Lions led by Donkeys

[Colin]

Our morally bankrupt government is a disgrace. The charlatans of power send our young people to fight a war, but close their ears to the pleas from top military commanders for more resources in the shape of more troops and the right equipment. For years front line commanders have begged for more helicopters. Have their pleas been responded to. Simple answer is NO.

Our troops STILL ride around in vehicles not fit for purpose. Vehicles that cannot withstand blast from mines or IEDs. They are crying out for armoured vehicles….but still nothing happens. Yet, there are thousands of vehicles fit for purpose, stored in Britain:

ROW upon row of desperately needed armoured vehicles are LYING IDLE at an army depot back home - as Our Boys ride flimsy trucks to their death in Afghanistan.
The vast hangars of the Ashchurch base in sleepy Gloucestershire are so full that the tough trucks, which could withstand Taliban bombs, spill out and are parked on fields.

There is also a shortage of Chinook helicopters, needed to safely transport men and equipment.
Yet, as the News of the World revealed last week, some are being used to give JOYRIDES to RAF families at a base in Odiham, Hants. Under-fire Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth boasted last month that the government had spent £1billion on more than 1,000 new armoured vehicles.
But our brave troops are asking where they are. And today we can tell them.
The brand new vehicles are lined up at Ashchurch, close to the M5 motorway, waiting for RAF planes with orders to ship them out.
Row upon row of desperately needed armoured vehicles are lying idle | News | News Of The World

Why then, one asks, are they not being shipped to Afghanistan? Answer. Because we have a penny-pinching government who are more interested in lining their own pockets than providing the right protection and resources for our young lions on the front line.

Tory MP Patrick Mercer, who spent 25 years with the Sherwood Foresters regiment and now chairs the Commons counter-terrorism sub-committee, insists penny-pinching is to blame.
He raged: "This is outrageous. I have been talking to men who are out in Afghanistan. They are crying out for these armoured vehicles.
"We have the crews and all the resources they need to man them in Afghanistan. Why, therefore, are they in Gloucestershire? The vehicles are not being sent where they are needed because of tight defence budgets - no more, no less than that."
Mr Mercer called on the MoD to start to operate "on a war footing". He said: "Every day we see a bloody and lethal war being fought and played out on our TVs.
"So, when we hear stories of lack of armoured vehicles, helicopters and fighting manpower, it is understandable that morale drops.
"It is no good there being more civil servants in the MoD than there are soldiers.
"It is no good refurbishing the MoD offices to the tune of £300m when the boys haven't got the right equipment, or number of men, to drive the Taliban back."

Row upon row of desperately needed armoured vehicles are lying idle | News | News Of The World

If ever there was an example of Lions led by donkeys, then this is it!

I shall be posting much more on this subject, but this will do for now.

 

[Bootneck]

You go upsetting them and they'll take our toys away...not give us more!

 

[random3434]

Our morally bankrupt government is a disgrace. The charlatans of power send our young people to fight a war, but close their ears to the pleas from top military commanders for more resources in the shape of more troops and the right equipment. For years front line commanders have begged for more helicopters. Have their pleas been responded to. Simple answer is NO.

Our troops STILL ride around in vehicles not fit for purpose. Vehicles that cannot withstand blast from mines or IEDs. They are crying out for armoured vehicles….but still nothing happens. Yet, there are thousands of vehicles fit for purpose, stored in Britain:

ROW upon row of desperately needed armoured vehicles are LYING IDLE at an army depot back home - as Our Boys ride flimsy trucks to their death in Afghanistan.
The vast hangars of the Ashchurch base in sleepy Gloucestershire are so full that the tough trucks, which could withstand Taliban bombs, spill out and are parked on fields.

