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Given his going on holiday before hostilities broke out last year, and his handling of the Dr Kelly business, you'd have thought this utter tosspot and feeble excuse for a minister might have been shown the door. But no, he obviously has hidden talents: for brown-nosing and slavishly doing whatever Tony wants him to do.

In Parliament on Tuesday, appearing before the defence select committee, he repeated the claim that the Black Watch would be in this new deployment for around four weeks and would be brought home by Christmas (to be replaced by the Royal Scots). But when casualties were to be announced yesterday, what happened? His junior minister made a statement to the Commons. So where was Geoff?

I'd like to think he was travelling to Iraq to show his support for the troops there. But given his track record (or skid mark record in his case), is that likely? Is it not more likely that he was avoiding having to face the nation himself? If this man ever had the trust of the armed forces and the country, it was a long time ago. Only his loyalty to the Rev Tone has saved his miserable career so far. We've had some craven toads as defence secretary over the years, but I think few have made me feel quite as disgusted as the present one.

A letter in the current Guardian weekly:
Retiring US Secretary of State Dean Rusk, berating journalist Louis Heren for British failure to intervene in Vietnam said (1969); "All we needed was one regiment. The Black Watch would have done, but you wouldn't. Well, don't expect us to save you again. They can invade Sussex and we won't do a damn thing."
(David Halberstam: The Brightest and the Best.)

Mart

I think that if you are the Minister for Defence you should be marched into the woods, made to dig your own grave and shot. That would teach warmongering bastards to take warmongering bastard jobs.