The commanding officer of the Black Watch said that the government's reluctance to be seen preparing for war was to blame for equipment shortages suffered by troops in Iraq.Lt Col James Cowan said that while the government's decision to wait until the last minute was understandable, "as a result, many items of equipment were not available in the right numbers, in the right place, in the right working order at the time they should have been and I think that is widely acknowledged".