THE WAR ON TERROR
Despite all the rhetoric about fighting a war on terror, and the pretensions of being a world military power, the British armed forces are overstretched and have never been weaker.
Labour recently announced that the RAF is to lose 20% of its personnel and 20% of its combat jets. This includes the scrapping of the entire fleet of 46 Jaguar fighter bombers. One of the 5 frontline Tornado squadrons is being disbanded. The Nimrod reconnaissance fleet is to be cut from 21 to 12. Several air bases are also being closed.
Meanwhile the aircraft carrier Invincible has been decommissioned, which reduces the Royal Navy to only one carrier given that the Ark Royal is still being refitted and will remain out of action for another 2 years.
The number of frigates and destroyers is to be cut from 31 to 25.
The overstretch in the Army has been well documented, as has the news of ongoing reductions and disbandment of historic regiments. This is despite the overstretch and despite the clear deficiencies shown at the start of the invasion of Iraq, when boots melted and there was even a rationing of toilet paper.
Meanwhile Iran has resumed its nuclear programme, and there has been the recent threat by Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Major-General Zhu Chenghu that China would attack over one hundred American cities with nuclear weapons if the United States interferes in a war between Communist China and Taiwan.
General Zhu was speaking at a function for foreign journalists organized by the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry on 14 July. During the function Zhu said:
General Zhu has previously said that China has the capability to attack the USA with long range missiles. The general is a professor and dean in China’s No. 1 National Defence University Strategic Defence Institute which is under the direct leadership of the CCP’s Central Military Committee.
The problem of cutting back on the navy and RAF is that it takes far longer to build these services up again if that becomes necessary, than it is to train infantry. Not only does there need to be the manufacturing capacity to build aircraft and ships [including the shipbuilding yards], but the ships and aircraft have to be built, then the weapons systems have to be built and installed, and then the personnel have to be trained to use the weapons systems and fly the aircraft or sail the ships. This could take years, especially if there is a shortage of shipbuilding/manufacturing capacity, in which case the shipyards and aircraft building facilities themselves have first to be constructed.
If anything were to happen to the Royal Navy’s sole aircraft carrier, then the fleet would be without air cover. The lessons of the sinking of the Repulse and the Prince of Wales in 1941 by Japanese aircraft should not be forgotten.
Nor should the lessons be forgotten of the Falklands War, which was the result of the Argentine junta, seeing the scale of the then proposed cuts to the Royal Navy, concluding that the British had neither the means nor the will to defend British territory.
The recent fleet review on the 28 June in celebration of Trafalgar, was a sign not of British strength, but of British weakness. Despite putting everything bigger than a rowing boat to sea, we could only muster about 40 vessels of the 167 ships present. Yet the Royal Navy was by far the largest in the world 100 years ago and was still the third largest in the 1970s.
Also at the Trafalgar celebrations there was the politically correct nonsense about blue fleets and red fleets, so as not to offend the French.
[It is a good job that Nelson was not too fussed about offending the French.]
Al Qaeda and our other enemies are most unlikely to be respectful of such a display.
Robert Mugabe is currently butchering his way around Zimbabwe as he knows that we do not have the military means to do anything [in addition to the lack of political will]. Mugabe is being supported by China.
It is all very well Tony Blair embroiling us in a war in Iraq, but if we can only pay for that war by cutting the defence budget, then it was not in this country’s interests to have become so embroiled.
For all Mr Blair’s big talk of his decision to remove Saddam Hussein, the fact is he did not have the military power to do any such thing. The decision he had to make, was whether or not to tag along with the USA and play a supporting role. It was the USA which removed Saddam Hussein, they easily were capable of doing so by themselves, and they were determined to do so irrespective of the UK.
The war on terror may yet take many unexpected turns. We are still looking for Bin Laden in Afghanistan and that country is far from stable. Warlords control much of the countryside, Opium production is at a record high, and Al Qaeda remains a force to be reckoned with on the ground.
The situation in Iraq is dire.
These defence cuts are wrong.
The neo-communists of Labour have always held the military traditions and the sense of patriotism which they bring in contempt. As we know from Margaret Hodge, a public school Marxist, they would expect those who would otherwise be employed in manufacturing, shipbuilding or the armed services to stack shelves in Tescos.
