London (AP) — Britain's Gordon Brown says a new 1,000-strong pool of civilian specialists will provide expert help to failing states and countries that have suffered conflict or natural disasters

And how does that make you feel!!!!!!!!!!!
Another GB warm and fuzzy plan

Did Gordon Brown take into account that there is a chronic shortage of social workers in the UK and the profession is well under recruited on social work courses at Universities???

Where are these 1000 staff going to come from?????

Christ, we don't have enough social workers to cope with the problems in this country, how the hell are they going to cope with other countries problems? I really do hope this is a wind up.

Originally Posted by dangerousdave

Did Gordon Brown take into account that there is a chronic shortage of social workers in the UK and the profession is well under recruited on social work courses at Universities???

Where are these 1000 staff going to come from?????

I think a lot of ex squaddies could return the favour and become social workers. That would make for an interesting doley interview, "so basically smithy you need to get a job you lazy bugg*r" Oh aye that would work.

Originally Posted by pimpernel

London (AP) — Britain's Gordon Brown says a new 1,000-strong pool of civilian specialists will provide expert help to failing states and countries that have suffered conflict or natural disasters

And how does that make you feel!!!!!!!!!!!
Another GB warm and fuzzy plan

Exactly where does "civilian specialist" become "social worker" ?

I'd guess that they are actually talking about engineers, technicians, medics ?

One of the major criticisms levelled at the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is that we (and others) were woefully unprepared for the reconstruction and humanitarian assistance necessary after the initial invasions - something that may have cut-back the insurgencies that followed. Stories about the 'interesting' way that DFID operates alonside the military are legion so surely having a pool of civilian specialists more closely integrated with the army is something to be welcomed?

Originally Posted by pimpernel

London (AP) — Britain's Gordon Brown says a new 1,000-strong pool of civilian specialists will provide expert help to failing states and countries that have suffered conflict or natural disasters

And how does that make you feel!!!!!!!!!!!
Another GB warm and fuzzy plan

ONLY social workers ffs, what about "elf & safti", pc, racial diversity training & "uman rites" & all the other shite he has inflicted on us?
You have to wonder what a...hole thought that up
Got to stop, me bloodpressure is going through the roof!

Originally Posted by wedge35

One of the major criticisms levelled at the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is that we (and others) were woefully unprepared for the reconstruction and humanitarian assistance necessary after the initial invasions - something that may have cut-back the insurgencies that followed. Stories about the 'interesting' way that DFID operates alonside the military are legion so surely having a pool of civilian specialists more closely integrated with the army is something to be welcomed?

Yes but it was ever thus.

USMC Combined Action in Vietnam (probably most successful initiative of the war, won over the locals and kept the VC away, could have won it for them if they rolled it out bigtime) was derided as 'welfare work' by the big battalions doing the ever-so-productive search and destroy.

With substate conflict and insurgency seeming to be the main threat, I'd argue we need more of this sort of civil action thing to stop populations getting pished off with us and win them over. Even better if we integrate the locals into it.

I suspect that this is one of those fatal attempts to keep all the balls in the air at the same time, by creating a joint MoD/DfID programme...

As with most of the major programmes of this sort, it's doomed to failure, I'm afraid.

Great .... the same dysfunctional, lazy, thick, bureaucratic, bigotted, grossly overpaid mongs that some of us met on TELIC in 2003.

Army does all the work, they sit around in endless meetings talking about it and referring to us as "the enemy". Great, really look forward to that.

See the Clare Short thread for details.