Lessons from the past

By Jason Moore I sometimes wonder whether British Army generals are up to their task. I do not make this statement lightly because I have always held the British armed services in high regard. But I have just finished reading Colonel Tim Collins' book on the Iraq war and his subsequent investigation for alleged war crimes which were totally dismissed. He makes the point that certain sections of the top brass during the Iraq war were not up to standard. Anyone who has read military history will tell you that the British army has never successfully deployed into Afghanistan. But still the Ministry of Defence im their wisdom send 3'000 British troops into one of the most volatile parts of the country and what is more the majority of these soldiers are not frontline troops. To make matters worse Britain will soon be sending the Royal Marines, who are elite light infantry unit who will be expected to learn the finer points of jumping in and out of mechanised infantry vehicles in a matter of weeks. The deployment to Afghanistan is rapidly becoming a nightmare as yesterday's tragic death of two British soldiers shows. History is repeating itself again. While British military annuals are full of military successes another part of the world where British troops suffered a heavy defeat was Iraq. Both earlier deployments to Iraq and Aghanistan were ill-conceived operations without the necessary planning. Unfortunately and very sadly it appears that history is repeating itself again.