The holes just "discovered" by UN inspectors in the electric fencing along
a number of sections of the Iraq-Kuwait border, some as big as 300 yards,
may have a significance on several levels.
Illegal incursion into the DMZ by zealous US forces, wanting to explore the
barriers on the other side of the border,
a deliberate ratcheting up of the pressure on Saddam (who tipped off the UN?)
a decoy to fool the Iraqi's about the likely attack plan.
Or a symbolic hole for Tony Blair to slip through
- I mean that as opposition within his party rises even more strongly and
as a second resolution looks impossible, Blair may need the US to move in
first, with a creeping war, to allow people to welcome nice British troops
coming in a bit later, for example to police Basra by consent of course,
while US troops move up to confront the Republican Guard around Baghdad.
Which delay might be rather convenient because the other curious story
this morning in London is that there are persistent reports that the
British soldiers are not being fed properly, and are still having to borrow
equipment from the US.
None of the families are complaining that their sons may be killed. The
attitude is that their morale needs to be good, and it is unfortunate that
emails are coming through saying some of them have been on tinned rations
for a month. The volume of ordinary letters is so great that apparently the
distribution system is close to breaking down.
Military commentators reveal the dilemmas of imperialism in the 21st
century: The British army, to economise on costs, has runs a policy of just
in time, like a supermarket, for its equipment and supplies. No it does not
keep stocks of 30 thousand desert uniforms and 30,000 polar uniforms. So it
is always on the edge of shortages. Except that its forward planning is not
as systematic as a modern supermarket chain.
So if Britain is trying to punch above its weight in the world by being a
volunteer army at the disposal of the "international community", it is in
an arkward position as not being fully commissioned and funded as a regular
standing army of that international community.
Yet we are now in an era when soldiers are likely to sue for subsequent
stress-related illnesses.
It becomes doubly difficult if the "international community" is not unanimous.
So despite all his protestations of loyalty towards the Bush
administration, Tony Blair might just appreciate a few holes to slip through.
Chris Burford
