St Crispin’s Day

Israeli Minister & the binocular gaff!

I do believe that our own ministers have been using the same equipment when deciding on the state of our armed forces.

In case you need it speling out, the lens caps need to come OFF.  Apparently Mr. Peretz was nodding in agreement with everything he was being told!

What an idiot!

I see no ships?

St Crispin’s day predicts troops moved from Iraq to Afghanistan.

I’m not surte what the etiquette is regarding linking to your own site is, but St Crispin is feeling smug about his prediction that there will be no overall reduction in troops, mearly a removal of some from Iraq  & more sent to AFG (Afghanistan).

Britain to move more troops to AFG.

Lets look more closely at what this tells us.

1.  The government is mandated to fund the military (read the “Army” as that’s by far the biggest component) to the extent that it can either go on 1 (one) Large scale operation or 2 (two) medium scale operations AT THE SAME TIME.

2. A large scale operation is a Divisional dedployment (10,000-15,000 troops).  We JUST managed this in March 2003, but could only sustain it for 3 months.

3. A medium scale operation is a Brigade (5,000-8,000 troops or about a third of a division).

4. Despite the fact that the Multi-national division in the south of Iraq is British, we have in fact only got 1 Brigade there (the rest are Italian, Australian etc).  So that’s 1 half of our supposed capability.

5. The Afghanistan deployment is in fact a single battle group (600-1000 men) plus a Brigade HQ (200-300).

6. To make matters easier, the two theatres are in fact using the same rear bases & airfields (Bahrain, Quatar, and Kuwait), so there is an element of manpower savings there that theoretically should not be.

7. SO WHY DO WE NEED TO MOVE TROOPS FROM ONE THEATRE TO ANOTHER?  IF THE GOVERNMENT WAS STICKING TO IT’S MANDATE WE WOULD HAVE PLENTY TO GO ROUND, AND GIVE PLENTY OF LEAVE & TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE SOLDIERS RECENTLY RETURNED.

Prince Harry to deploy to Iraq

Just like his uncle, and grandfather, Cornet Wales will be “doing his bit” for Queen & Country in a war zone.

I wonder how old Euan Blair (Tony Blair’s son) is?  I believe it’s 23.  What is he doing for the country that educated him (working for a PR company actually, how productive!)?  Or any of the children of the useless politicians attempting to run this country (into the ground)?

If nothing else, this action will in part answer the critics of the House of Windsor that they in fact are relavent to the country.  I have every expectation that he’ll not get it easy.  He’ll be expected to live off his wits & make some important decisions in an instant whilst be ing overloaded with information.  He passed out of Sandhurst, so he should do just fine, as that’s where the best officers in the world are created!

Good on you.

Britain to withdraw 3000 troops by christmas!

What is going on?  the US is sending another 21,500 troops and we are withdrawing?  Are we talking about the same country here?

This is ridiculous!  I’ve heard of the three block war theory, but having experienced Iraq at first hand, I can honestly say that either the Prime Minister is being badly briefed by his senior military advisors, or he is just trying to reduce the impact of his terrible legacy.

The result will be a sqeeze on insurgents in the north (US area) whilst there is a reduction of military security in the south (British).  It does not take a military genius to work out what will happen?  The bad guys will move south where they can do more harm per man.   What’s in the south?  The oil pipelines.  Iraq’s lifeblood, and the country’s only salvation.

One additional result from this decision will be to destroy forever the ” special relationship” between Great Britain & the US (if indeed one ever existed!).  Well done Tony.

This won’t even solve the overstretch issues.  Troops who were destined for Iraq will simply go to Afghanistan where it is clear that we are woefully understrength.

We got into Iraq for the wrong reasons, and we are getting out for the wrong reasons.  This is a betrayal of the 130+ military who have given their lives for this cause.

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I’m away on a course at the Royal School of Artillery in Larkhill.

I will be back on the 16th,after the Gold cup meeting at Sandown!  Look out for posts then.  I should know allthere is to know about Artillery in Peace Support Operations!

Regards

St Crispin

This may sound like a trivial post, but I thought it worth mentioning.

The story of these biscuits was unknown to me until I was given some during standeasy (morning coffee break on a warship) whilst I was embarked on HMNZS Te Kaha. 

  I remarked how good they were (they really are special) and the members of the wardroom were very proud to reveal that they were cooked to the traditional receipe that sweethearts & wives of deployed ANZAC soldiers had been using for years (see here to make your own). 

They are still made by UNIBIC and in the UK you can get them from Sainsburys supermarkets.  A proportion of the profits goes to the Royal British Legion.

They taste great with a coffee, and if you get them you’ll have a guilt free snack!  Put them on your shopping list.  What’s to lose?