Boeing, Boeing, Gone

Anyone else catch the rather startling story in the Times today about the ludicrous mismanagement of the purchase of eight Chinook helicopters?  Apparently at the moment we only have 12 in Afghanistan…. And one of those was knocked out by a man with a beard firing a second-hand rocket at it the other day.

 

So wouldn’t it be nice if we could send out the eight ordered in 1995 for a mere £259million?   Only we can’t because the MOD wanted to save £45 million and make their own software which is apparently needed to make them fly.

 

Now Boeing know a thing or two about a helicopter that they have been making since the Viet Nam war… and they suggested back in 1995 that it couldn’t be done.  Now, some 14 years and £200million it appears that the MOD are prepared to agree with them.

 

It does seem utterly appalling that soldiers’ lives are so little thought of by our political masters.  If you really must invade such god-forsaken places as Iraq & Afghanistan you would think you would have the decency and common sense to give the military what is needed to get that questionable job done.  But no not a bit of it.

 

Even worse it seems Whitehall has been blithely lying for years  to cover up its crass incompetence.  You could argue that this 15-year fiction of the Chinook deal has cost lives.   A Commons Committee has labelled it ‘one of the most incompetent procurements of all time’.   And let’s face it; a bunch of MPs should be very familiar with incompetence

 

But there is some good news for our troops dodging bullets and roadside bombs in Afghanistan.  Now the MOD is preparing to release the mothballed Chinooks downgraded to basic workhorses.  So they will be getting a much cheaper & less flexible machine, eight years late – and at a cost of £69 million per helicopter.

 

Think about that next time a man with a beard knocks down a Chinook with his second-hand rocket.  It took him about 10 seconds to b last out of the sky.  But it cost the British taxpayer £69million, the army 15 years of patient waiting.   I wonder when and if they will ever get any more helicopters.

Dying for Democracy in Afghanistan

 A desperately sad and depressing fact was released yesterday. Just 150 Afghan voters dared to go to the polls in the area of Helmand province where four British soldiers sacrificed their lives to help secure a safe election day.

This less than satisfying news was hardly enhanced when the British Ambassador to Kabul intoned that British troops will be engaged in combat there for another 5 years. The ambassador, Mark Sedwill, when questioned, did not deny the low turn out but muttered that it was impossible to be sure.

The more cynical news hacks probably thought it was even lower, given the rumours about a healthy black market in voting cards, No need to worry though, if you are a soldier because some inspiring spokesperson from the MOD said that the voting figures, if confirmed were ‘very disappointing’.

Apparently there is anecdotal evidence that people from outlying areas travelled into more secure areas such as Lashkar Gash to vote because they felt more confident doing so. I suspect it was a lovely day for a trip outside too.

So there we have it. The current operation in which our troops are shooting at men with beards who may (or may not) be in the Taliban is called Panther’s Claw.

I suspect our troops are at a bit of a disadvantage in this operation because they are in uniform, whilst the men with beards are not. So you don’t know if the people ahead are friendly, indifferent. – or downright dangerous.

I doubt the army know why are there – same as we don’t. But after the success of Panther’s Claw and the Afghan Election, we can put a count on it. 150 votes = 4 lives. So far 202 members of the armed forces have dies, 800 have been injured, 235 very seriously – or seriously.

Surely some serious and very serious questions need to be asked why we are there.