Perc
I suppose you were a bit frustrated that it was only Russian radar equipment and not French. The opportunity of removing a few Frenchies is no doubt highly desirable.
But all is not lost. The French company, Eutelsat SA, is providing much of the surveillance equipment in Iraq, but to US troops not Saddam.
Regarding my "hypocracy" and "disgustingly odious desires", you say:
Quote:You have filled page after page of this forum with your desires for the failure of this administration and the Administration of your own PM at any cost. You knew full well that if we failed it meant the deaths of thousands of our and your own troops.
Wrong. I'm a long time member of the Labour Party. I've always voted for and supported Tony Blair. Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell is a personal friend. Blair will go down in history as a truly great Prime Minister, he has done a lot for Britain. But on THIS ISSUE, I believe he has made a catastrophic misjudgement which may well be herald the end of his career.
I didn't want to go down the Bush road to war, true. But I was willing to suspend my belief that it could be avoided. When it started, I was prepared to overlook the obvious fact that it had no legal basis. I was prepared to do this because I thought
a) we would win and
b) that it would be short.
But what I overlooked was the ineptitude and incompetence of war plannners such as Richard Perle (now resigned take note) and Bush's naivety in trusting them. That, Perception, is what will cost American and British lives, not my opposition to war.
Lieutenant General K.S. Randhawa (ret.) of the Indian Army says
Quote:Iraq knew it could not win the war, but would be ready to fight on for months, aiming to draw U.S. and British troops into its cities for a protracted and bloody campaign. He said the United States and Britain had miscalculated by underestimating the strength of the likely Iraqi resistance. The Iraqi army would focus the bulk of its strength in its cities, reducing the impact of superior U.S. and British firepower by forcing them into urban warfare, while also harrying their advancing troops from the rear.
"It certainly won't finish in a couple of months."
Asked whether he thought Saddam realised he would die whatever happened, he said, "Definitely. He is a very intelligent man. I don't want to say he has gone into the war planning to die. He went in fully accepting that 'if need be, I'll die'."
But are we going to win? Even this fundamental point is now in doubt. The battle for Iraqi "hearts and minds" is already lost. Do we have the stomach to press on to the war's bitter end? Or would it be better to quit now? I'm just glad I don't have to make those kind of decisions.
You go on to say that many of my posts were deliberately designed "to inflame the emotions" of Bush supporters. Well tough. I suggest you calm down and grab a beer, or don't read what I post, it really doesn't matter.
