to bend our way of life to their medieval lunacy. In the next 20 or so years, something is going to break and I want our troops here with a 26 mile (at least) moat between us and them.


Liam Fox and whoever came up with this idea on the British side (yes I'm looking at you Cameron) are traitors, there is no other word for it, they are selling out our armed forces to a foreign power to pay the bills instead of getting rid of the obscene environmental taxes, trimming back savagely the welfare industry and napalming the Quango cults. They can claim they are just tidying up Labours mess, but you don't endanger your nation by messing with its armed forces by handing command of them over to a foreign power. Oh I know it's early days yet and they are keeping the units separate, but this is the thin end of the wedge, this is where we start to go slowly into the night as a nation.


Cameron........you are losing voters already !!!



Tips the hat to the chap who makes no noise

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

Much has ben written in the blogosphere about the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and the complete contempt by our current government to our forces.

This is clearly demonstarted in this post here....... by myself last year.

Infact hit any of the military, MOD, Armed forces tags at the end of my posts and see the trail it gives you.

However it was also reported and blogged by many that indeed the government had gone to court to reduce the payments to the injured like Ben McBean....see here.

Knobhead Ainsworth stated that a full review of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme was to be carried out to make it fairer. (Save money more like).

Well I have unearthed the terms of reference for the body that is to carry out this review.
Please see below and make your own opinion.

Personally I have not seen such a quality load of Quango, red tape, twisted, over complicated BULLSHIT for a while.
There is no way that this will be succesful, will be transparent or indeed come out as a win situation for any member of our armed forces.
The treasury will be the only winner by using convaluted terms of referance to reduce payment.

Filthy socialism at its best.

Vote for labour and watch another 270 odd coffins return to the UK, and another 3000 servicement live in poverty and misery due to injuries not being compensated.


Also note the name in the forst sentance below...........slimy shit!




The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence (Kevan Jones): The Government committed to implementing in full all the recommendations arising from the Review of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme when it was published on 10 February 2010. As the Review acknowledged, considerable detailed work is required to translate the Review’s high level recommendations in to legislation. An important first step is the formation of the proposed independent medical expert group, which I an establishing on an interim basis today in order to meet the timescales envisaged by the Review. The terms of reference, structure and membership of this interim medical expert group which will advise on armed forces compensation is set out below:


Terms of Reference


The interim Independent Medical Group is established as a result of the AFCS Review (Cm 7798) published on 10 February 2010. Its role primarily is to advise on the appropriate levels of compensation for all the specific injuries, illnesses and diseases highlighted in the AFCS Review as being areas of concern, in time to be included in the consultation in Autumn 2010 leading to the legislation planned for early 2011 to implement the Review.


In addition, the interim Group will also, as appropriate:


a. provide initial advice on the list of recognised diseases that, on the balance of probabilities, are predominantly caused by service in the armed forces since 6 April 2005;


b. provide initial advice on those injuries, illnesses or diseases that might be made worse by service during the first six months of service that are currently excluded from the Scheme. This advice will need to distinguish between those injuries, illnesses or diseases that might simply be triggered by service, but are not caused by service (perhaps such as asthma which might only become apparent during initial training);


c. advise on the definitive structure and membership of the Group, beyond the transitional Group which would only be in existence for around 12 months;


d. advise on any other medical matters in relation to the Armed Forces Compensation Schemes that the Minister for Veterans requests it to provide.


Membership


The Chairman and expert members of this interim Group will comprise senior licensed consultants drawn from the relevant specialties, including: Trauma/Orthopaedics, Neurology, Ear/Nose/Throat, Occupational Medicine, and Mental health. The MOD’s Senior Medical Adviser to the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel) will also be a member of the Group. Three lay members will also be appointed to the Group: one from Service/ex-Service Organisations on the statutorily established Central Advisory Committee on Pensions and Compensation (CAC), one from the in-Service representatives on the CAC, and an injured serving person who has claimed under the Scheme. The Group will be able to draw on other expert advice where required.


The Chairman of the Group will be a member of the CAC that advises the Minister for Veterans, and the Chairman would present the advice of the Group to Minister as a member of the CAC. The advice and the Government’s decisions in relation to it would be published together at the same time on the MOD’s website.


