Not A War Thing At All

One of the numerous good reasons for blowing up Parliament has been bragging about the latest glorious escalation in Daveybloke's nice new Iraq war. Military officers have been dispatched to fulfil a "training and advisory role", in preference to having Johnny Arab over-sexed and over here. The British military is particularly well qualified for the task, having been "part of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that overthrew Saddam Hussein, and later took responsibility for Basra and the south of the country", as Britain's leading liberal newspaper puts it, leaving to less reputable sources such minor matters as illegality, torture and civilian casualties. In tribute to Britain's ability to punch above its weight in the international mugging racket, the training centre where the officers perform their paedagogical duties will be run by the United States. Appropriately enough given the Government's idea of a proper education, the announcement of this latest bit of mission creep was made not by the Minister for Wog-Bombing but by the Bullingdons' token filly at the Department of Scholastic Profitability.