The Dear Leader is once again trimming his message to his audience – in this case both John Howard, who has nailed his colours firmly to the Iraq mast (and luckily sustained no Australian causalities in-country, to
date ) and, of course, George Dubya, who will be carefully watching his poodle’s performance from afar to make sure there is no hint of him peeing on the carpet.
Contrast the bellicose style of "if the going gets tough, we tough it out" so beloved of the Texan Tyro, with
this in respect of “drawing down” (a somewhat more temperate expression and not one used by Dubya – but then he doesn’t address the UK voters!). BBC, 13 March 2006 (
Northwest can safely ignore as it was only “a journo piece of rubbish to tide over a slow news day”).
“But there are compelling strategic reasons why Britain wants to start "drawing down" (ie reducing) its military presence in Iraq.
The relatively small British Army is now heavily stretched by its commitments in the Middle East, the Balkans and now Afghanistan, where up to 5,700 troops will be deployed for the next three years.
There is also the question of Britain's global reputation, especially in the Arab and Muslim world where the US-led occupation of Iraq is deeply unpopular.
Despite the fact that Iraq's political leaders have yet to ask Western forces to leave, there is a widespread perception in the Middle East that Britain and the US want to remain in Iraq as "neo-colonial occupiers" intent on taking its oil.
Reducing British troop numbers, and in due course handing over security of the southern provinces to Iraqi forces, will go some way towards redressing that perception.”
Surely “toughing it out” shoulder to shoulder with John and Dubya is at odds with both the present day geo-political realities in evidence and the even more pressing realities of limited force capability, imposed by our own dear Chancellor?