The following individuals have been appointed to form this interim group:


Chairman: Professor Sir Anthony Newman Taylor CBE, FRCP, FFOM, FMedSci


Expert Members: Professor David Alexander MA(Hons) C.Psychol PhD FBPS FRSM(Hon) FRCPsych; Professor Linda Luxon FRCP; Dr John Scadding MD FRCP; Dr David Snashall MSc FRCP FFOM LLM; and, Professor James Ryan OStJ, MB, BCh, BAO (NUI), FRCS (Eng), MCh (NUI), Hon FCEM, DMCC(SoA), RAMC(V)


MOD’s Senior Medical Adviser to the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel): Dr Anne Braidwood CBE MRCP MRCGP


Lay Members: Lt Col Jerome Church MBE, General Secretary British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association, member of the CAC, representing the Confederation of British Service and Ex-Service Organisations; Col Robin Vickers, Army Pay Colonel, representing the three single Service members on the CAC; and, Col David Richmond, a serving member of the armed forces who suffered an AK47 bullet wound that shattered his femur in Afghanistan in June 2008 who was injured when Commanding Officer 5SCOTS.


Mode of working


The Group itself will not be expected to create its advice from first principles. Instead, the MOD would investigate issues and draw up evidence-based proposals for the Group to consider and either validate or advise, support or challenge in the same way that the MOD conducted the work of the AFCS Review and used the Independent Scrutiny Group to validate this work. The MOD will provide secretariat support to the Group.


The Group will meet as and when required, perhaps 4-6 times during its existence. Between meetings business will be conducted via correspondence. Some meetings may be conducted virtually via video- or telephone-conferencing.


Terms of Appointment


The Chairman and members of this interim independent medical group to advise on Armed Forces compensation will be appointed until February 2011. The roles will not be remunerated, but the MOD will reimburse reasonable travel and subsistence expenses. The Chairman and members will be expected to follow the Seven Principles of Public Life enunciated by the Nolan Committee.

Charles Guthrie on another Rant

Charles Guthrie or General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank has let fly with another anti afghanistan Government policy rant today.

His words are not new but the thing is..............it wont go away, no matter what Mandleson, Milliband or Brown tell Mr 21 out of 23 Ainsworth to say it wont go away!!!

His stinging rebuke of government policy is here.

This is not the first time he has let fly in such angered tones and indeed a further review of one of the best if not the best CDS we have had is here including his other tirade!!!

Worth a wee read.

General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank....another stinging article

Yesterday in the Times Lord Guthrie wrote an article.

Lord Guthrie was probably the best Chief of the Defence Staff to ever oversee British armed forces. See Here.

His attack in the paper was savage.
He wrote.........substantial budget waste. He said the “insufficient needs” in Afghanistan was explained by the size and structure of the MoD, he argues with 87,000 civilian staff employed for 175, 000 servicemen

“At the head of this unwieldy edifice are six ministers, each enjoying a private office and their own staff - six private empires, with their own turf to be jealously guarded. Sadly, bigger does not mean more efficient; usually quite the opposite.”

He highlighted the lack of military experience among civil servants who were “parachuted in to lead this complex department with little idea of how it works”. Few high calibre people existed in a “dumbed down” Civil Service.

He reserves his venom for the numerous “special advisers” who have dominated government “who confuse the chain of command and wield huge power in unscrupulous ways”.

“Yet ministers are sometimes more comfortable with these inexperienced young people than with senior staff,”.

Instead of being strident ministers are “frozen with indecision” and terrified of making mistakes that leads to delay and “insurmountable financial problems”.

He was critical too of Whitehall’s failure to recognise that “Britain is at war” with politicians believing it was “another day of awkward things happening in far away places”.

The conflicts are only seen as “inconvenient blips” that had to be “muddled through until things return to normal”.

In his still unpublished report Bernard Gray, commissioned to examine MoD profligacy, says that “political fudge” in the MoD has been responsible for more than £35 billion wasted in equipment projects that are constantly delayed.

The full and complete article is here. Get a coffee and have a read.......superb!!

Politicians ordered the Army into Iraq and Afghanistan, but they did not give soldiers the wherewithal to succeed. Gordon Brown writes about courage, and can be eloquent and sincere when expressing sympathy for bereaved Service families, but words are not enough.

Was it Worth it???

I think not!!!!!!!!!!!

Just 150 Afghan voters dared to go to the ballot box in the area of Helmand province where British soldiers sacrificed their lives to secure a safe election day, it was revealed yesterday.

The figures were released as the British Ambassador to Kabul admitted that troops could be engaged in combat in Afghanistan for five more years.

