Did you not listen to Stoltenberg's speech tonight?

Five times he repeated that he considered that Putin (Russia) knows the difference between NATO countries and Non-NATO countries.
Anyone trying to stir it up about those red lines is quite frankly a bit of an arse and needs to go away and have a bit of a think about that.

If you think it's going to come to this - you really are quite stupid.

I said it once. Not interested in drumming up anything. Not digging / not interested. If you / all think it is ok that a government minister is not on top of his brief then I give up. I am sure the lunatic / psychopath Putin has no doubt about his military assets but there you go.

It's not really that at all. But full marks for pointing out that a Government Minister was not on message with his task.

People screw up - even them - especially under pressure - well done for catching it - but not a lot to be gained here by dissection. Surely.

Thanks Auxtank, you get it. Not trying to cause an internet spat, just expressing my view. Cheers.

Horse ****e they would have thought it was a minor error or I know what he meant.
Detail matters.
Whatever he actually said has been eclipsed by the slip up.

By "they" do you mean the serving people you mentioned in your original post?

As a retired infantry major with two tours in Afghanistan (2005 & 2009) and one in Iraq (2007), as Trim It Out says, Tornados were probably part of his service experience, as another UK taxpayer I am happy to forgive a misplaced name under stress. Not even worth a tempest or hurricane in a teacup IMO.

Some ar53 criticised him for tweeting colleagues not friends. "I saw too many colleagues go home from Iraq & Afghanistan in flag draped coffins but all had their sacrifice respected with full military honours. ..." part of a tweet in reference to the apparent potential use of mobile crematoria by the Russians to 'evaporate their dead'.

one just flew over here......it was german or italian?

Oh, dear me, the irony.

To all those who believe that the Minister quoting 'Tornado' instead of 'Typhoon' is a heinous and unforgivable mistake can, l assume stand up in front of the world and state they have never made a similar mistake in something they said during their entire career!

Tartare
 

I am currently serving and I am also an RAF FJ pilot. The Minister saying Tornado instead of Typhoon did not upset me in the slightest. I won’t hold it against him.

Just out of interest do you think the Transport Minister can tell the difference between every type of train/boat/vehicle within their department?

BV

Oh come on Video Mixdown...........bit harsh that. Yes, granted he has a lot going on now and it was no doubt just a slip of the tongue...........but in this context, he only has two extremely big ticket front line types to remember. Really not sure why everyone is rounding on Olster. I wasn't impressed to be honest but that's as far as it goes.

Thanks mopardave. I remain unimpressed that the armed forces government minister does not know the names of his front line fast jets. The court of pprune opinion however holds sway. I don’t want to get into keyboard warrior puerile nonsense, accusations of pomposity etc. Of course we all make mistakes but the devil remains in the detail and this was imho a howler, televised live in parliament. It is unlikely that the lunatic Putin is unaware of his airborne assets. Cheers.

Olster, I have two grandsons. I know their names. But sometimes I call one by the name of the other. I repeat, I know their names but sometimes I get it wrong. Fortunately they know the difference between a lack of knowledge and a slip of the tongue. It’s a shame you don’t have the level of understanding that they have. One is 4 and the other 6.

Bull,I have a personal philosophy that I never say anything over the internet that I wouldn’t say to their face. Therefore in the spirit of courteous discourse I will continue and bow out in that frame. To insult people from the safety of your keyboard who are merely expressing an opinion that may disagree with yours is just cowardice.

I'd wager my mortgage that the minister does know the names of his frontline jets, and that he simply misspoke in the heat of the moment. I'm more interested as to why you're getting so exercised about it.

This discussion has descended into a Hamsterwheel, time to put it to bed 🙊