In Kuwait the American forces have nicknamed the British forces – the Borrowers – this is because – our noble British government – has not given our troops – proper boots – desert clothing – tanks that work – guns that go BANG – when you fire the trigger. So using the technique of living off the land – our troops are borrowing – begging and – erm – borrowing – without informing the owners.
This follows the Ministry of Defence’s strategy of recommending that troops take vaccinations against some of the nasties they may come up against – but then making the soldiers sign a document – saying – that if the vaccinations go wrong – the soldier has no right to sue the Ministry of Defence – which is effectively saying – if you get harmed in this war – don’t call us – and we’ll distance ourselves from you.
The final indignity – according to yesterday’s Sun newspaper – is that two of the three British bases have no toilet paper. Surely – this has to be obvious – even to our civil service – that soldiers shit – and – I know the old school boy stories of the desert tribes – only eat with the right hand because – erm – and no – I don’t even think about describing why – or how – this was a story of the Second World War and Lawrence – the world has moved on in 50+ years.
So Tony – with your £100,000 pension when you leave office – what are you going to do – about supporting our troops – you put them there – you should be supporting them.