General Sir Michael Rose warns of British politicians who believe their own propaganda. A letter in The Week.

I once attended an illuminating and interesting lecture by General Sir Michael Rose at Dillington House, near Ilminster, in South Somerset, and so I took especial note of the letter below.  It was published in The Week on 27th August having first appeared in The Times.

Illusions of Victory

To The Times

To quote Kosovo as an example of a substantial military success, as William Hague does in his article, is to commit the same error as Tony Blair did.  Believing his own propaganda that Nato’s bombing campaign in Kosovo had been successful, Blair led Britain into the disastrous invasion of Iraq.  Yet the reality in Kosovo was very different.  At the end of 11 weeks of the most intensive bombing by Nato since the War, the Serb army in Kosovo emerged undefeated, and peace only came about when Boris Yeltsin withdrew his support for the Milosevic regime.  Furthermore, it was the people of Serbia who removed Slobodan Milosevic from power in a democratic election nearly 14 months later – not Nato as Hague implies.  Surely the true lesson we can draw from the crisis in Afghanistan is that if strategy is not based on reality, then disaster will surely follow.

General Sir Michael Rose, former commander of the UN forces in Bosnia.

 

British Military coup? No Chance! A letter in The Week.

The letter below, which was first published in The Times, appeared in The Week on May 8.  It followed much publicity given to a group of French generals who suggested that their nation was heading for civil war and a possible military coup.

Why it couldn’t happen here.

To The Times

To answer David Aaronovitch’s query as to whether a French military coup could happen here, those of us who slaved in the recesses of the Ministry of Defence know that it could never happen here, for the very good reason that UK service and security chiefs would never be able to agree amongst themselves as to who should be Il Duce,

Andrew Brookes, former CEO, The Air League, London

Obviously such a coup is a non-starter here!

Green U-Turns by the British Political Establishment.

Having a wood-burner I sympathise with the letter below which appeared in The Week on 27 February, it was first published in The Times.

As for making things last as long as possible, I scrapped my 1998 registered Subaru Impreza last September.  It was 4 years old when I bought it, and it gave me 18 years of enjoyable and reliable service - I think we both did our bit for the environment!

Green U-Turns

To The Times  

In 2001, Labour introduced new vehicle tax rates that encouraged us to buy diesel cars.  We bought one.  About 15 to 20 years ago the advice was to buy a wood-burner because wood, being carbon neutral, was better for the environment than fossil fuels.  We bought one.  This week you reported that we are being urged to ditch wood-burning stoves as data showed they are the worst pollutants.  On top of this, we are told to make the things we buy last as long as possible, as this is better for the environment.  Presumably this includes wood-burners and cars?  What are we supposed to do?  Will the advice change in a few years’ time?

Marianne Beale, Saltash, Cornwall.

"Dislike of England" the SNP's motivating force? Professor Vernon Bogdanor asks in The Times.

I came across an interesting letter from Professor Vernon Bogdanor in the January 9 edition of The Week.  He implies that dislike of England is the SNP’s motivating force – surely not!

The letter was first published in The Times. I reproduce it below as it appeared in The Week.

St. Andrew’s cross

To The Times

In a Commons debate last week, Ian Blackford, parliamentary leader of the SNP, declared that “Scotland is at heart a European nation”, and indeed that she had been well before the Acts of Union in 1707.  The SNP seems to have acquired this insight somewhat recently.  In the 1975 referendum it was the only major party in Scotland to recommend leaving the European Community. 

Voters are entitled to an explanation of why the SNP changed its mind.  Dare one suggest that dislike of England rather than love for Europe has been its motivating force?

Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government, King’s College, London.