The Electoral Commission in Kabul said that early estimates of voting in the former Taleban stronghold of Babaji, north of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, indicated that few exercised their right to vote last Thursday. Several thousand people could have voted.

Four of the ten troops who died in Operation Panther’s Claw, the five-week offensive to drive the Taleban out of central Helmand before the presidential election, were killed in or around Babaji.

So the whole operation cost 10 British lives and 4 directly as a result of helping to clear this direct area for the 150 poxy votes to shore up the already corrupt regime of Hamed Karzai.
The ambassador, Mark Sedwill, did not deny the low vote count in Babaji, although he said that it was too early to be sure. He said: “Panther’s Claw, although timed to try to improve security for people to move around for the election, was not specifically itself about the election.”

However, the publicly stated aim of Panther’s Claw before it was launched on June 19 was to make the highly populated area between Lashkar Gah, Babaji and Gereshk safe for 80,000 Afghans to go to the polls without being intimidated by the Taleban.

Defence officials said that, if confirmed, the voting figures for Babaji would be “very disappointing”.

Disappointing............DIS-A-BLOODY-POINTING.........hows about bloody criminal!!!!!

Source Times

Looking forward to Bob Ainsworths comments on this little story.

The Gray Report

H/T Morland Cartoons

You have lost how much?????

This is an amazing story for all the wrong reasons.

It shows complete and utter "words can not describe" incompetance.
And who is the big boss........the one the only Bob Ainsworth.

It transpires today that nearly £7 billion of military equipment has gone missing from Ministry of Defence.

Un-bloody-believable............or actually given the man at the top yes very believable.

The National Audit Office has refused to sign off on MoD records that £6.6 billion of assets exist because of “inadequate levels of evidence”.

The assets include about a sixth of all vehicles, weapons and radios used by British forces and are equivalent in value to the entire annual defence equipment budget.
Please note that last sentance.

The items in question include £1.25 billion of equipment deployed with British forces, such as machine guns, night vision goggles, encrypted radios and body armour.

Defence officials were unable to account for £350 million worth of fighting vehicles that were in theory being used for training and operations.

The remaining £5 billion of assets that could not be accounted for were predominantly raw materials and spare parts, ranging from bolts and oil to jet engines and propellers.

Are we not currently in a war with the constant stories from families of the fallen, injured servicemen and women, military chiefs bith serving and retired that the above equipment is needed in theatre but nothing is forthcoming. Shortages of equipment, including night vision goggles and radios, have been blamed for the deaths of several British service personnel.

Well apparently it is about but can not be accounted for, well a good chunk of it anyway.
The MoD insisted last night that the equipment was “never physically lost” and that the NAO figure was an “extrapolation” from its audit.

It said that at the time of the report, the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency, which is responsible for supplying the armed forces, was unable to satisfy the NAO’s demand for paperwork to verify the assets.

Utter cobblers.
I have blogged on the complete incompetance of the MOD method of procurement before. See here.
This is another blatant example of a government deparment completely out of touch with reality.
Having to spin lines like - the NAO figure was an “extrapolation” from its audit, just goes to prove my point.

So come on Bob........bust a gut and sort this one out!!!!!

Marine Ben McBean

In another example of scandalous government policy it has transpired that a young Marine is fighting to have his compensation increased as a result of injury he received in Afghanistan.

Marine Ben McBean, of 40 Commando Royal Marines, lost an arm and a leg in a landmine explosion while on routine patrol in Helmand Province in February last year.

He also suffered multiple shrapnel wounds and burns that have scarred his body.

The Ministry of Defence had offered the 22-year-old compensation for only eight of his injuries - and for six of those he was awarded the minimum tariff.

He was initially awarded £161,500, but this was raised to £281,150 after a public outcry.

Now lets put this into perspective shall we.

£281,151.00 for that level of injury.
And that after the public got involved.
6 of the injuries he received got him MINIMUM payout..........MINIMUM.
Legal experts believe a civilian court would have awarded him more than £1m if he suffered the same injuries.

Recent civil cases brought against the MoD have resulted in much bigger payouts including £2m for an Iraqi teenager paralysed by a British bullet and £484,000 for an RAF typist who suffered repetitive strain injury. Nearly twice what Ben received........TWICE.

Marine McBean's lawyer is expected to argue that the MoD only looked at his injuries individually and did not take into account the disabling affect of the sum total, nor the potential for deterioration over time.

The Royal British Legion is representing Marine McBean at his appeal at a tribunal at Plymouth Magistrates' Court.

