‘David has decided,’ one of his aides explained, when I met him later, ‘that one cannot criticise a war when there are troops on the ground.’
‘Why?’
‘Well … we have had that debate. But he feels it is a principle of British government.’
‘But Churchill criticised the conduct of the Boer War; Pitt the war with America. Why can’t he criticise wars?’
‘British soldiers are losing their lives in this war, and we can’t suggest they have died in vain.’
‘But more will die, if no one speaks up …’
‘It is a principle thing. And he has made his decision. For him and the party.’
‘Does this apply to Iraq too?’
‘Yes. Again he understands what you are saying, but he voted to support the Iraq War, and troops are on the ground.’
‘But surely he can say he’s changed his mind?’
The aide didn’t answer, but instead concentrated on his food. ‘It is so difficult,’ he resumed, ‘to get any coverage of our trip.’ He paused again. ‘If David writes a column about Afghanistan, we will struggle to get it published.’
‘But what would he say in an article anyway?’ I asked.
‘We can talk about that later. But how do you get your articles on Afghanistan published?’
I remembered how US politicians and officials had shown their mastery of strategy and detail, I remembered the earnestness of Gordon Brown when I had briefed him on Iraq. Cameron seemed somehow less serious. I wrote as much in a column in the New York Times, saying that I was afraid the party of Churchill was becoming the party of Bertie Wooster.
