More fun in the offing, chums. This from Private Eye 28 Oct – 10 Nov 05:
“The British Cabinet now owes it to those it has sent to their deaths to remove the army from Iraq with expedition and dignity,” Simon Jenkins wrote in his Guardian column last Wednesday (19 October 05).
“Having just spent a week with the army. I have no doubt of its morale and its loyalty. I also have no doubt of its ruthlessness in joint memoir operations. In the not too distant future, Blair, Straw, Reid and Hoon are going to know the full meaning of ‘shock and awe’.”
What memoirs can he have in mind? Though he omitted to mention it, Jenkins travelled to Iraq with General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, who is due to retire soon. Jackson has observed with interest the success of recent memoirs by General Sir Rupert Smith and Colonel Tim Collins, but reckons he could do far better. It’s a dead cert that he’ll sign a lucrative publishing deal as soon as he hangs up his beret. And, if Jenkins’s veiled hint is any guide, he will give full value for money.