General Michael J Dugan USAF Ret
General Michael J Dugan USAF Ret

Tending my plants and things first thing before the decorators arrive and soon left on a showery day but the gas board also came and got on with my installation after a briefing so that I could spend the day on administration.

The US sacked their five star general Michael Dougan, a decorated war hero, for intemperate remarks as Britain and other European Community countries expelled not only the Iraqi military attaches based in Europe and their staffs but also student activists.

Another UK army recruitment sergeant is shot and seriously wounded outside his office in the Prime Minister’s Finchley constituency and the Liberal Democrats have opened their conference with a radical package of measures to improve the environment and reform the political system

I slept well enough and then made sure I was up in time as we were expecting workmen first thing in the morning. I did my morning round, although it had already started showering slightly and I did not really need to water the hanging baskets. I used fertiliser for the conservatory plants as they had only been fed but not watered this summer. It was strange to see the showers this morning after so many weeks and months without rain. I had put the sprinkler on a lawn earlier and had to turn it off; although it was questionable just how much good the light rain was doing. It was just our luck that this was the first day that the decorators come to paint the outside of the house and all they could do was to bring their equipment and had to go away again. Still, they have had a good summer for their trade. The gas board came again, and I had a long discussion with the supervisor and engineer about the finer aspects of how the heating installation would be done, before leaving them to get on with it.

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The rest of the day in my office, tending to a range of correspondence again and then maintaining my filing system which needed new labels and sorting into a more logical order so that I could find outstanding papers and stand some chance of finding them again when next needed! It continued to shower in fits and starts and turned out to be the first proper rain we had experienced in a long time. The news today was of the Americans sacking their Air Force chief of staff for indiscreet and intemperate public comments that had the effect of disclosing US military policy in the Gulf. He had said that the only effective way of resolving the crisis militarily was to bomb Iran and concentrate the attack on Saddam Hussein and his family. It was the first time in 40 years as a member of the chiefs of staff had been sacked and the five star general Michael Dougan, a decorated war hero, has paid the price for the need for politicians to show that they, and not the military, are in control of events. T

oday, Britain and other European Community countries expelled the Iraqi military attaches based in Europe and their staffs. Additionally expelled from Britain were Iraqi student activists who are accused of ‘policing’ other Iraqis students here into working for the Iraqi government in aiding their intelligence network; making 31 expelled from hearing all. The human misery in Kuwait as fleeing nationals tale of looting is, killings and disruption of the country and those families that attempt to leave by the Saudi border have all young men of military age taken from their cars ‘for active service ‘. Back in Britain, another army recruitment sergeant is shot and seriously wounded outside his office in the Prime Minister’s Finchley constituency. The Liberal Democrats have opened their conference with a radical package of measures to improve the environment and reform the political system, but face potential divisions over the terms of military involvement in the Gulf.