Iraq inquiry (From The Northern Echo)

Iraq inquiry

11:11am Monday 15th March 2010 in

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PR DAVIES seeks to apportion blame for the alleged military equipment shortfalls in Afghanistan (HAS, March 11).

Daily outbursts from retired army officers bang out criticisms of Gordon Brown on just this subject.

Mr Brown testified to the Chilcot Inquiry that not a single request made by battlefield officers has been denied. Test that checkable statement against the waffle from clapped-out generals that he was “not sympathetic to the military”.

They offer not one example of a request refused. When exactly did these masters of strategy order the armoured cars that would so evidently be needed in Afghanistan?

One fact is undeniable. We are better equipped than the forces we face – a bunch of half-starved, desperate guys fighting in their own country. Furthermore, any battlefield fatality is, by definition, a result of imperfect protection. That is war.

When the Allies landed in Normandy in 1944 they knew the German tanks were far superior.

But no generals complained about that in the run-up to the next election. They had more integrity and respect for the bereaved and those who had died.

Our troops are marvellous young men and women. However, it seems – as so often – they are lions led by donkeys.

Rob Meggs, Hartlepool.