The fatal divide at the heart of the Coalition

[struggle4progress]

By Max Hastings
(Filed: 12/03/2006)

Here is a quote from a British security contractor in Iraq about his American counterparts: "I hate those bastards more than the scumbag insurgents." A British colonel recently returned from a tour in the country said that, in our next war, he would sooner fight alongside the Russians than the US.

This is another quote from a British security contractor: "The American way is not my way. I don't mind a scrap but I draw the line at mooning the enemy and inviting him to shoot at my backside, and that's virtually what the Yanks are doing. I'm also convinced that many Americans hate the Iraqis, not just the insurgents but all Iraqis… What a mess." <snip>

It is often justly said that the US army respects the British, and in particular our special forces. But mass matters, and we do not have it. There is no way of getting around this. If Britain, with its tiny armed forces, chooses to engage alongside the US in Iraq or anywhere else, we should never again delude ourselves - as have so many British prime ministers - that the mere fact of throwing a few chips on the table will enable us to call the turn of the wheel. <snip>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/03/12/do1201.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/12/ixhome.html

[EST]

1. Wow! Exactly the tragedy I've been picturing.

I suppose this is the "good news" that Cheney, Bourpo and Rumsfeld have been coaching their subcons to bleat about, on command, the warm stream media's not covering. During the initial conflict, and since, I found myself increasingly going to al Jazerra and other non-USA media to find more truth and accuracy.