Dead young men and women who signed up to defend Britain not die needlessly in some dust ball third
world nation. March 2003 to July 2009: 179.
Wounded and sent home to inadequate care, support and being kicked off benefits by ATOS, same
period: 5970.
Financial cost, not including overseas aid, salaries of soldiers or use of existing military assets that were
sent to Iraq. £9,240,000,000.
End result. Iraq government now losing control of the country and facing collapse. Army units expensively
trained and equipped by US and UK throwing away weapons and running for it trying to catch up to officers
who fled first.
Islamic extremists, the same groups that we were talking about supporting against Assad not so long ago
are overthrowing democratic rule and imposing strict theocracy and religious law.
They are gaining huge stockpiles of modern western weapons left in the dust by fleeing Iraqi military units
including vehicles, heavy weapons and some reports of other items such as anti tank or anti aircraft weapons.
Not to mention uncountable quantities of money.
Reports come in today that the Iraqi government set in place by so much cost in lives and coin by us, the
UK and the US, is facing collapse in the face of a large and capable force of Islamic groups.
Hundreds of thousands either fleeing or trying to, a huge and building refugee crisis to add to the millions
already in trouble across the border in Syria.
I consider the failure of western efforts to set up a western democracy on a nation with no tradition of such.
The expectation seen through the rose tinted glasses of our political classes that a few years and the same
corruption that is the norm here in the UK and a full blown democracy will spring forth. Ignoring the fact
that British democracy formed over hundreds of years and took a war and a great deal of bloodshed.
I am also thankful that for once sense prevailed and the UK and Western World did not jump in with another
bombing campaign to topple Assad and arm his enemies. How much worse would things be now if the whole
of Syria was arming and standing with these forces.
I am thankful that as much as the west tried to do to Egypt what it did to Iraq it was not able to do.
Iraq is falling apart, the west went in and meddled in the old fashioned way of Empire but without bothering
to do what the Empire did which was stick around afterwards and tidy up. Instead they wrecked the old
system, celebrated a job well done and walked away.
Now we have the map of Northern Iraq and Syria becoming a new extremely Islamic state and the rest or
Iraq may well be joining it the as soon as the rest of the political and military leadership has run away. I don't
blame soldiers for not wanting to fight when they see their leaders turn tail and flee at the first sign of trouble.
Finally and yes some of you may well consider this controversial.
If you do, Tough.
Had the west succeeded in Egypt with its attempts to force a Muslim brotherhood government after the
movement to kick them out, then the Sunni and Pro Al Q Muslim brotherhood would be siding with the Sunni
and Pro Al Q Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) to turn the entire middle east into a war zone.
Egypt under a secular government is still the last and only real hope for peace in the middle East, it is the one
power than can hold and it is the one nation that will guarantee widespread and murderous religious war
across the whole region if it falls to religious rule.
Yet it is the nation that mere months ago the West was trying to condemn to the hell of a strongly religious
government with the persecution of minorities and other religions and war against any other group or nation
that did not share its beliefs. Again and again the West has meddled and again and again such actions have
made the situation worse. Will our politicians learn the lesson. I doubt it.
Is this what we are going to leave behind us in Afghanistan. Pakistan is already dealing with attacks against
its major airports and cities. Libya is a wasteland of Waring gangs. Syria is a single vast war zone.
The middle east is a powder keg that is sparking and fizzing and looking more and more likely to explode.
The response of our leaders. Take the soldiers who have been worn out by year after year of constant war and
sack them, dump the casualties of those years in the gutter. Run down our armed forces and then rely on
reserve units and part time volunteers who are refusing to have anything to do with the nation reserve force.
Our armed forces are reduced to a hollow shell as the storm that has been created by Western warmongering
and stupidity final begins to arrive.
I see the lights of civilisation going out again and it’s not just the electricity shortage causing it.