There is also a shortage of Chinook helicopters, needed to safely transport men and equipment.
Yet, as the News of the World revealed last week, some are being used to give JOYRIDES to RAF families at a base in Odiham, Hants. Under-fire Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth boasted last month that the government had spent £1billion on more than 1,000 new armoured vehicles.
But our brave troops are asking where they are. And today we can tell them.
The brand new vehicles are lined up at Ashchurch, close to the M5 motorway, waiting for RAF planes with orders to ship them out.
Row upon row of desperately needed armoured vehicles are lying idle | News | News Of The World

Why then, one asks, are they not being shipped to Afghanistan? Answer. Because we have a penny-pinching government who are more interested in lining their own pockets than providing the right protection and resources for our young lions on the front line.

Tory MP Patrick Mercer, who spent 25 years with the Sherwood Foresters regiment and now chairs the Commons counter-terrorism sub-committee, insists penny-pinching is to blame.
He raged: "This is outrageous. I have been talking to men who are out in Afghanistan. They are crying out for these armoured vehicles.
"We have the crews and all the resources they need to man them in Afghanistan. Why, therefore, are they in Gloucestershire? The vehicles are not being sent where they are needed because of tight defence budgets - no more, no less than that."
Mr Mercer called on the MoD to start to operate "on a war footing". He said: "Every day we see a bloody and lethal war being fought and played out on our TVs.
"So, when we hear stories of lack of armoured vehicles, helicopters and fighting manpower, it is understandable that morale drops.
"It is no good there being more civil servants in the MoD than there are soldiers.
"It is no good refurbishing the MoD offices to the tune of £300m when the boys haven't got the right equipment, or number of men, to drive the Taliban back."

Row upon row of desperately needed armoured vehicles are lying idle | News | News Of The World

If ever there was an example of Lions led by donkeys, then this is it!

I shall be posting much more on this subject, but this will do for now.

Keep at it Colin! Let the world know what is going on with our brave solider in arms in Britain! You are their voices!

 

[Xenophon]

Nothing new.

Brit forces have been needing more choppers as far back as the Falklands.

You know they won't spend any money on an unpopular war to ship better things east.

 

[Colin]

The saga continues. Our government tells us they are doing everything to ensure our troops on the front line in Afghanistan are supplied with the equipment and resources they need.

Our top military commanders tell us this is not so.

Thankfully the media are exposing the lies and incompetence of a governent that send its soldiers to fight a war without the necessary resources. This report shows how government attempted to hide a crucial defence report from public eyes. A report that demonstrates their sheer incompetence and disregard for our young lions.

A devastating official report which ministers tried to bury has identified a £35billion hole in the budget for military equipment and 'lethal' failings in government programmes.
The secret Ministry of Defence document concludes that soldiers' lives in Afghanistan are being put at risk by 'political fudge' and Whitehall incompetence.
It led the Tories to accuse the Government of a giant 'con trick' which involved merely pretending to have set aside money for new equipment.

Leaked details of the 296-page document, by former Labour defence adviser Bernard Gray, warned of failings so serious that they 'harm our ability to conduct difficult current operations'.
Mr Gray, who led the Strategic Defence Review of 1998 before becoming a successful businessman, found that:

The MoD equipment programme is £35billion over budget and is unaffordable in the long term.
On average new equipment arrives five years behind schedule and costs 40 per cent more than estimated.
Shipbuilding delays are so severe that the UK could not fight a Falklands-style war. '

pretending to have set aside money for new equipment.

The deadly £35bn black hole: It risks soldiers' lives, says report they tried to hide | Mail Online

Tory defence spokesman Liam Fox said: 'It is serial incompetence by the Labour government and the Ministry of Defence to allow our defences to get to this state.
'There is a catastrophic black hole, so much so that the defence budget is little more than a con-trick at the present time where the Government pretend that they have procured equipment for the future when they have never actually set aside the money to do so.
'This is a disastrous state of affairs - governments have resigned for less in other countries.' Dr Fox said he had told U.S. generals that a Conservative government would be 'much more sympathetic' than Mr Brown to requests for more soldiers, who would be deployed to speed up the training of an Afghan army which could control its own security.

The deadly £35bn black hole: It risks soldiers' lives, says report they tried to hide | Mail Online

This government is prepared to put its troops at greater than necessary danger, because of money, yet they plough billions into banks and businesses to rescue them from bad practise. They line their own pokets with inflated expense claims to cover their mortgages and a high style of living. Clearly the soldier on the front line is the least of their worries.
Out of sight, out of mind.

