Thats right. At a time when the MoD is facing perhaps our biggest expenditure cuts in history and amidst the Strategic Defence Spending Review, Dr Liam Fox has taken time out from his undoubtedly busy schedule to attack the content of a video game as being "thoroughly un-British".That the game itself, Medal Of Honor has yet to be released seems to matter not. The game centres of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan in which players 'go in' with the ISAF forces.
Dr Fox says he is "disgusted" and that "it is shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban against British soldiers."
Unfortunately for Dr Fox, the game does not allow for that which he claims. Whilst it is true that in the multi-player game teams can form from the US or opposing Taliban sides, no British troops are included within any of the scenarios.
Hopefully Dr Fox spends more time researching real defence issues and expenditure than he did before attacking this game. Frankly one phone call or a cursory glance at a gaming magazine would have demonstrated the futility of charging up that particular hill!
That said, he has got form for this sort of thing. You might remember Dr Fox extolling the virtues of the Duke of York before the last election. Not Prince Andrew of course, but the Duke who increased the standing army from 50k to half a million to face Napoleon, with the help of 30 odd civil servants! He forgot to mention however, that the housing, feeding, clothing, arming and paying of that massive army was contained within its regimental structures and duplicated endlessly and at vast expense to all the services. It is for most of those functions that the MoD Civil Service side exists. We pay, feed, clothe, arm and house the services at a fraction of the cost of the uniformed equivalent. Furthermore, civillians free up much needed personnel for active service, to march them up hills, and then march them down again.
