Personal Blogs

the first thing which the British government did after WWI was to disarm the returning soldiers. They saw the revolutions in Russia and Germany as well as other states and were terrified by the armies which knew that they had been nothing other than cannon fodder, and that some people at home at got very rich on the back of the war.

So, first disarmament and then the other method of control, the Royal British Legion. The soldiers should have shouted from the rooftops what had been allowed to happen. For example take the Army List which I have been studying. Why is that during WWI they listed the names and ranks of all those soldeirs who had een killed. Only yrouble is that they never went below the rank of Second Lieutenant. Where is Gordon Brown reading out all the names of the dead, where is he, oh that's right he deserves a holiday with his family. Only trouble is that the loved ones of the soldiers who have been sent to their deaths by the politicians won't be having much of a holiday. They dare not even spend some of their compensation for fear that the wonderful MoD will at some time say that you have been overpaid and we want our money back.

I think that there is a certain amount of jealousy at the MoD, where many retired officers now work, because the squaddies seem to be getting compensation which is denied to the officers. Officers after all are not meant to suffer from PTSD because they are made of sterner stuff!

May I suggest that people look at what happened in America after the Great War with regard to their veterans, where there was massive fraud.  

there is the court case taking place today in respect of the injuries to two soldiers and their compensation for injuries. May I suggest that people who are interested look at the web site for the Plymouth Evening Herald.

There is the case of Marine Neil Dunstan where the Ministry of Defence apparently had lost the most recent will of the dead soldier which meant that his fiancee would lose her inheritance because the only will found was one relating to 2004 which did not name her. Furthermore, a vicar apparently said that she could not walk behind the coffin because she could not prove to be 'next of kin'.

Just what is going on. We have had cases in the past where the loved ones of soldiers have had to go to court to prove that the child they are bearing or have had is the result of a loving current relationship with a soldier in order that they have access to the compensation to which they are entitled.

The current High Court cases only go to show how the MoD is working against the interests of the brave soldiers who have to take orders from politicians who should really be ashamed of themselves, including the Prime Minister who has gone missing again. It is not only the physical injury done to our soldiers, it is more the long term damage of stress disorders which will cause problems. The MoD are letting down our military. They must meet their commitments, if they are to send our soldiers to their deaths over a lost mission then they must say that if they are willing to meet the true costs, and the ongoing costs.

yesterday I was in a Registrars office to order some copies of birth certificates. Whilst I was waiting two people came in for a meeting. It was the National Swine Flu Meeting. I think that the powers that be are very concerned.

If there is a large number of deaths how will the government cope with the deaths, will the registrars departments be able to cope. Will death certificates be issued. Remember there are some religions which insist that their dead are buried within as little as aday. So, if these religions have precedence then will the dead of other religions have to wait before death certificates are issued, and will burials be able to take place before death certificates are issued.

I think that we must be told now of any contingency arrangements for the issuing of death certificates. How is the system going to cope with the many different religious practices. Will 2009 be a repeat of 1979 with the dead being left unburied, Brown, be afraid very afraid. The truth is out there.

I notice that President Sarkozy of France has been taken to hospital after feeling unwell after exercising.

There were concerns earlier on in the year of the health of the Duke of Edinburgh, and also ourown Prime Minister. I always remember Macmillian and that he left office with an illness. The illness did not end up terminal as I remember he lived a very comfortable life for many years after dianosis. The same with that fellow Ernest Saunders, now was he not released early from prison because of illness.

Can anybody give a list of those who they wish actually had an illness which forced them to relinquish office.

over here in the good old country Harry Patch has died; as you will probably know by now.

Now I hear the Gordon Brown has 'ordered' a memorial service for those who served and died for their country in WWI. However, what I do remember is that when Brown confirmed our retreat from Iraq that there would be a parade to 'celebrate' their work in Iraq. Now will that parade still beheld or will it be merged with the new memorial service. What worries me most of all is that this memorial service will also 'celebrate' the soldiers who have fought, died or been injured in all conflicts since, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

I think that if there is to be a memorial service, then it should represent all the military who have fought, died and been injured. The war which Harry fought in was not World War I, it was the Great War, it could not be World War I until World War II, because there was not Queen Elizabeth the First, until our current Queen came along. Nobody knew that there would be another Queen Elizabeth until Queen Elizabeth came to the throne. But I digress.

I think that if anybody listens to the words of Harry Patch, it was about the dead, the young men who died, on both sides. I think that it was about the wasted lives, what did they die for, they followed orders, only trouble is that Harry was a conscript, as millions of men were, they did not sign up of their own free will. Same in other countries throuhgout the world.

