Troops deserve a balanced diet

Oct 12 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

IN THE words of Napoleon Bonaparte: "An army marches on its stomach". Yet today’s Liverpool Daily Post reveals troops fighting on the frontline in Afghanistan are facing a food crisis.

Of course, the lack of fresh rations does not mean the personnel at one Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Helmand are about to faint from lack of hunger.

But it sends an appalling message to the troops about how their comfort, health and well-being is viewed by defence chiefs.

These are highly-trained professionals, working at the summit of their abilities in difficult, stressful and physically demanding conditions.

Surely fresh food is vital to allow them to sustain their level of work and fitness?

Any office canteen failing to offer fresh food such as fruit, bread or milk to workers would be mauled by critics.

It is a disgrace that troops putting their lives on the line daily have been denied these basic staples for 40 days.

And it poses the question: If it is logistically impossible to transport a few gallons of milk and some fruit to the frontline, how exactly do the powers- that-be plan to get medical supplies, munitions and other essential kit through?

Liverpool Walton MP, Peter Kilfoyle, a former defence minister, plans to raise the issue in Parliament, saying he is tired of being misled about the conditions troops were facing in war zones.

Mr Kilfoyle – an MP unafraid of upsetting his superiors – is right to ask what else we are not being told.

The Ministry of Defence is launching an investigation and says troops will get fresh rations whenever possible.

A spokeswoman insisted helicopters engaged on operations could not be made available to deliver fresh food.

Would this apparatchik react so sanguinely if her daily ration of foamy lattes from a corporate coffee bar were withdrawn indefinitely?

One suspects the drumming of kitten heels would echo around the carpeted corridors of Whitehall.