Labour recently announced that the RAF is to lose 20% of its personnel and 20% of its combat jets. This includes the scrapping of the entire fleet of 46 Jaguar fighter bombers. One of the 5 frontline Tornado squadrons is being disbanded. The Nimrod reconnaissance fleet is to be cut from 21 to 12. Several air bases are also being closed.
Meanwhile the aircraft carrier Invincible has been decommissioned, which reduces the Royal Navy to only one carrier given that the Ark Royal is still being refitted and will remain out of action for another 2 years.
The number of frigates and destroyers is to be cut from 31 to 25.
The overstretch in the Army has been well documented, as has the news of ongoing reductions and disbandment of historic regiments. This is despite the overstretch and despite the clear deficiencies shown at the start of the invasion of Iraq, when boots melted and there was even a rationing of toilet paper.
Meanwhile Iran has resumed its nuclear programme, and there has been the recent threat by Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Major-General Zhu Chenghu that China would attack over one hundred American cities with nuclear weapons if the United States interferes in a war between Communist China and Taiwan.
General Zhu was speaking at a function for foreign journalists organized by the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry on 14 July. During the function Zhu said:
‘We...will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the [Chinese] cities east of Xian. Of course, the Americans will also have to expect that hundreds...of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.’
General Zhu has previously said that China has the capability to attack the USA with long range missiles. The general is a professor and dean in China’s No. 1 National Defence University Strategic Defence Institute which is under the direct leadership of the CCP’s Central Military Committee.
The problem of cutting back on the navy and RAF is that it takes far longer to build these services up again if that becomes necessary, than it is to train infantry. Not only does there need to be the manufacturing capacity to build aircraft and ships [including the shipbuilding yards], but the ships and aircraft have to be built, then the weapons systems have to be built and installed, and then the personnel have to be trained to use the weapons systems and fly the aircraft or sail the ships. This could take years, especially if there is a shortage of shipbuilding/manufacturing capacity, in which case the shipyards and aircraft building facilities themselves have first to be constructed.
If anything were to happen to the Royal Navy’s sole aircraft carrier, then the fleet would be without air cover. The lessons of the sinking of the Repulse and the Prince of Wales in 1941 by Japanese aircraft should not be forgotten.
Nor should the lessons be forgotten of the Falklands War, which was the result of the Argentine junta, seeing the scale of the then proposed cuts to the Royal Navy, concluding that the British had neither the means nor the will to defend British territory.
The recent fleet review on the 28 June in celebration of Trafalgar, was a sign not of British strength, but of British weakness. Despite putting everything bigger than a rowing boat to sea, we could only muster about 40 vessels of the 167 ships present. Yet the Royal Navy was by far the largest in the world 100 years ago and was still the third largest in the 1970s.
Also at the Trafalgar celebrations there was the politically correct nonsense about blue fleets and red fleets, so as not to offend the French.
[It is a good job that Nelson was not too fussed about offending the French.]
Al Qaeda and our other enemies are most unlikely to be respectful of such a display.
Robert Mugabe is currently butchering his way around Zimbabwe as he knows that we do not have the military means to do anything [in addition to the lack of political will]. Mugabe is being supported by China.
It is all very well Tony Blair embroiling us in a war in Iraq, but if we can only pay for that war by cutting the defence budget, then it was not in this country’s interests to have become so embroiled.
For all Mr Blair’s big talk of his decision to remove Saddam Hussein, the fact is he did not have the military power to do any such thing. The decision he had to make, was whether or not to tag along with the USA and play a supporting role. It was the USA which removed Saddam Hussein, they easily were capable of doing so by themselves, and they were determined to do so irrespective of the UK.
The war on terror may yet take many unexpected turns. We are still looking for Bin Laden in Afghanistan and that country is far from stable. Warlords control much of the countryside, Opium production is at a record high, and Al Qaeda remains a force to be reckoned with on the ground.
The situation in Iraq is dire.
These defence cuts are wrong.
The neo-communists of Labour have always held the military traditions and the sense of patriotism which they bring in contempt. As we know from Margaret Hodge, a public school Marxist, they would expect those who would otherwise be employed in manufacturing, shipbuilding or the armed services to stack shelves in Tescos.
posted by erc @ 10:09 pm
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