I think that it will be wrong to have this memorial service. Just as it is wrong to continue to name the dead soldiers from our current conflicts. Did we read out the names of the dead in parliament during the Great War, of course not. Did we bring back the bodies of the dead from the Great War, of course not, the country would have come to a standstill.

There is one thing which parliament is consistent with however. That is that the war against Germany was declared on the 4th August 1914. Parliament sat and discussed the situation for a few days and then guess what, yes they went into recess on the 10th August 1914, and then went off to shoot the Grouse. Trust me you can read it in Hansard, adjounment debates and all that.

The situation in Afghanistan is appalling. After the Great War people asked what on earth went on, how did this happen. I have already said on your blog about all the investigations which were held in to the events leading up to the Great War, to show who was responsible. Keynes even had to write a book 'How to pay for the war', he was also involved in the issue over reparations because he and others understood the financial implications. Also Keynes had let some of his fellows who disagreed with the war down, because Keynes actually worked in the Treasury to pay for the war.

For Blair, read Lloyd-George, for Keynes read Brown. There must be no memorial service unless it includes representatives from all sides, if it is to work then it must be the largest peace demonstration the world has ever seen. Brown must announce the withdrawal of British soldiers from Afghanistan, this is his chance to do the right thing.

This memorial service must not be with flags, bugles, or a military parade. The Great War was a disaster, it was waste on a massive scale, but it was not the war to end wars, it was in reality a European Civil War, the lessons were not learnt. This 'memorial' service should also be a celebration of the European Union, a Union which has brought peace to Europe, after millions died, this is about 'Ode to Joy', not God Save the Queen.

The Great War changed our society, never again was the cry, yet we still fight and kill 'the enemy', who are the enemy. I think that enemy is the politicians, they give the orders, they have failed. A real memorial to the people like Harry Patch would be to sign a global peace treaty, to end war, to stop the killing, to stop producing the arms, to stop producing the bombs and bullets, and to stop the banks funding wars, and conflicts. Now I think that an announcement from Brown that he is supporting total nuclear disarmament, and that we will be in the forefront, Britain must announce in parliament that we will end all military expeditions and that the army will in future be referred to as the Home Defence Force and will not go outside our borders unless wearing the blue helmets of the United Nations, or join a European Army.  

you are behind us over there I believe so you will wake up to the results of the Norwich bye (bye Gordon) election.

Let me say that I hope that you are able to catch up with the Today programme this morning because the final item was most interesting. Apparently a retired soldier, formerly something to do with 3 Para by the name of Tootal, has written a book and had it published with regard to operations on Afghanistan.

Now the gist of what he was saying is that the soldiers in Afghanistan are fantastic, and that they are doing a great job, and that they understand their mission, that it is about our security. So he is attempting to justify the continued occupation of Afghanistan. Now remember please that we have actually been in Afghnaistan since 2001, yes all those years ago. So what have our brave soldiers been doing since then, when I understand we should have been training the Afghan army so that they can do their own protection. Why, they invaded and occupied Iraq. A disastrous period, which Blair got us in to and Brown funded.

Anybody who collaborates with the occupying forces in Afghanistan will be executed as soon as their protectors (us) leave so we will be there well forever actually on that basis. Now then after WWI Germany became a failed state, everything however had been getting better until the depression and Hitler. What was the justification for Hitler, the injustice of the Treaty of Versaille, and he was able to justify all of his actions on the flaws in that Treaty. Keynes had even written a book 'How to pay for the war' which Brown should read because we can't afford the war in Afghanistan. We can't afford to waste money training the Afghan soldiers and police, we can't afford to lose the equipment, but Brown can afford to lose the soldiers because they are expendable, a few words that is all it costs Brown.

Now I don't wish that this should happen but consider what will happen if Brown, or Cameron should lose a child to Swine Flu, oh then there will be action all right, they don't really care, the politicians, not until it effects one of their own. Brown should remember that when he talks about the bravery of our soldiers they are not his sons being blown to bits, the same with our use of drones, these are innocent women and children who are dying, they may be related to war lords but they are not the guilty ones.

Brown, and now Obama have the blood of innocents on their hands. Blair was guilty, Bush was guilty, now Obama is guilty, as is Brown, and these men go around the world with their meetings and conferences, and shake the hands and laugh with Berlosconi, the man who the Queen correctly said exactly what many of us think, yet he is favoured by our politcians, disgraceful.

