This is a phrase which originally came from the First World War , and applies to the British Army , the lions being the ordinary troops and the donkeys the officers.
Now a days the officers tend to go in to action with their men , but ultimately it seems the politicians have control , so they are certainly the new donkeys , as if you didn’t all know :).
Now with this in mind –
I notice it was splashed all over the news in the U.K. on Monday, that a Sergeant from our armed forces had dared to ask our Defence Minister if it was possible to get some more troops in to Afghanistan , and with all respect to that Sergeant , if the minister and his ilk , had actually listened to the millions of people protesting against the war in the first place , he and his mates wouldn’t be in that position , getting their asses shot off for absolutely ....f**k all……
Now I’m not criticizing our armed forces here , merely the people that put them there, who are incidentally , the self same people who will not supply the proper equipment to the troops on the ground , and do not want to know when they come home wounded – either .
The minister - was no doubt on a fact finding mission , something our troops dislike with a vengeance , as all the ethnic minorities are wheeled out for inspection , and essential armoured vehicles , which should be used on the ground , are instead used to aimlessly drive politicians around heavily guarded compounds.
I recently read about politicians complaining about their plane being late because the seats had to be stripped out to accommodate wounded soldiers , and one officer quiet rightly had words with them about this , which you may laugh at but this would have been totally against his military training .
I also read last week , that one of our military commanders in Afghanistan , and not a politician I hasten to add , had proposed the idea of actually talking to The Taliban , instead of trying to shoot them , which is probably an odd attitude for a professional soldier , who’s main aim in life is , to be frank – killing the enemy .
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Actually calling politicians - donkeys is unfair to the donkeys themselves , as I can recall being out and about with work one day , and after hearing a strange noise saw a donkey peering over the fence and it was braying , obviously wanted a stroke , so of course I obliged , and this made my day , unlike listening to a grey suited liar .
