Bill Sykes' - In Retrospect
X.
(February 2008)
Bill Sykes
looks back in retrospect at material which has been published
in previous editions of "View from America",
in an attempt to determine whether the subject matter
written then is still applicable in today’s world.
Article #10C.
Extracted from February
2002 "View from America".
(An ex-Brit gives his views---(without fear or favor
of the American scene).
The first month of the year 2002, and here I am faced
with the same continuing depressing and negative "War
in Afghanistan" news programs. (Please note the
date).
So I thought that I would at least relieve the tedium
with a facetious and completely irreverent but somewhat
humorous
story that came to me one night as I lay in bed thinking
about the Pakistani/India situation.
I’m afraid that this has really nothing to do with
the Afghanistan situation but close enough to be somewhat
relative.
I know that many of you, (or perhaps even a few of you),
have read this story previously, if so please forgive
me from placing it in front of you for a second or even
for some readers a third time.
By Gad sir—This is not cricket! The
Pakistan/India/Kashmir situation
I had a dream (courtesy of you-know-who). True
story - well the dream part is. I was in conversation
at a secret location, (so secret that I had no idea where
it was or how I got there - well it was a dream wasn’t
it - so what can one expect), with the Indian Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee and the Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf. Just the three of us. Why me? Who knows,
perhaps they needed an "unbiased" opinion!
Anyway, now we have set the stage, on with the dream.
The negotiations between the two major participants,
regarding who owned Kashmir were going nowhere and were
particularly aggressive and volatile. As I was a silent
and unobtrusive onlooker, I obviously had nothing to
say on the matter, until surprisingly I was asked for
an opinion.
I thought long and hard about what I perceived
to be the problem and then had what I considered to be
a brilliant insight as to how the problem could be solved.
Cricket, by gad sir a cricket match, Pakistan versus
India, on a pitch to be prepared on the demarcation line
between Pakistani controlled Kashmir and Indian controlled
Kashmir. Preferably in a flat fertile valley, if one
could be found.
The location was decided and a
perfectly prepared wicket was produced. The teams were
selected - did my eyes deceive me or was that Wally Heap
and Freddy Truman out there as umpires. (Now most of
you know Freddy Truman, but I would bet that there is
not one amongst you who knows the identity of the other
umpire). Wally Heap was a teacher in the late 1930s,
at the Goitfield all boys school in Longwood, Huddersfield,
and amongst other things he was my PE teacher.
Mr. Heap
was an excellent cricketer who I used to watch playing
for Paddock on Saturday afternoons. Henceforth he was
part of my dream. It’s funny, but when you
get to my age you remember vague personalities from the
long distant past with great clarity, but by lunchtime
you have forgotten what you had for breakfast. I’m
sure that there may be a few readers of this newsletter
that can relate to such a situation.
The date of the five match series, "winner take
all" was put on the calendar and everything was
set to go.
Unfortunately, on the day of the much awaited first match,
whilst all the TV news stations had forgotten about "the
war" and were concentrating all their news media
people at the secret location to enlighten
the world at large on the once genteel but complex sport
of cricket - even though maybe only the BBC reporters
and a select few leading British newspaper reporters
understood the rules and regulations - it rained and
the match was postponed. Oh dear, did it rain? Yes,
oh Yes! Bombs, rockets, all sorts of explosive devices,
(fortunately no atomic weapons) - but the deluge completely
destroyed the beautiful cricket pitch and set the whole
negotiations back to square one.
Well what did
you expect, perfection, this was a dream, and
as we live in an imperfect society even a dream cannot
always have a happy ending. Having just reread, what
I previously considered to be a fascinating and humorous
solution to the India/Pakistani problem, I’m trying
to make up my mind whether to go ahead and publish, or
scrap the whole paragraph. Here I am trying to insert
a little humor into a terrible situation and find myself
being my own worst critic. If I had the outrageous
humorous wit of Bill Bryson (*) I probably could have
done a better job.