It said there is a need for MoD payouts to be "interpreted in a spirit of gratitude and generosity, not with an anxious eye to the Treasury".

The charity's director general Chris Simpkins said: "It is terribly sad that this brave young Royal Marine should feel dissatisfied with his compensation for injuries incurred in selfless service to his country.

"We're going to do our best for Marine McBean, but we need to be realistic - the appeal tribunal's decision will be limited by the Armed Forces' Compensation Scheme and we believe this scheme is unfair."

Under the MoD's existing compensation scheme, lump sum payments for the most serious injuries are capped at £570,000, although the scheme is being reviewed.

I am stunned by this story...............I can not get my head around his award and the award to the typist.

Brown.......Ainsworth.......how the hell do you actually sleep at night......HOW?


Ben initially came to the fore as he was returned to the UK on the same flight as Prince Harry.

Bob Ainsworth Radio Interview 30/07/09

I drove to work this morning in a really good mood.

However at approx 08:06 it immediuately went bad.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lttf7/5_live_Breakfast_30_07_2009
Please hit this link and go to 02:05 into the piece.

The one the only Bob Ainsworth has returned from his much needed holiday in France in oreder to spearhead the review into the armed Forces Compensation Scheme and to answer some of the much needed questions being asked by media and bloggers a like.

I found him on the radio this am a repellant man.
I think Nicki Campbell did well not to want to choke him and indeed his attempt to try to turn the arguement back onto Campbell failed miserabley.

And for the record Bob, the court cases are not about penny pinching are they, they are about a fairer compensation scheme are they???? Bulls**t!!!!

If they are not about penny pinching then dont have the court case and sort out the compensation system. Do not go retrospectively back because the original award was viewed as crap. Just sort out the system.

And for the record IMHO 40K for a high velocity round through the leg, and 11 operations later is not even enough money, as in the case of Cpl Anthony Duncan.

I particularly liked the question this am when asked "are you aware of how you are viewed". Your answer was incorrect. Not someone Bob..........BUT EVERYONE!!!!
That includes your own government. Rated 21 out of 23 eh!..... and you run defence. What kind of sick joke is that?

Quite why anyone thought he would make a good Secretary for Defence is anyone’s guess. A sheet metal worker and shop steward at Jaguar in the 70s and 80s, he flirted with Marxism before becoming a city councillor in Coventry. Later he became a Government whip where he won a reputation as a bully. The ultimate loyalist, he was appointed after Blairite minister John Hutton resigned before Gordon Brown’s panicked reshuffle earlier this year.

Brown’s henchmen put it about that he was the choice of the chiefs of staff in the Ministry of Defence – a story which was shattered when an Army commander revealed that chiefs think he is ‘simply not up to it’

You worked under both Des Browne and John Hutton, both of whom also under the stewardship of Gordon Brown have ripped the heart out of the British Armed forces.
I am glad you do not represent the constituency I live in.

But on a cheerful note this headline here made me grin.

If any reader listens to the link on his interview.........put the sharp objects away first please.

UKNDA Report...........Worrying from so many angles!

Funding for Britain’s Armed Forces must be protected from public expenditure cuts, in spite of the heavy financial pressures faced by the Government, and the defence budget should be increased over the next three years to at least three per cent of GDP, according to a paper published by the United Kingdom National Defence Association (UKNDA).

The full Paper is here.

The paper states that increasing Britain ’s defence budget represents the best value for national resources even in the midst of recession, and that any future Strategic Defence Review must, of necessity, recommend an increase in funding for defence and national security.

Indeed a defence budget review is set for after the next general election.

The paper also accuses the Treasury of squeezing the defence budget to the point where the Navy, Army and Air Force are competing with one another for an adequate share of the limited resources available. This is a clear indication of failure to recognise the potentially wide-ranging dangers to Britain ’s security. The only adequate defence provision, say Roberts and Sykes, is one that maintains a large, flexible, general contingency in all three Services.

Defence funding, the paper argues, should be “threat-driven, not budget-driven”. Britain is at the greatest risk when it is financially weakest, and recessionary pressures world-wide are increasing political instability in already unstable regions. Current and possible future threats to national security are large and growing. The sums required to strengthen Britain ’s military capability are both affordable in the national context and represent excellent value-for-money, even in the present severe economic crisis.

The foreward to the document is written by a gentleman called Irwin Stelzer. Irwin Stelzer is an American economist. He is Director of Economic Policy Studies at the Hudson Institute. I find his foreword deeply concerning.

