A Tangled Web

HAS NORTHERN IRELAND "INSTITUTIONALISED COWARDICE"?



There is an uproar amongst the liberal media because the US military has requested the help of the UK military in order to ensure that the terrorists in Fallujah be rooted out. The US military would appear to want the Brits to cover some of their basic duties whilst they are freed to go after the Jihadists.



True to their spineless form, a section of the UK media starts whinging about the OUTRAGE of this. Imagine - British troops being asked to go into one of the more dangerous areas of Iraq! It's just not on - is it? The Times and Daily Telegraph provide a bit of balance but one can understand it when "off-the-record" US Commanders query the "institutionalised cowardice" of UK military Commanders who want to stay in the relatively quieter Southern zone of Iraq rather than face the heat in the Sunni triangle. In a war you cannot choose to fight only the softer battles. Does the UK media think that US troops can't wait to enter Fallujah and risk death or danger???? The US Military accept risk - a section of the UK media wish to pretend it cannot exist.



I noted that the BBC commentators fell back on the laughable idea that UK troops are somehow "wiser" than their American cousins because of their experience in Northern Ireland. There, we are solemnly informed, soldiers learnt that nothing can be acheived through an aggressive approach. Rubbish. In Northern Ireland the one clear lesson some of us learnt was that a political class lacked the guts to allow troops in to wipe out evil terrorists and it cost thousands of lives .Why should that be now set as the gold standard?