Horrific Talk

The BBC reports that the Defence Minister, Quentin Davies, has said that he is horrified by accusations made by Major Sebastian Morely, a former commander in the SAS. The Daily Telegraph today reported that:

Major Sebastian Morley claims that Whitehall officials and military commanders repeatedly ignored his warnings that people would be killed if they continued to allow troops to be transported in the vulnerable Snatch Land Rovers.

As a result, he says Cpl Sarah Bryant – the first female soldier to die in Afghanistan – and three male colleagues, the SAS soldiers, Cpl Sean Reeve, L/Cpl Richard Larkin and Paul Stout were killed needlessly.

All four died when their lightly armoured Snatch Land Rover split apart after hitting a landmine in Helmand province in June.
In his resignation letter, Major Morley, the commander of D Squadron, 23 SAS, said "chronic underinvestment" in equipment by the Ministry of Defence was to blame for their deaths.

Quentin Davies is an insensitive idiot.

This is not horrific. What is horrific is that time after time British soldiers have lost their lives because they have been sent into warfare inappropriately equipped. We have a duty to ensure that if we send our armed faces into battle to make sure they have the correct equipment to do the job. When there are repeated claims by those serving in Afghanistan and Iraq of problems with equipment, instead of the Government's disgraceful tactic spinning against those making their worries public, there should be a show of humility and respect for those laying their lives on their line.