In his Foreword to the paper, he highlights the risk to the Anglo-US Special Relationship if Britain fails to invest adequately in defence: “If Britain does not shore up its military,” Stelzer writes, “so that it is capable of holding up its end of the bargain implicit in the Special Relationship, that relationship will be under severe threat. In fact he re-itterates this at regular points through the document.

This is not the first time the "special relatinship" has come under question.
Please see here.
The recent "Panthers Claw" has had some MSM coverage of this very deeply worrying point.

I have a grave concern about the loss of life.
Ok the MSM was doing its job in reporting from all sides, all angles and even probing other reasons, but a report from an American economist highlighting the same said relationship makes me cold.

Col Bob Stewart

Bosnia Bob as he was nicknamed became a familiar face to television viewers around the world as he handled the intricacies of Balkan politics.
The son of an RAF officer Bob Stewart joined the army in 1969 and retired in 1995.

As his nickname suggests he was probably remembered best for his time as NATO commander in Bosnia 1992-1993.

After leaving the service he held a couple of civillian roles with security and intelligence companies. He also had a very successful after dinner speaking role.

Bob Stewart was never 1 to shy away. Extremely outspoken he always managed to get under the skin of several people. He had a terrier mentality on one hand but a superb diplomat on the other.

Now he has signalled his intention to get under another persons skin.
Namely 1 Grodon Brown.

Bob Stewart has succesfully passed his parliamentary selection panel and looks like the prospective candidate to fight the safe seat of Congleton in Cheshire.

Looks like "Call Me Dave" has a special advisor to the defence committee set up in waiting. And 1 with abit of history.

A quick tip to the PM and Wobbly Bob Ainsworth. Do not go up against this man in a commons debate on all things military............it will end in tears for you.

Corporal Anthony Duncan

Corporal Anthony Duncan is 1 of the 2 compensation cases that Bob Ainsworth (who is currently away on holiday) is trying to have his financial settlement reduced.

Cpl Duncan was originally awarded a lump-sum of £9,250 after being shot through the leg with a high velocity bullet in As-Samawah in southern Iraq in 2005, fracturing his thigh and leaving an open wound.

His payout was increased to £46,000 by a Pensions Appeal Tribunal after it was told of complications following extensive surgery which exacerbated the overall effect of his injuries.

Cpl Duncan, who underwent 11 separate operations on his leg and extensive rehabilitation at the Headley Court centre in Surrey.

What many people do not realise is that Cpl Duncan IS CURRENTLY SERVING with the Light Dragoons near the town of Gereshk in Helmand.

He is understood to have been involved in the recent operation Panther's Claw and was a friend of Lance Corporal David Dennis, who was buried yesterday after being killed by a roadside bomb.

Although the two servicemen have already received the money, the Ministry of Defence is challenging both decisions, fearing that the panel's interpretation of the law would set a precedent affecting "the large majority" of cases.

Nathalie Lieven QC, representing Mr Ainsworth, told a panel of three judges that the tribunal's decision was "arbitrary" as it was based its decision on the men's "overall condition" when they made their claim rather than the specific injuries, referring to how Cpl Duncan had since been cleared fit for service in Afghanistan.

So the whole basis of the claim is actually you sent him back to a combat zone, having had 11 operations on a leg. He has just watched his mate die and get repatriated home. As he is in afghanistan he must be fit..............Bulls**t.

I feel for this man. Wait until he returns home, wait until the uniform comes off, wait until it really hits him.

Many servicemen, commanders, politicians have condemed this action. The Royal British Legion accused the Government of "cheating servicemen of their rightful due".

Another disgraceful and shameful act of Labour trechary to the British Military.

Bob Ainsworth

Fido the Dog hits the nail on the head with a top video.
See Here

Also a quote from Rogue Gunner stating

"On a day when the bodies of four UK servicemen are flown back home after making the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan the MOD are in the Court of Appeal. Why may you ask are they costing the British tax payer tens of thousands in legal bills? To make the lives of our young injured servicemen some who have horrific injuries better? No, they are once again making our Heroes fight another battle for adequate compensation that must last them for the rest of their lives.
...
Sometimes your longest War begins when you hand your uniform in and rejoin civvie street."
Here here. Four more brave men brought back in body bags, sent to their death by a government which has no moral compass what so ever.

The same government which then goes to court to reduce the compensation paid to those soldiers.

