All these gulf war adventures have been (shall we say) hostages to fortune. They have surprised evrybody. Particularly the
government(s) - both Tony and Maggie's. Though nobody is saying it - the situation is, and has been out of control from day one of these adventures.

The military have been improvising how to run a war they never expected they would have to fight. And frankly the lickspittle traditions of the British army won't really produce people of imagination - who could work out how a war like this will develop.

My wife was in Harlow Wood Hospital near Mansfield having a bilateral knee joint replacement when the the first war kicked off. Harlow Wood was at that time a beautiful hospital - a specialist one, set in woodland, staffed by porters (most of then paid sod all) who knew how to lift arthritis sufferers without hurting them.

When the war started two wards were cleared immediately - because they were expecting massive incoming casualties and the hospital was commandeered.   Thatcher (spotting how a couple of quid could find their way into her back pocket) continued closing the wards when the casualties never manifested themselves, and now Harlow Wood is small but select estate of of executive homes. The specialist staff are doing other things unconnected with their expertise. harlow Wood was replaced with two general medical wards at the local big hospital, where the staff have no specialist knowledge.

I have a friend whose job is counselling the many tragically wounded soldiers from Gulf War One. the governments indifference to their plight is almost blanket like. Of course they don't give a shit about the wounded from this war - they didn't give a shit about the wounded from the last one.

The attitude is basically the same on described by Rudyard Kipling in his poem about 'the thin red line of heroes - we ain't no thin red heroes' - of course it is. The reason being that the smae shadowy figures are deciding foreign policy as a hundred years ago.

Worrying about what is written down in English law is not going to help anybody in this case. These people are unaccountable, beyond the reach of the legislative process.

Hands up, who wants a more open society and government?