Sitting Ducks and Lame Ducks

[Gromit]

It has come to light during the inquest of Steve Roberts that 2000 soldiers were sent to fight in Iraq without any body armour. Furthermore, it took the Defence Secretary a further eight weeks to order more armour. Sgt Roberts died in a 'friendly fire' incident which he would undoubtedly have survived if he had had the protective armour.

Is this evidence that the UK was somehow press ganged into a war for which we were not properly prepared. Or is just another Labour Minister not delivering as usual.

[Theland]

Accountants, budgets, targets! The "Bean Counters" are running the country. It seems they are also in the War Departments planning office, sitting at the high table!

[jno]

outfitting an army costs money. That means taxes. People don't like paying taxes, but they still want better prepared soldiers, better paid nurses, better equipped schools. Political parties try to assure them it can all be done without money. They shouldn't, but I wonder if the reluctance of the voters to pay for anything isn't just as big a problem. As for the war, do we need any more evidence that we shouldn't have been involved in it?

As for friendly fire, as I recall more British soldiers in the first gulf war were killed by Americans than by Iraqis, so it pays to choose your friends as carefully as your enemies.

[buildersmate]

Its just as well the 'Bean Counters' do have a say in running the country. Country went bust the last time the Labour Government forgot this fundamental and we had to go begging to the IMF to lend us money.
War Department was a relic done away with in the late 1940s. Its been known as the Ministry of Defence since then.