Whither courage?

To coincide with his accession to the job he has coveted for decades, Gordon Brown published a book about courageous statesmen - a laughable piece of hubris given his subsequent weaknesses and vacillations since wimping out of calling an election.

Now we learn that any pretence at courage has been replaced by a Chamberlainesque move towards appeasement of the Taliban. In a move that will only anger the White House - and which will do little to bring a lasting peace to Afghanistan - Brown has announced he intends to enter talks with the Taliban. If them, why not Al Qaeda, Gordon? And if talks are such a good idea, why have we sacrificed so many lives to defend freedom and to promote human rights and democracy for Afghan citizens who lived under the brutal Islamofascist tyranny of the Taliban?

This government has shown it does not understand or value our armed forces. Brown has also shown that he does not have the stomach for the fight. The half-hearted effort at funding our armed forces, coupled with lukewarm support by the Prime Minister and our part-time Defence Secretary, shows that Brown does indeed exhibit the character of a British wartime leader - not Churchill, however. Chamberlain.

Brown is a coward: but then that's surely no surprise to any of us, is it?