President Obama is in trouble already, the depression will get worse, that even in the thirties a lot of people did very well out of the financial crash. Apparently at some time in the past Harding was president and Hoover was, well Herbert Hoover. So Harding asked Hoover 'if you knew of a great scandal in our administration, would you for the good of the country and the party expose it publicly or would you bury it?' Hoover replied 'publish it and at least get credit for integrity on your side'.

Now then can I give advice to Gordon Brown, you are caught in a trap, I think that you would chose a good day day to bury bad news, you dare not let the truth come out. I sincerely hope that as you come to the end of your life you are haunted by what you have done, the countless thousands whose blood is on your hands. Enjoy your holiday with your family Brown, there are families throughout the world who will have no holidays, who will be grieving for their loved ones. It is the war Brown, the bloody war, and don't you ever forget it. We should never have gone into Iraq, it was not right then and it is not right now to be in Afghanistan.

Tootal says that soldiers now understand what it is to fight for Queen and country. The soldiers follow orders, only trouble is that in Iraq the orders were illegal, it was an illegal war, end our occupation, bring the troops out, and let the Afghans sort out their problems themselves. Oh that's right they would all seek asylum in this country, no wonder we have to keep killing them over there.

the same action that takes place against all those who commit crimes against humanity. They should be tried in the Hague and if found guilty then a spell in prison. Why do you think that George Bush does not seem to travel outside his America, they are terrified that somebody may well arrest him. I think that Blair ought to have done more to rpevent the executions in Iraq, they breach international law, and any government which supports capital punishment should be a member of the United Nations, nor the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). What on earth by the way have so many countries got to do with NATO, I mean seriously!

As for Blair, well as we know he converted to catholicism more or less as soon as he left parliament, so I think he will find that his punishment will last longer and be more terrible than even he can contemplate. If anybody believes in God and heaven then surely they must also believe in the Devil and hell. Is that not one of the strange aspects of society today, we hear so much about God but not quite so much about the other side of the coin.

I have no vendetta against the army, or the armed forces. My problem is that I think that there had come to pass a time when the soldiers really should have refused orders. That time was in Iraq, with extra-ordinary rendition, with enhanced interrogation techniques, Guantalamo Bay, with our soldiers working in Baghdad under the orders of the Americans, who knew that to follow orders could possibly result in charges of committing acts in cotravention of American law. So, they got our guys, and the Australians, to detain people who were then handed over to the Americans or to the Iraqi authorities, where who knows what happened to them.

It does seem that it was and is the case that the ends justify the means. I would say never, should that be the case in England, the ends do not justify the means. It is all about Nurembourg trials and I was following orders. As I have said I am not in the process of conducting a vendetta, I just want justice, not for our side, but the enemy as well. We have done terrible things, the Inquiry into Iraq must be conducted in public, and all the memorandi and agreements must be published, in full. Finally, all evidence must be under oath, and no pleading the fifth amendment, and no national security.

I feel that with the lowering of the terrorist threat in this country the government is being negligent, I thought the war in Afghanistan was all about keeping terror off the streets of Britain, have we won the war then, or is that we are killing our home grown terrorists in Afghanistan.

Very good spot. However, I still think that the election will be held in October, I can't believe that we can have a Queens speech with this lot in parliament.

There is a problem though and that is I watched a programme on ITV last night about some event which takes place in Windsor, which the Queen attends. Now my problem is this. We are told that the public finances are ina dire state, that we can't afford all the equipment required by our brave soldiers. Yet it would seem we can afford fine breast plates, ruritanian type uniforms, and what is it with the horses. Can we seriously afford all this stuff. When the soldiers parade through the towns and cities they seem to be in their battle fatigues, what about cutting back on all the finery. Same with all the robes and ermine in the Lords, let's get rid of all of it, nothing at all wrong with a simple suit and tie, we are no longer a world power, let's stop looking so ridiculous, it is all about power. All the Lord Mayors, why the regalia, get rid of it all. Let's live within our means. Same with the aircraft carriers, it is not about using them, it is about building them, jobs, we acn't afford them, same with Trident. we are bust and the sooner we admit it the better. Do you seriously think that they will send out aircraft carriers without Frigates, remember the film 'They were expendable'.

'our own Nick Robinson has recently confessed that he's stopped reading the comments on his blog'. Could one say that Nick has also gone into the same bunker as I think Gordon Brown has.

As soon as you stop listening to the people then you are finished. The trouble is that the one thing which Brown has power over is the agenda. He really does not like the people setting the agenda.

The Iraq war and occupation is a case in point. It was not the main news media which has forced our eventual retreat from Iraq in the way which the media destroyed America and Vietnam, it was the internet. The government lost the battle, the Iraq occupation was destroyed by the internet, the bloggers.