This government will be replaced in May. They should not wait. They should do the decent thing and resign now. Regrettably they are not decent people.

 

[Colin]

You go upsetting them and they'll take our toys away...not give us more!

Shame they don't have loved ones risking life and limb. Might cause them to think differently, bro.

 

[editec]

I think our military is overlooking the usefulness and costs saving of employing IEDs.

They work like a charm for the opposition

 

[strollingbones]

i agree totally....and to think of how much money has been made by haliburton and private contractors cheating the troops...it was shocking here when parents and the community had to raise money to buy troops body armour

 

[Colin]

Sir Richard Dannat is the outgoing head of the British Army. He has been vociferous in his criticism of Gordon Brown's handling of the situation in Afghanistan. He has repeatedly asked for more troops, as we are under-strength in Helmand. He has asked for more helicopters to avoid as much travel by road as possible. He has asked for the right type of vehicles to offer troops more protection against mines and IEDs. Still these requests fall on deaf ears.

Now the Labour government is out to discredit him. Their usual tactic when a senior person openly criticises them.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to the Ministry of Defence, and uncovered by The Sunday Telegraph, asks for publication of any correspondence between Gen Dannatt and Hadyn Parry, the chairman of the Help for Heroes charity.

It comes after Labour MPs and ministers were accused of using FOI laws to make trouble for Sir Richard by unearthing his expenses claims, after he publicly criticised the lack of resources given by the Government to the troops in Afghanistan.

Whilst the MoD would not disclose who was behind the Help for Heroes FOI request, which was submitted in June, Conservative MPs claimed it looked like fresh evidence of a smear campaign.

Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said: "There is no target that Brown's bullyboys will not pick upon to protect themselves or divert attention from their catastrophic management of the military. New Labour is now the most corrosive and corrupting influence in British politics."

Whoever submitted the FOI request could have been seeking to find out whether Gen Dannatt had claimed expenses from Help the Heroes following his unpaid work on the charity's behalf.

Mr Parry described Gen Dannatt's work for the charity as "exemplary". He said: "Sir Richard has done a tremendous job for the charity. His work has been exemplary – beyond reproach.

"He has never submitted any expenses claims, nor have any of the other charity trustees, because we want as much money to be spent on charitable work as possible."

Last week it was revealed that, on a tip-off from inside government, several FOI requests were submitted to expose the 58-year-old general's expenses. Kevan Jones, the Veterans Minister, was named on political website Guido Fawkes as the figure behind it. But he dismissed the accusation as summer tittle-tattle and heaped praise on Gen Dannatt.

Help for Heroes dragged into General Sir Richard Dannatt 'smear campaign' - Telegraph

 

[Bootneck]

Not my place to comment, so I'll let the media do the talking.

Senior British soldiers launched a lacerating attack on Gordon Brown, warning that a 'lack of leadership' at the top of government is causing unnecessary deaths in Afghanistan.
On the day that six more soldiers killed in Helmand Province were named, one high-ranking Army officer said that soldiers are dying on the front line because the Prime Minister and Chancellor Alistair Darling have refused to pay for the reinforcements and equipment they need.
He also bluntly dismissed the Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth as 'simply not up to it' after he rejected a request by the Army chief, General Sir Richard Dannatt, for 2,000 extra troops.
The minister will have to face the Tories in the Commons today at defence questions. They are set to argue the Government has not equipped British troops properly for the increasingly deadly conflict.
The senior officer said: 'It is impossible to make sensible policy if you don't have proper political leadership. What we are saying to the Government is that it must resource this war properly, and start sounding as if ministers-believe in it.
'If they do not, then why should our chaps at the sharp end be taking the losses and sending mates home in body bags?'

'Lack of leadership from Brown is killing our soldiers' claims Army top brass as six dead are named | Mail Online

 

[random3434]

I've been trying to keep up with this, since I have some very close friends over there, or getting ready to go over there. How a country can just not use the best resources possible to protect their fellow countrymen is beyond me, and makes me livid.

