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Do We Have A Lot Tho Thank James Blunt For? - Or Should He Have Been Court Marshalled?
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Nice spin but it was General Sir Mike Jackson who was taking the heat, not his underlings, for his own apparent refusal to follow a direct order. In any event it was the MoD that blocked British involvement in the proposed action.
...'When Clark said that I was resisting his orders, Shelton suggested that he had an "authority problem".
Clark called me back into the room. "Mike, do you understand that as a Nato commander I'm giving you a legal order, and if you don't accept that order you'll have to resign your position and get out of the chain of command?"
"Saceur, I do."
"OK. I'm giving you an order to block the runways at Pristina airfield. I want it done. Is that clear?"
Saceur was insistent, despite the risk of a confrontation with the Russians. I suggested that armoured vehicles would be better suited to blocking the runways than helicopters, in the almost certain knowledge that the UK would decline such a provocative move. Clark agreed that the vehicles would be preferable.
I went out to pass the order for 4 (UK) Armoured Brigade to place a combat team on short notice to move to the airfield, knowing that it would be referred for national approval.
I returned to the room and reported to Clark that I had given the warning order. He tried to change the subject, but I wasn't prepared to leave it there.
"Saceur, you're just testing me, aren't you? You don't really want me to do this, do you?"
He denied any such motive. After a little more discussion I left again to check on what was happening. London had played the red card. British forces would not be allowed to block the runway as Clark insisted.'
http://
Reports at the time did appear despite the lack of any pop star connection.
http://
...'When Clark said that I was resisting his orders, Shelton suggested that he had an "authority problem".
Clark called me back into the room. "Mike, do you understand that as a Nato commander I'm giving you a legal order, and if you don't accept that order you'll have to resign your position and get out of the chain of command?"
"Saceur, I do."
"OK. I'm giving you an order to block the runways at Pristina airfield. I want it done. Is that clear?"
Saceur was insistent, despite the risk of a confrontation with the Russians. I suggested that armoured vehicles would be better suited to blocking the runways than helicopters, in the almost certain knowledge that the UK would decline such a provocative move. Clark agreed that the vehicles would be preferable.
I went out to pass the order for 4 (UK) Armoured Brigade to place a combat team on short notice to move to the airfield, knowing that it would be referred for national approval.
I returned to the room and reported to Clark that I had given the warning order. He tried to change the subject, but I wasn't prepared to leave it there.
"Saceur, you're just testing me, aren't you? You don't really want me to do this, do you?"
He denied any such motive. After a little more discussion I left again to check on what was happening. London had played the red card. British forces would not be allowed to block the runway as Clark insisted.'
http://
Reports at the time did appear despite the lack of any pop star connection.
http://
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