It will be the same with Afghanistan, and the same with Swine Flu. The government cannot control the newspapers and their internet sites. They cannot cope with the fact that the MoD has whole departments of people who monitor the letters and the postings to repudiate and denigrate the contributors. The box has been opened and can never be closed.

Your moderators allowed me to post on your site some time ago now with regard to Swine Flu. Of course there must be restrictions on travel. There must be controls placed on the movement of people, on the ways in which they congregate, football matches must be held behind closed doors, as must all sporting events. Down here in the westcountry the holiday hordes will soon be coming down to experience a holiday. Well if they come down here and start infecting us with their flu then our hospitals and GPs will not be able to cope with the influx. They too will be on holiday!

Brown does not have a clue, if Swine flu is going to be the problem which many of us think it will be then actions must be explained now. I say to all departments, but in particular the department for culture, media and sports, that cultural and sporting events must be held behind closed doors. The media must be forced to keep to the message, that there are dire consequences if we don't use the modern technology so that people do not have to gather in their masses, we have video conferencing, we the tv, the internet, there is no longer any reason why people should gather in the way that they have. We can even order all our goods and services, eg the supermarkets can deliver to our doors, we can order goods and services via modern communications. Older people and the infirmed can have a computer literate buddy to help them.

So, must we wait until we are visited by this upcoming disaster before the government acts. Can't they see the train hitting the buffers, or do they want to use the Swine Flu epidemic to say that we must cancel the elections, just like they did with the elections which were due to be held during the Foot and Mouth disaster.

Finally, I wonder if the government will find somebody who will rubbish and repudiate my comments, after all Andrew we all know how well your comments are received, I don't think that you and your moderators have given up like that Robinson fellow.

There must be an announcement from the government, in particular the department responsible for Culture, Media and Sport as to what they propose to do, what are the contingency plans, what are the risks of people getting together. It will be the winter when the Swine Flu will be at it's worst, just when people actually get together the most. There must be restrictions on travel, committees set up to monitor the movement of people, committees capable of restricting access to parts of the country where there are hot spots, entry to and from these areas must be restricted. This is an emergency, there must be times when parliament must be recalled, there is not only Afghanistan, there is Swine flu. How dare they go on holiday for so long, disgraceful.

I know that this is off subject as far as wind farms go but there are now reports that a Russian built Mi-8 transport helicopter has come down in Afghanistan. Now with the current furore over our lack of helicopters and the 'pooling' of equipment I sincerely hope that before any of our soldiers get into pooled helicopters that they are fully checked and correspond to our levels of competence beofre use.

This is also relevant with regard to who actually gives the orders on any joint operations. I hope that our boys are not being put at risk because soldiers from other countries are unwilling or unable to participate in some actions whereas the officers of those countries can give, and must have accepted orders given to our soldiers. This is one of the problems with a European or NATO army, who gives the orders, under whose laws, and what rights do soldiers have to refuse orders because they do not conform to the laws of their country.

for some time now I have been referring to the compensation culture of the army. I have just been on the internet this morning and now find that the MoD do not trust the soldiers. Apparently the MoD police have been investigating 284 compensation claims and have 'saved' several million pounds by either having the claims repudiated or greatly reduced. Is this the equivalent of WWI soldiers shooting themselves in the foot to get away from the front line.

So, what we now have is the media being fed stories about our brave soldiers fighting great battles and advancing in their mission, whilst the MoD is making sure that none of the same soldiers is making fraudulent claims for compensation, more or less treating them as skiving criminals. The MoD also seem to be spending huge sums on putting back togather two damaged helicopters to make one fit for duty.

So, what is going on, are our soldiers the best, or they cheats. Are they the best or have they been involved in extra-ordinary rendition and enhanced interrogation techniques. Are they the best or has at least one Flight Lieutenant been discharged disnonourably from the services for refusing orders. Are they the best or how many actually went AWOL during the Iraq conflict. Are they the best or have their been investigations into the over egging of acts of heroism to get medals. Are they the best or have some soldiers been found guilty of bringing home some of the money which should have been paid to the locals to keep them quiet. Are they the best or have the courts decided that the case against six Special Forces  personnel should be held behind closed doors.

All is not well in the army, there are so many who are entitled to compensation who have been dis-suaded from action for fear of being constantly under surveillance to make sure that we are not being defrauded. That would seem to be what the huge number of personnel at the MoD seem to be doing, surely not fighting. The inquiry into Iraq must be extended to Afghanistan, this is getting to be a very dirty war