http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2010/02/trebles-all-round/ Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:59:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2010/02/trebles-all-round/comment-page-1/#comment-4302 David Betz Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:02:50 +0000 http://kingsofwar.org.uk/?p=3319#comment-4302 Several things caught my eye, the most general being that it's pervaded by a lot of equivocating, on the one hand this, on the other hand that, which (as you say) is to be expected at this point but which nonetheless I find frustrating. I am not the only one to be sure who fears that rather than making any decisions we are simply coasting into a situation where decisions will be made by default as reality forecloses the available options. But the part which really interests me is the chapter on 'Partnerships' which, frankly, I find dull and unimaginative. There seems to be no questioning our strategic alignment at all. Why not? This is so crucial and the debate now so facile. I guess I think that we really need some 'blue-skies' thinking here and I don't really see it. By MOD standards I am told that this floats the boat out quite a lot more than the norm; in relation to the need for fresh thinking, however, it's not enough. I don't mean this as a slur on the writers who no doubt are working under various constraints. Meanwhile the antics of No 10 perplex and infuriate. Emperor Nero fiddles and all that. Several things caught my eye, the most general being that it’s pervaded by a lot of equivocating, on the one hand this, on the other hand that, which (as you say) is to be expected at this point but which nonetheless I find frustrating. I am not the only one to be sure who fears that rather than making any decisions we are simply coasting into a situation where decisions will be made by default as reality forecloses the available options. But the part which really interests me is the chapter on ‘Partnerships’ which, frankly, I find dull and unimaginative. There seems to be no questioning our strategic alignment at all. Why not? This is so crucial and the debate now so facile. I guess I think that we really need some ‘blue-skies’ thinking here and I don’t really see it. By MOD standards I am told that this floats the boat out quite a lot more than the norm; in relation to the need for fresh thinking, however, it’s not enough. I don’t mean this as a slur on the writers who no doubt are working under various constraints. Meanwhile the antics of No 10 perplex and infuriate. Emperor Nero fiddles and all that.

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