An Alternative "Arsenal of Democracy"?

One of my reasons for staying out of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament after I hit age 14 was its arguments for nuclear disarmament. Specifically, those which involved drawing up detailed plans for conventional battles, at a time when conventional weapons were in use in almost all of the 'low intensity warfare' raging throughout the 1980s. (Unlike nuclear weapons, of course, which were never used at that time, although CND likes to take credit for this too.)

Now it appears that a military advisory role has migrated across to the laptop bombadiers of the Euston Manifesto group. In this morning's Observer online, Nick Cohen argues that 'The arms lobby imperils are troops' [sic, as of 8.30pm GMT] and lists some conventional weapons needed to replace Britain's impractical Cold War arsenal sent out as part of the occupation of Iraq.

With CND one could ask 'whose side are you on?', but the Euston crowd have made this pretty clear already...