Bit late, but from
Private Eye No 1149, 6 Jan 2006 to show what is happening in what I'm sure Bliar would like to be a "forgotten army".
SANDPIT NEWS
“Delighted British troops in Iraq cheered Tony Blair yesterday after he gave then the perfect Christmas present – news that they are going home”. Oh how many of us choked on our tinned sausages when we read this in the
Sun.
After all, some of us had just returned from a two-week deployment in the dodgier bits of Basra and were less than “delighted” to swap a proper rest in our bashers for extra guard duty around the completely safe Divisional HQ watching the prime minister mugging to the cameras.
The only people who got close to him were part of a carefully selected mix of sycophants, gurning squaddies and “soldiers of colour”, including a Fijian choir. Most of these had only been in Iraq for a few weeks.
Those of us who have been here on extended tours know full well that we’ll only be going home when the Iraqis (or Iranians if you’re in the south) can provide their own security, not to mention a police force that is not in cahoots with the insurgents. And that’s going to take years.
As for the perfect Christmas present, some decent kit would be good: we are still having to buy much of our own gear on eBay. Oh and the arrival of our
Operation Telic medals, delayed over and over again, would be a welcome seasonal gesture.
’Square Basher’
"SMILE FOR THE CAMERA - IT'S GREAT FOR MY POLS"