Troops are expendable

It appears that the Commanding Officer of the SAS has resigned, Mail on Sunday July 22 and that he 'will now take up a lucrative job in the private sector'. Please note that General Sir Michael Jackson also, on his retirement from the army, has taken employment 'in the private sector'. My son was given an honourable discharge from the army and I can tell you that he has definitely not taken up a job in the private sector.
What is really interesting is a quote from a MoD spokesperson 'foot soldiers are expendable, Commanders are not' which if your son or daughter is in the army serving in Iraq I am certain you will be most pleased to know. So, if your loved ones comes back from Iraq either dead or injured I am sure you will be most pleased to know what they really think rather than what they say every wednesday in Parliament. Whatever has this country come to.
As for Colonel Tim Collins who writes on p. 25 of the same paper I can but give you this quote in respect of failed operations 'whatever the unfortunate outcome, the blame needs to be ringfenced. It cannot be allowed to rise too high up the chain of command, military or political'. He also mentions 'the show trial of the honourable Jorge Mendonca' well if you are at all interested I suggest that you look at why 'the honourable Jorge Mendonca' was not found guilty.
Some of our soldiers are as guilty of war crimes as the Germans were in WWII, nobody can plead that they were following orders, because I believe that officers are not around when the foul deeds are committed so they can plead they did not know what was going on. Get the troops out now and charge our leaders with committing acts of aggression and allowing war crimes.
If you are at all interested in knowing who the CO of the SAS was then please go the Wellington College Website to see the start of a speech given by ? on the 21st February. Don't you just love the internet.

Occupation of Iraq

on the day on which we hear about the deaths of three of our service personnel we really should follow the example of Denmark who have confirmed, not only the withdrawal of their troops, but also the evacuation of about 200 Iraqi translators who were in serious danger of death because they were seen as collaborators. The Iraq situation is no different to the German occupation of France, where they had Vichey France, and Norway who had Quisling.As for the Americans please note the conviction of Cpl. Trent Thomas and the continuing trial of Sgt. L.G.Hutchins III. When pleading innocence Cpl. Thomas pleaded 'Sir, when my Country gives me an order, I follow it', just like the Nazi killers pleaded in the Nurembourg Trials, 'I was just following orders'. Well, readers will know that that is no defence, the trouble is we are just as guilty because our soldiers are working with the Americans in Baghdad.There is blood on all our hands and it will not be long before our politicians will be brought to book over Iraq, just like the Nazis were. End the occupation of Iraq now!!! It was an illegal war, we have allowed executions, we are failing to protect the innocents and we were the problem, are the problem, and will never ever be the solution.

What the Tories should do

The Tories would be much better off if they brought in proposals to extend the same rights to carers as is cureently available to gays through Civil Partnerships. It is most unfair if the registered carer is thrown out of their home if they cannot afford to pay inheritance tax. They also should look at bringing back MIRAS to help first time buyers. They should also fully integrate health and social services, abolish National Insurance and nobody should pay tax on earnings less than £12,000 p.a.

Economic Depression

May I share with your readers what I see as happening over the next couple of years in respect of the state of the economy, the reason being that I anticipate a depression the like of which has not been seen for eighty years.If you go back to 1928 there was a glut of wheat. The previous year the price had started to rise and so farmers throughout the world thought they should grow wheat because of its profitability. They borrowed heavily from the banks to fund their expansion. Accordingly, when all the wheat came to the market in 1928 the price fell because of overproduction and surprise surprise the banks, in America, started calling in their loans thus precipitating a fall in the American Stock market in May 1928. Initially, the Stock Market recovered and the real precipitous fall occurred in 1929 and we all know what happened next.I can see the same situation happening all over again. Next year there is the American presidential election and you know what politicians, and political parties famously do when there is an election, they flood the economy with money which is why I think our Gordon will call an election between now and May next year. Remember, the tax increases will start affecting your pay packets next April when the 10p rate disappears, just wait until that kicks in before you decide how to vote. Just where are the useless Tories.

now that our own Ben Bradshaw is Minister for the South West may I make a suggestion which he can maybe bring to the attention of our new leader. Surely one way to solve the crisis where our young people can no longer afford to purchase a home would be for the government to bring back MIRAS, which is mortgage interest relief at source and was the mechanism which enabled many older people to buy their homes but which is no longer available. These pensioners who now complain that they cannot afford to run their homes with the high council taxes must remember the help they got from the taxpayer when starting on the housing ladder.This is, of course, only a suggestion in the little old Express & Echo so Ben can claim the credit if he wishes to, after all, it is what most politicians do. Next they will be saying how they saved Iraq and got rid of the President.

Now that Gordon Brown has been in control for over a week can we ask when we might just be told when our boys will be withdrawn from Iraq. Exactly why are they there, it cannot surely be to bring democracy to a country now racked by civil war. Surely everybody can see that every life lost is now a wasted life, and that does not include the large numbers now returning seriously injured but kept out of the eye of the public. The position taken by the politicians is totally unaccptable insofar that they will not do the honourable thing and, if they disagree, resign.The deaths have been in vain and no amount of comments to the effect that they were brave and did their duty will change the situation.There are numerous war memorials in the westcountry with the names of the dead listed, and we should ask will they erect a memorial to all the dead and injured from our failed occupation of Iraq. If anything they should erect a memorial with the names of all the members of parliament who voted in favour of this disgraceful expedition. The war is over, the occupation has failed, let us have no more wasted lives because it is not only the dead it is their families who have to live with this catastrophy. Mark my words the Americans are getting ready to cut and run and where do you seriously think that will leave us?

with the continuing disaster in Iraq then now must surely be the time for the 'government' in Iraq to point out the obvious and tell the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, that it is time that the British withdrew their forces because they can achieve no more. What exactly is the point in staying in a Country which we illegally invaded and where the war was declared as being over. We were obliged to stay and protect the innocents and yet they are being murdered and we can do nothing, absolutely nothing, to save them.As I have said before, no Country was handed its freedom, the people had to fight for it, which is exactly what the Iraqi people are doing, even though it may not result in what we, whoever we are, may want.

Exeter Unitary Bid

how very interesting it was to read the article on the new Prime Minister of the South West New minister Ben will have no say on home rule bid Echo July 7.I wonder if Mr Bradshaw would now like to tell us if Exeter was actually on the list of bids which went forward. We know it was delayed by a day and I think the government knows that the game is up with regard to exeter being a Unitary City. Look at what has happened in the North of England where there is conflict over who is actually responsible for what.If they dare to give Exeter Uniatry Status then I am sure greater political and legal brains then I myself will take the decision to a judicial review. With the government promising to give power to the people then it can be achieved without the need for a massive reorganisation and the expenditure of much time and money.As for the role which Bradshaw will perform then it is a failed sop to those of us who now strongly believe that the only way forward is a separate English Parliament with the nationalists involved in all the parts that went to make up the United Kingdom.

War on Terror

now that the government has managed for this country to become the centre for terrorist activity can we just get one thing absolutely certain in our minds. A substantial majority of the people who attacked the World Trade Center in New York were not from Iraq, nor were they from Afghanistan, they were Saudi Arabian. Why does the west fail to do anything about that country, could it be because they are major recipients of arms and suppliers of oil.When Saudi Arabia became a beneficiary of the increased oil price in the seventies they kept the people complient by allowing an expansion of radical religious teaching. The whole world is now paying for that policy. We must stop blaming religion for where we are now. Nobody used to say about Catholic bombs going off in London, we must not attribute any blame to a group, they are terrorists, same as we are in Iraq, we bring terror to the people, not democracy.