442. Constructive Insubordination- General Sir Nick Parker

Yes.

And I think this takes me back to when I worked for Peter Inge as just a bank carrier, just his ADC.

But he was always talking about the coalition of the willing.

And, you know, if you're going to go in, you want to take as many flags as you can.

It's a very different world now.

And it's almost the coalition of the unwilling.

And we don't even want you.

We don't need you unless it's all going wrong and then we need you.

I wonder what life would be like if you were working in the Pentagon now with Pete Hegsworth and you're seeing lots of the military officers around you who have courage and integrity and are standing up but then getting fired for standing up.

I mean, what is your reading of what's going on? Well,

first of all...

I mean, I remember having dealings with Rumsfeld in Iraq and Gates in Afghanistan.

And to both of them, I was irrelevant.

So no matter what either J.R. Vines or George Casey said, they were not interested in this irrelevant little Brit.

And that was very clear to me.

And I can see that at that high level, strategic level within the American government,

You know,

the nuances that we're talking about don't have the same effect.

They did for the commanders on the ground because that was where the benefits of the coalition could manifest themselves.

I think if you're sitting in Washington, then what you wanted was 46 coalition members to give your operation that sort of international credibility that you desired.

That, as you've alluded, doesn't exist at the moment.

America can operate on its own and has the capability to do it and is.

And I think if I was trying to influence in the Pentagon,

they would look at

you and