Read This:

New vehicles purchased to protect British troops in Afghanistan have already been rejected as unsafe by the US military.
The vehicles failed basic 'survivability' tests, which showed soldiers would be left vulnerable to roadside bombs, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
But although the Pentagon rejected them, the Ministry of Defence has ordered 262 to replace the controversial Snatch Land Rovers.
In contrast, the Americans have now ordered a more robust model - at half the £600,000 cost of the vehicle the British have dubbed the 'Husky'.
The disclosure, at the end of the blackest week for British forces in Afghanistan, came as Gordon Brown responded to growing anger over the death toll by promising to improve troops' equipment

WTH?

The £600,000 Husky will be used by British Army patrols in Helmand province. But the Pentagon has now ordered another armoured off-roader, the Oshkosh M-ATV, which has a V-shaped hull designed to deflect explosions - and costs only £300,000, half as much as the Husky. The cost difference is partly due to the U.S. military buying 2,000 vehicles.
Senior Opposition MPs have now questioned why the Ministry of Defence was buying equipment rejected by our closest allies.
Former Army officer Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Commons sub-committee on counter-terrorism, said: 'If this vehicle is not good enough for the Americans, why should it be good enough for our men?
'The Husky is meant to be the solution to our troops dying in roadside bomb attacks. But if it is not good enough, then it does not make sense to persist with trying to acquire it. Surely the MoD can see that if American trials have found it wanting, then ours should as well.'

This remark says it all:
If this vehicle is not good enough for the Americans, why should it be good enough for our men?


God Watch Over Those Soldiers!



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0P8QzTzLB

 

[Bootneck]

As Dannatt goes, kit row reignites as frontline commander calls for more helicopters

The head of British forces in southern Afghanistan said last night that his troops would be 'more tactically effective' if he had more helicopters.
But Brigadier Tim Radford admitted he was 'realistic' about the prospect of his wish being granted.
Brigadier Radford reopened the row about the forces' lack of equipment on the day General Sir Richard Dannatt stood down as head of the Army.

As Dannatt goes, kit row reignites as frontline commander calls for more helicopters | Mail Online

More voices from top military commanders added to the growing list. And it's clear exactly what response Brigadier Radford expects from Government. NONE!

Good to know how much we are valued!

 

[random3434]

As Dannatt goes, kit row reignites as frontline commander calls for more helicopters

The head of British forces in southern Afghanistan said last night that his troops would be 'more tactically effective' if he had more helicopters.
But Brigadier Tim Radford admitted he was 'realistic' about the prospect of his wish being granted.
Brigadier Radford reopened the row about the forces' lack of equipment on the day General Sir Richard Dannatt stood down as head of the Army.

As Dannatt goes, kit row reignites as frontline commander calls for more helicopters | Mail Online

More voices from top military commanders added to the growing list. And it's clear exactly what response Brigadier Radford expects from Government. NONE!

Good to know how much we are valued!

This makes me so mad~
Keep your head down Bootneck!

 

[Bootneck]

This is how our government behaves when it tries to cover up their incompetence. They smear the names of front line soldiers in an effort to clear themselves. But it won't wash. The bastards will be found out every time.

Bob Ainsworth in 'cover-up' over soldier's death

Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, has been accused of a cover-up over the death of the first British soldier to be killed in action in the Nato operation in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, by smearing his commanding officer.
Tony Philippson, whose son James died in June 2006 after being sent into battle without basic equipment, including night-vision goggles, accused Ainsworth of trying to deflect blame from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) by criticising Major Jonny Bristow, his son’s commander.
A panel of three senior army officers is expected to exonerate Bristow, clearing him of making tactical errors. Their report is due to be published later this year.
“This will prove Bob Ainsworth was trying to cover up the real reason for James’s death. He was trying to shift blame away from the lack of equipment for which the MoD was responsible and negligent,” Philippson said.

Bob Ainsworth in 'cover-up' over soldier's death - Times Online