"Truth is the first casualty of war". As true a saying as any there is. It is well to treat everything that politicians or serving officers say about a war-in-progress with a large pinch of salt. The best comments (at least the comments I pay most attention to) come from those of great experience who have retired from active service with a secure pension.
The interlocutor I mentioned last week who stalled Perle quite badly on the Dimbleby I've now identified as Sir Christopher Meyer. He appeared on Channel 4 tonight. He was the UK Ambassador to the US from 1997 until two or three weeks ago. I suggested in an earlier post today that the real reason why Blair is flying to see Bush tomorrow is that he is petrified as to UK public opinion if and when troops start entering Basra and Baghdad. Since then we have had further "intelligence reports" that there is an uprising of the people against Saddam's Ba'ath Party security guards in Basra. These select fighters, according to what middle-ranking UK army officers are telling us (or at least they seem to be convinced themselves), are supposed to be sitting in the streets with machine guns holding the population down and preventing them uprising. This apparently gives the OK for the British tanks and artillery to start firing into Basra. Supposedly they have special shells which can steer themselves at machine-gun nests a mile or two inside the city. I will only be convinced of such an uprising until I hear what war correspondents have to say when they enter the city. As to entering the cities, the following is what another recently retired senior army officer said on Channel 4 tonight: "We will have to hope and pray that there is indeed a successful uprising against Saddam. Otherwise, I would be daunted to have to enter Baghdad. The coalition forces don't have the resources or the numbers of soldiers to take on hand-to-hand fighting with Saddam's special forces in the streets. A city like Baghdad can swallow an army." This spokesman was Sir Michael Rose, recently retired ex-Commander-in-Chief in the Bosnia war. I would have thought he knows what he is talking about. If Blair is unaware of his views, then I'm a Dutchman. Keith Hudson ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
