Saturday, 3 November 2007UK defence secretary not up to his job, says former commander
Des Browne is not up to his job as Defence Secretary and only holds his post to allow the British prime minister to direct policy, according to a former UK commander in Iraq.
"He is only there because he is bad at his job and therefore Gordon Brown can take charge of the train-set all on his own," Colonel Tim Collins said.
Collins said that Browne was only a "part-time defence secretary," in reference to the prime minister giving him the additional responsibility as Secretary of State for Scotland.
"Brown regards the armed forces as an attractive accouterment but not much more than a useful electioneering prop, and he is certainly not prepared to spend any time or effort on them," the colonel said.
In an interview with Parliamentary Monitor magazine, he also criticized the government for breaking the welfare 'covenant' with the armed forces personnel and suggested that the UK should look at the example of the US.
"The character of the nation has changed. American society is more appreciative of their service personnel for historic reasons whilst ours is becoming a more loosely based society," said Collins, who left the army after being accused of mistreating Iraqis.
He recommended that the UK "takes a leaf out of the US book" and adopt an equivalent of the GI Bill which guarantees the rights of personnel during and after their service.
"That would have to include a guarantee of decent healthcare and retraining after service," the former commander said. His treatment, he said, was "symptomatic of the fact that service men and women are not well regarded in this country."
Collins was also scathing about what he sees as a lack of direction from both the government and the main opposition Conservatives Party.
"Withdrawing the troops from Iraq is sound but it is not connected to any policy because as far as I'm concerned this country no longer has a foreign policy," he told the magazine.
"I believe the withdrawal is more to do with the severe overstretch of the armed forces, coupled with the fact that NATO has failed in Afghanistan and now the UK is going to have to find the thousands of extra troops that are required," the colonel said.
He also criticized the Conservatives, saying the opposition party is under pressure to show how they differ from Labour but said it had failed to show it had a coherent foreign policy.
IRNA |
Saturday, 3 November 2007
UK-Iraq
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