(*) Bill
Bryson, author of "Notes from a Small Island".
A hilarious view, by an American, of life as he experienced
it during a ten year sojourn in England. Highly recommended
reading.
Pertinent facts.
The territory
of Kashmir was hotly contested, even before India and
Pakistan gained independence from Britain in August of
1947.
Under the plan of participation, (Indian Independence
act of 1947), Kashmir was free to accede to India or
Pakistan.
The Maharaja, Hari Singh, wanted to stay independent,
but eventually decided to accede to India in return for
military aid and a promised referendum.
Since then the territory has been the object of many
armed conflicts between India and Pakistan.
The first war in 1947/1948, the second in 1965, with
a third bitter conflict in 1999.
The ownership of the territory of Kashmir is still in
contention and the future is still uncertain.
What a way to run a war.
Let me say up front that any war that is conducted in
such a manner as to avoid friendly casualties has my
full support.
The bombing campaign conducted by the United States has
flattened the tops of many of Afghanistan’s mountains,
and has decimated the Taliban and al Quaeda forces with
little loss of American lives. This to me is a
definite plus in the battle to destroy the enemy forces
and maintain a minimum casualty count.
Fortunately the war has currently shifted from what appeared
to be its major objective, the capture of Usama bin Laden,
to the roundup and interrogation of terrorist associated
armed forces and the installation of a stable Afghan
Government.
On the other hand it may be disconcerting
for the members of the gallant American Marine Corp and
the 101st Airborne to appear to be considered by world
news reports to be doing housekeeping and guard duties
at the Kandahar airbase. One must not forget that the
Marines and Airborne Forces, plus the Coalition Peacekeepers,
are in a very inhospitable and dangerous Afghan environment
and must be supported in any and every way that we the
general public can offer.
The modern day unconventional way of conducting a war,
has the Supreme Commander, General Tommy R. Frank’s,
maintaining his headquarters, (and one would assume his
general staff), at a Central Command Building in Tampa,
Florida. This has certainly raised some eyebrows in the
United States Military. It would appear to be sound judgment
when considering the advanced communications and information
technology available to the Supreme Commander, which
allows him to keep his distance from where the real fighting
is going on.
On the other hand, in the European and North
African Campaigns of World War Two, famous generals of
that era, such as Wavell, Auchinleck, Montgomery, Patton
and Rommel, (to name but a few), led their men into battle.
How things have changed in this new way of conducting
a war.
For whatever reasons, I was not a great
fan of Montgomery, but admit to great admiration for
General Rommel who to me was a soldier’s soldier,
as well as being a great military strategist.
Are there any opinions out there on the subject.
Should the General, as in the past, assume the model
of personal leadership, and command his armies as near
to the front as possible, or should he adopt the current
day approach of electronic control from a remote location,
such as an air conditioned office in Florida?
In my
days with the Allied Armed Forces of World War Two
in the European theatre it was always considered
appropriate for an officer never to give a command for
a duty that he would not be prepared to tackle himself.
But there, unfortunately I’m of the old brigade
who hasn’t yet caught up with the idea of remote
controlled armies.
Mention in dispatches:
In addition to the bravery of the American Marines and
the other coalition forces actively engaged in the
War in Afghanistan, a special mention must be made
of the American "Green Berets" and the
British "Special Air Services",
personnel who’s behind the scenes activities have earned them great respect
for their bravery, daring, and determination in bloody firefights with the enemy
forces. Their activities do not usually hit the headlines due to the covertness
of their operations but I’m sure that they deserve all the credit and respect
that can be given.
Disclaimer.
Some of the information gathered for this news letter
has been gleaned from American and International media
sources, (including the Internet), and as such is quoted
as accurately as possible. I try to obtain confirmation
from several outlets, so the text is a mixture of composite
news items and personal comments and therefore the
reader must make his/her own judgement as to the reliability
and degree of accuracy of the subjects discussed.
We
welcome feedback about any of the contents of these articles.
Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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