SIR - What crass hypocrisy with Gen Sir Mike Jackson now defending our troops in Iraq over inferior equipment.

When he was still a serving soldier he was unrealistically criticising our troops for not frequently cleaning their Sam automatic rifles - which were continuously jamming and seen by our troops in conflict to be unreliable and unsuitable for desert warfare.

But then of course he was both a Government puppet spokesman and a very senior officer.

There could be a solution to the continuous bad judgments by the Ministry of Defence and politicians such as Tony Blair and smirking former Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

They should be required to experience themselves for a reasonable period of time, the same conditions and with the same equipment, as they see fit for our troops who are daily operating in life threatening situations, then make their judgments.

I am sure that the silence from them would be deafening.

Brian Hunt, Worcester.