Iraq
Disturbing news has come to light of possible further significant abuse of Iraqis by British forces. This is very worrying. A proper enquiry is needed. We take huge pride as a nation in the heroism and honour of our armed forces. We need an enquiry to resolve all this. There are allegations of systemic problems going through command chains into the MOD. This must be sorted out. The MOD has a bad record of wasting huge amounts of taxpayer’s money in botched procurements, sending troops into battle missing vital equipment and now this. The MOD is beginning to look like a bad Ministry. Perhaps we were better off when we had an Admiralty, Air Ministry and War Office. That structure brought us through WWII to victory. Smaller units, better managed with a clearer mission may suit our national character better. Trying to copy the Pentagon could be a mistake. The Americans are different. They like big. They spend a lot more money too. But they get a bigger bang per buck.