Fitaloon at MicroShaft

A sensible and articulate article in the FT written by John Hutton the former Labour Defence Secretary on the thorny subject of Generals in Politics.

In it John Hutton has this to say:

The relationship between politicians and the military in any democracy has to rest on one cardinal principle: that it is the responsibility of politicians alone to determine policies, priorities and resources. The duty of the military is to advise politicians on what it is possible to do within the framework set for them. Once these parameters have been settled, the military must be left alone to devise the best way to put these policies into effect.

This line must be rigorously policed by parliament, the press and the public. It is fundamental to the health of our democracy and for the exercise of proper accountability over any decision to use force in pursuance of our foreign and security goals. It also gives our troops the best chance of success in combat. Ministers who become armchair generals undoubtedly risk crossing this line. Generals who try to become armchair politicians run the same risk.

He also suggests something that is probably a good compromise.

We must devise a better way for the senior military commanders to be more fully engaged with parliament, via briefings of select committee chairs, over the conduct of the Afghan and future campaigns. A similar system operates well in the US. It is a safety valve that might just prevent the kind of media feeding frenzy we have witnessed over the last few months. It might also avoid the deplorable press briefings aimed at respected military commanders. No one wins if we continue like this.

It is a great pity that this man saw fit to resign as Defence Secretary, his successor is not fit to wipe his boots.

One final point is this bit in the article:

This is the issue that goes right to the heart of the present, very public, debate, and here politicians have a responsibility to honour their side of the bargain. They must support our troops and their commanders by giving them the resources they need to succeed, and follow their advice.

This is a very large hint as to the reason John Hutton resigned along with his mention of the “deplorable press briefings”. The heart of this is his initial paragraph when he says government should not interfere with how the Military goes about war, I get the feeling a certain man of “courage” was interfering as is his wont.

FT.com / Comment / Opinion – Military and Whitehall must both pipe down.

Vector is based on a 6 x 6 Pinzgauer chassis and is a Light Protected Patrol vehicle developed for 8-hour patrol missions over varying terrain.

Richard North has picked up on yet another sneaky bit of censorship or as he more aptly describes it lies and deceit. It appears that  the RAF Regiment Senior Aircraftman  Marcin Wojtak who was killed on Thursday 1st October whilst “commanding his vehicle” was actually in a  Vector Armoured vehicle.  As Richard says:

These “killer machines” were supposed to have been withdrawn. We all thought they had been. In fact, we had an announcement in May that the Vector was to be withdrawn from operations in Afghanistan.

Obviously they haven’t been withdrawn and despite the assurances of John Hutton, the then defence minister, they have continued in use, albeit in what was supposed to “safe” regions. When will the Military and MOD learn there are no safe area in this type of War, I thought it was bad enough to learn that the Taliban had managed to plant an IED near Bastion but to learn the patrol was using what can only be described as an “inadequate” vehicle is beyond belief.

This waste of young lives is truly stupid and defies the thought that we have smart people running the war in Afghanistan. If they can’t do better than this then we should not be fighting this type of war.

Read more on this at Defence of the Realm

Defence of the Realm: They lie and deceive.