Blair interview: the army counter-attack

After yesterday's disinformation on the military situation in Afghanistan, from the prime minister and his media friends in the BBC, the army has begun a counter-attack. So far, the assault, launched in the Sunday Telegraph, is limited to small arms fire. The ST reports unidentified "defence sources" as saying,

...that what commanders needed most desperately was more troops on the ground — something Mr Blair notably failed to mention.
Another source said it was scandalous for the Prime Minister to suggest that commanders could have as many helicopters as they liked when it was a "well-known fact" within the military that virtually all helicopters were committed to training or operations.

In fact, the shortage of helicopters is a well known fact outside the military but the shortage of troops seems to add a new indictment to the government's charge sheet.

And in a breathtaking piece of spin on the helicopter problems, the Guardian quotes an MoD spokesman as saying,

"It is wider than just the UK providing this. It is a Nato mission, it is up to Nato to provide the necessary assets."

Since NATO assets are only whatever the member states choose to make available, there is as much chance of that happening as there is of the MoD telling the truth about the problems in Afghanistan.

Tags: Afghanistan