So, there I was this morning, driving back from the swimming pool - er, by the way, have I mentioned before that every morning I go . . . oh, right, I have told you . . . several times . . . right, fine, so there I was driving along enjoying the 'Zumerzet' countryside as the sun continued its manic efforts to produce some summer after five years of absence when I decided to switch radio channels because Classic FM were playing some ghastly bit of scratch and whine baroque music which mostly I hate and as I hit BBC Radio 4 (by mistake) I caught the news that some "very model of a modern major-general" was saying that we must go to war with Syria. It was at that point that I nearly swerved off the road!
Actually, he wasn't a major-general, he was even 'brassier' than that being the outgoing Chief of the Defence Staff. And fortunately, according to young Master Nelson of The Spectator, Gen. Sir David Richards was not actually suggesting war with Syria but pointing out to 'Dim Dave' that he should think very, very hard before committing this country to such a venture:
‘If you wanted to have the material impact on the Syrian regime’s
calculations that some people seek, a no fly zone per se is insufficient. You
have to be able, as we did successfully in Libya, to hit ground targets. You
have to establish a ground control zone. You have to take out their air
defences. You also have to make sure they can’t maneuver – which means you have to take out their tanks, and their armoured personnel carriers and all the other things that are actually doing the damage. If you want to have the material
effect that people seek you have to be able to hit ground targets and so you
would be going to war if that is what you want to do.’
'Dave' took a decision when he came into office that he would cut expenditure on the armed services but ring-fence spending on so-called 'foreign aid' so if he has any bright ideas about intervening militarily into Syria then first of all he has to work out who pays! I hope that Sir David has had the guts to say all this during his tenure in the top job, and even more so do I pray that his successor displays equal courage in forcing the pols to think before they act - including, if necessary, the courage to resign even if it means losing an ermine gown and a seat in the Lords!
