ianstone
04-19-2010, 01:33 AM
Under-equipped ... British troops face kit shortages in Afghanistan
And they sparked uproar in military circles, with ex-top brass branding the PM deceitful and his attitude "despicable". Pressed by Tory leader David Cameron to take his last chance to admit to MPs there were shortages, Mr Brown said: "At every time we ask our commanders, 'Are we able to do this operation?'
"And our commanding officers have said yes they can. I take the advice of our commanding officers and the advice is very clear. We have done our best to equip our troops."
Mr Cameron replied: "That sums up this premiership. He takes no responsibility and always blames somebody else. Why can't you admit something everybody knows to be true? There weren't enough helicopters."
Ex-defence chief General Lord Guthrie also hit out last night, telling The Sun: "What the Prime Minister said is untrue. It is an extraordinary thing to blame commanding officers for frontline equipment shortages. That attitude is particularly despicable."
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01020/SNN0805P1-180_1020541a.jpg Blast ... Sun last year
The highly-decorated Army commander who led the mission into the southern Afghan badlands in 2006 also cast doubt on the PM's comments.
Brigadier Ed Butler, who has now left the Army, declared: "I'd be very surprised if Gordon Brown, as both Chancellor and Prime Minister, was not aware of the extent of the equipment shortfalls faced by the Army. I was saying as early as summer 2005 that we barely had enough resources for routine operations, let alone intense fighting. In 2006, the commanding officers on the ground made it very clear to all visiting politicians, civil servants and senior MoD officials that we didn't have sufficient resources."
Senior Tory backbencher Bernard Jenkin also pressed Mr Brown on helicopter numbers, asking: "Will you confirm you have cut numbers from 522 to below 500 over the last 18 months?" Mr Brown ducked that too, saying: "I am sorry you take this view. We have ordered more helicopters for the future and increased the number of helicopter hours flown."
Throughout the Commons confrontation Tory MPs shouted "bye bye" whenever the PM spoke. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg also rounded on Mr Brown and his MPs, saying: "Look at them. You've failed. It's time to go."
The PM's remarks will deepen the growing chasm between him and the Armed Forces - with 10,000 British troops still in harm's way every day in Helmand.
On Monday, VC hero Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry blasted the PM for disrespecting him and other soldiers. Three weeks ago, Mr Brown provoked fury by calling forces chiefs "wrong" for querying his claims that defence spending rose every year under Labour. In fact, it had fallen in some years.
The PM's "porkies" on the issue led angry SAS hero Andy McNab to publicly declare he would vote for Mr Cameron rather than Mr Brown.
A week later Ann Probyn, whose Grenadier Guard son Daniel, 22, was killed in Afghanistan, confronted Mr Brown on TV over troops' kit shortages.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/election2010/2924132/He-STILL-doesnt-know-theres-a-bloody-war-on.html#ixzz0lWKfbZmZ
Butcher Brown says it all. Lions led by a donkey.
The Butcher tried to blame the army for his own shortcomings. Butcher Brown you are a heartless and spineless twat. You shame us all, whats more you shame the dead hero's of our land
And they sparked uproar in military circles, with ex-top brass branding the PM deceitful and his attitude "despicable". Pressed by Tory leader David Cameron to take his last chance to admit to MPs there were shortages, Mr Brown said: "At every time we ask our commanders, 'Are we able to do this operation?'
"And our commanding officers have said yes they can. I take the advice of our commanding officers and the advice is very clear. We have done our best to equip our troops."
Mr Cameron replied: "That sums up this premiership. He takes no responsibility and always blames somebody else. Why can't you admit something everybody knows to be true? There weren't enough helicopters."
Ex-defence chief General Lord Guthrie also hit out last night, telling The Sun: "What the Prime Minister said is untrue. It is an extraordinary thing to blame commanding officers for frontline equipment shortages. That attitude is particularly despicable."
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01020/SNN0805P1-180_1020541a.jpg Blast ... Sun last year
The highly-decorated Army commander who led the mission into the southern Afghan badlands in 2006 also cast doubt on the PM's comments.
Brigadier Ed Butler, who has now left the Army, declared: "I'd be very surprised if Gordon Brown, as both Chancellor and Prime Minister, was not aware of the extent of the equipment shortfalls faced by the Army. I was saying as early as summer 2005 that we barely had enough resources for routine operations, let alone intense fighting. In 2006, the commanding officers on the ground made it very clear to all visiting politicians, civil servants and senior MoD officials that we didn't have sufficient resources."
Senior Tory backbencher Bernard Jenkin also pressed Mr Brown on helicopter numbers, asking: "Will you confirm you have cut numbers from 522 to below 500 over the last 18 months?" Mr Brown ducked that too, saying: "I am sorry you take this view. We have ordered more helicopters for the future and increased the number of helicopter hours flown."
Throughout the Commons confrontation Tory MPs shouted "bye bye" whenever the PM spoke. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg also rounded on Mr Brown and his MPs, saying: "Look at them. You've failed. It's time to go."
The PM's remarks will deepen the growing chasm between him and the Armed Forces - with 10,000 British troops still in harm's way every day in Helmand.
On Monday, VC hero Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry blasted the PM for disrespecting him and other soldiers. Three weeks ago, Mr Brown provoked fury by calling forces chiefs "wrong" for querying his claims that defence spending rose every year under Labour. In fact, it had fallen in some years.
The PM's "porkies" on the issue led angry SAS hero Andy McNab to publicly declare he would vote for Mr Cameron rather than Mr Brown.
A week later Ann Probyn, whose Grenadier Guard son Daniel, 22, was killed in Afghanistan, confronted Mr Brown on TV over troops' kit shortages.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/election2010/2924132/He-STILL-doesnt-know-theres-a-bloody-war-on.html#ixzz0lWKfbZmZ
Butcher Brown says it all. Lions led by a donkey.
The Butcher tried to blame the army for his own shortcomings. Butcher Brown you are a heartless and spineless twat. You shame us all, whats more you shame the dead hero's of our land