"“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.” "


Chinese premier Wen Jiabao 12th March 2009


""We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we'd like to do our best to preserve that system."


Timothy Geithner US Secretary of the Treasury, previously President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.1/3/2009

Saturday, October 14, 2006

General Sir Richard Dannatt is a dangerous man

General Sir Richard Dannatt is a professional soldier, an early (aged 22) recipient of the MC in Northen Ireland. He is a devout Christian and besides being responsible for the whole of the UK military forces is also vice-president of the Officers' Christian Union and president of the Soldiers' and Airmen's Scripture Readers Association. He is also a supporter and endorser of the curious Christian Alpha program .... "Alpha has been so wonderfully used over the years, and I am delighted that it has expanded into the Armed Forces."


Two weeks into his post, wearing a uniform that Herr Goering would have envied ,he seized public attention in highlighting the situation in Afghanistan. UK troops were doing "more than their share" .... "We are running hot, certainly running hot. Can we cope? I pause. I say 'Just'." Cheered the lad up in Helmland no end... of course it got Tony Blair to make even more promises that he cannot possibly fulfill.

Now in a comedic scene of solitary pomposity (No backing group to this soul singer) on the steps of the MOD, a portly portent, he seeks to justify his irregular and public outburst in the columns of the Daily Mail. We then have the absurdity of the other architect of this Judaeo- Christian Crusade Tony Blair claiming that everyone in the Church is singing from the same hymn sheet. Which resolves nothing.

General Sir Richard Dannatt is a dangerous man, he exemplifies the muddled and chronically myopic vision of the modern MOD who cannot seem to procure the necessary weapons of war, nor execute their use, usefully or successfully. Nor do their leaders appear able to cope with the lunatic ambitions of their political masters either nationally or collectively through NATO and the EU.

Whatever the failings of the leadership, ... and one must remember the old saw, "There are no bad soldiers, only bad officers" ... this balding, overweight, pompous, conceited Schweik, reminds me of Sassoon's majors,

"If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath, I'd live with scarlet Majors at the Base, And speed glum heroes up the line of death."

Whatever flash of Messianic light that has lit up his landscape, I remain convinced that his unorthodox, illegitimate and essentially counterproductive remarks, suggest that General Sir Richard Dannatt is more a part of the problem than even the start of the solution.

Whatever the failing of our Democratic process, the debate about our foreign policy and military endeavours should not be conducted in the columns of the Daily Mail, impromptu gatherings al fresco with the Press or on State radio.

I repeat. General Sir Richard Dannatt is a dangerous man.

Update later today after posting the above ...In support of this argument go to here and read with interest this youthful supporter of General Sir Richard Dannatt's muscular Christianity, set against the nonsensical fears that England is about to become some sort of Eurabian Caliphate.

3 comments:

Stef said...

So, the general reckons we should move our troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan instead where we can 'get it right'!??

Jesus wept...

Fidei Defensor said...

In defense of myself...

1) This post of mine on the general is a precursor to a post I am soon putting up regarding opposition to the war in Iraq. I want to show that these views are not part of some left-wing fringe, since the general can hardly be considered left-wing.

2) The strongest comment on my blog, "I think I might just support a military coup which restored English common law to a Sharia ruled UK.” Was a quote from a London blogger. I am not sure who or where you are, but for this particular Londoner, the General's message is not feared but embraced.

3) I would bet you agree with the general's view that the mission in Iraq is not accomplishing much and it would be best to bring some troops home and put others in Afghanistan. That's just smart.

4)This should serve as a wakeup call to Blair and possibly Bush.

5) I would hardly call my "fears" "nonsensical." This is not just a UK issue but a world issue. Did Egypt, Constantinople, Palestine, Anatolia, Libya, Spain, Sudan, etc ever think that they would be part of some caliphate? Those were all Christian’s lands that were overrun by Jihad in the historical blink of an eye.

6) Your nation's top military leader is going to be a smart guy, maybe he understands the situation better than you do? Are you dismissing this man's views simply because he is Christian?

7) As you have no doubt seen, even a small percentage of violent people can force their will on the multitudes. In certain respects the freedom of speech is almost dead in Europe, when neither Danish cartoonists, nor the Pope can speak a critical word against Mohammed without fear of violence something is very, very, wrong.

8) Europe's problems are well known. I am not xenophobic in the least and I am very glad to see immigrants from Mexico pouring into the United States. In Europe however your immigrants don't assimilate, what does it mean to be an Englishmen or a Frenchmen in 2006? It probably doesn't have nearly as much meaning and strength of identity as being a "Muslim." I will say that I think this issue is more prevalent in France where Paris has to endure weeks of rioting at a time that strains the police forces to the limits.

9) Men like General Dannet were par for the course in England probably up until the 1950's. Your country seemed to be doing just fine when the halls of power could claim several men like him. We have plenty of military leaders and politicians in the US who speak very openly about their strong religious values, Protestant or Catholic and it has done us no harm. The general’s Christianity is not “muscular,” it is simply honest. The pacifists, peace-at-any price types, are the one’s misinterpreting Christianity. General Dannet seems more in-line with the “Just-War” tradition of the likes of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, I am surprised he isn’t Catholic!

10) Thank you for putting all this information out here, I am only more convinced that I like Sir Richard, he's a good guy, I will have to link to your posts on my blog so my readers can see some, more of his quotes.

ziz said...

Double Damn

oooooooooooppps!!

www.counterpunch.org/teague02262003.html
www.canadianspectator.ca/articles/beekeepers.html

(C) Very Seriously Disorganised Criminals 2002/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 - copy anything you wish