Bases Loaded

‘TONY Blair says that ‘we will not run away in fright’ from the armed and bloody resistance in Iraq.

Well, ill-fitting boots that melt make running nigh on impossible.

And we won’t fly away either, since the Telegraph follows Blair’s soundbite with news that eight Special Forces helicopters are out of action because they cannot fly if it’s cloudy.

The Chinooks, which cost £259m, are also only allowed to fly over 500ft from the ground in clear skies, making it tricky to airlift SAS troops in with any degree of secrecy.

Which is a pity since helicopters always make for an impressive sight, whether they’re lifting Americans from their embassy roof in Iran or flaying acres of Vietnamese forest with napalm.

For do not doubt for a minute that Ted Kennedy is right when the Independent hears him say that Iraq is ‘turning into George Bush’s Vietnam’.

We think we understand Kennedy’s meaning, but students of Bush’s career will realise that the Senator’s comment points to a pretty safe war for the leader of the free world, who will ensure Texas remains free from Iraqi invasion, just as he kept the land free from Vietnamese troops all those moons ago.

And Bush is already in uniform. There he is on the cover of the Telegraph preparing for the long fight ahead in a red St Louis Cardinals baseball jacket, Anorak Comfi-Slax and an expression that says: ‘Crisis? What crisis?’

He’s also armed with a small round device, believed to be a baseball, which he is making ready to hurl grenade-like to mark the opening of the 2004 baseball season.

And that’s a season that will go ahead no matter what. Tony will not run from Iraq and George will not stop playing baseball, however tough the fighting gets.’

Posted: 7th, April 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink