A UK defence minister Anna Soubry was so upset that troops are only charged £1 for a triple gin and tonic that she’s out to ban drinking in the Armed Forces. She’d ordered the drink while on a visit to the Falklands. She believes that troops should not be able to buy G&T so cheaply. […]
MP Complains about subsidised boozing! – in the Army Read More »
The future reduced British Army seems likely to be able to deploy little more than half the numbers of trained soldiers it had in 1991. A Freedom of Information Act question was answered last week with figures that revealed the following: For the Army, from 1 March 2011 and 1 February 2014, over a fifth
One Fifth of British Army Medically Non-Deployable Read More »
(With acknowledgement to Nigel Molesworth) When is it OK to send in military forces to intervene in the affairs of another country? Answer: when the UN Security Council vote to say you can…. But if you can’t get them to agree, does that mean you don’t do it? Answer: of course not – if you’re
Oil versus Communism Read More »
The MoD sponsored a Territorial Army captain, Dr Mike Martin to write a book about the war in Helmand from 1978 until now. Martin was one of only a handful of officers who’d ‘mastered’ Pashto, and he worked in Afghanistan for 6 years. Unfortunately the MoD didn’t like his conclusion that British and American efforts
Playing the Yanks and their Allies for fools Read More »
Between February 18th and 20th, the elected government of the Ukraine was overthrown by armed revolution. As Ukraine is the equal-third most corrupt country in the world, neither the outgoing or in-coming governments are anything but unsavoury. The only difference is that one was elected – which probably counts for little. However… in terms of
What a Difference a Month Makes Read More »
Questionable Surveys, Deaths and Lamentable Predictions During Tony Blair’s interview on the BBC Today programme this morning, I was listening for some hint of uncertainty in his views on Iraq. He’s making too much money out of his foreign affairs expertise to acknowledge that he might have made any mistakes. Blair stated that if Saddam
The Heart of Darkness Falls Across Us All Read More »