The same government run by a coward who talks much about courage and yet fails to display any.

I also am led to believe that Simon Weston yesterday described Labour as using car crash politics............he can speak from experience.

Well I thought this image by Morten Moreland summarise it equally as well.

Operation Panthers Claw

So Panthers claw is officially over.

Fitaloon has a spot on his site about it.

Commanders say the five-week mission cleared the Taliban from an area the size of the Isle of Wight and comes ahead of elections next month.

British troops will remain to secure the area won for three to six months, the MoD said.

Gordon Brown said the mission in the troubled southern Helmand province "has shown that it can bring success".

The thing that sticks with me apart from the sight of Wooton Bassett when a C17 returns is this complete load of cack from our PM and I quote

"What we've done is push back the Taliban - and what we've done also is to start to break that chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of Britain."

Complete and utter bullsh*t.
Absolutely no way.

What we have done is probably increased the ill feeling within the insurgency. Given a greater reason for the Islamic hatered of the west to roll on.

And above all, above the hatered, 20 service people died this month alone.

Time to get out!

Brig Ed Butler

In my previous post I mentioned Brig Ed Butler and his comments re equipment in Afghanistan and the PM's refusal to blatantly accept the bloody obvious.

However a little more digging and I come across this story.

It details how Ed, a former SAS commander has resigned from the Army after a 24-year career, amid speculation he was unhappy with the resources provided to troops by the Ministry of Defence.

Brigadier Ed Butler, 46, claimed he was quitting because the pressures of overseas operations was having a ‘negative impact’ on his family.
However paying tribute to the servicemen and women he fought with, Brig Butler said they operated 'within the well-known constraints and restraints', leading to speculation his departure was due to concern over troops' equipment and conditions.

Family reasons my backside, hows about you are sick of fighting a loosing battle, sick of being lied to, sick of repatriating dead soliders, just sick of smashing your own face into a wall because its better than the government responce.

Afghanistan and Equipment........it wont go away!

Brown is wrong on Afghan equipment, says former Helmand commander
Brigadier Ed Butler, the former commander of UK troops in Helmand, says British troops in Afghanistan do not have enough resources.

Article here

"I was the commander of British forces in 2006 and I made the case very clearly then that we had, only just about, enough resources to do what would be seen as a very steady state task."

But he said he warned at the time that if it developed into a counter-insurgency operation "then we would require more helicopters, more intelligence and more boots on the ground".

His remarks came as Number 10 desperately tried to limit the damage caused by the intervention in yesterday's Daily Telegraph of Lord Malloch-Brown, the out-going Foreign Office Minister. He became the first minister to openly question the support being given to the British effort in Afghanistan when he said: "We definitely dont have enough helicopters."

Well it is now a counter insugency operation.
We are taking it back to the Taliban.

And the politicians (before they get leaned on), military commanders past and present, families of the fallen and wounded are saying the same thing............NOT ENOUGH EQUIPMENT FOR THE TASK IN HAND.

I also read in the article with interest, that the threat to the UK comes in the form of exported terrorism, not from Afghanistan, but Somalia and Pakistan.

This is in stark opposition to toilet breaths (the PM) comments in his monthly press conference on Weds when challenged on his colleague's observation. He maintained that the Afghanistan campaign was vital to halt terrorists before they came to Britain. Apparently he got a bit hot under the collar. No doubt another nokia died back at the bunker.

Odd Fact......is it a coincidence

Ok we know we are in a bit of hole money wise in the UK.

Especially when we read things like this.

Spending cuts now recognised to be a definate no matter who is in the hot seat in a years time.

And despite the horse keek regurgitated by the PM in PMQ's when sparring with "Call me Dave" no one believes him.

But when we look at corporation tax losses due to failed comapnies, more people out of work, reduced taxation incomes due to slow sales we see that taxation blackhole as reported in the times.

But does anyone realise how big that number is or what it actually compares too?

Well currently that number is 90% of our 2009/2010 defence budget.

The Defence Budget

£million 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
Resource Budget 32,618 33,602 35,165 36,702
Capital Budget 7,404 7,871 8,187 8,871
Total Departm (DEL) 32,579 34,057 35,365 36,890
Of which near cash 29,411 30,763 31,921 33,628

So is that not a good idea to get the boys to come home????
Or am I being to simplistic??????

UPDATE: so as not to take any more stupid emails yes I am aware that the defence budget is not ALL being spent in Afghanistan. Good god.