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 »
Drinking beer at lunch time is great – and fun, even though it wrecks me for the rest of the day. But drinking beer at lunch time wearing a suit and tie seems to me to be seriously crap. This is a shame as I think Monsieur Farage’s crack about the EU having “caused” the
Terrifying Development: I understand UKIP’s alternative attraction Read More »
Soon we’ll be remembering this – the 32nd G8, as having been the “Good Old Days”. This morning, I just heard an American G8 (now G7) spokesman say that “Until Russia stops upsetting all the work the G8 has done in stabilising the world since the Cold War, we don’t need to talk to it
G7 Spokesman “We don’t need to talk to Russia…” Read More »
Interestingly, the jingo’ism being generated by the Russian Crimean action has been used in a discussion about the Falkland Islands. In a Face Book conversation, a Brit wrote about the Argentines: “They can write what they like, they are not getting OUR Falklands off us, talk about land grab, They’ll be asking the Russians for
Supporting Self-Determination: Democratic Passions Creating Political Problems Read More »
Gregor Gysi is a parliamentary head of the largest lower-house opposition party in Germany – the Left Party, today attacked Angela Merkel’s support for sanctions against Russia. “They [the Ukraine revolutionaries] formed a new government….. Immediately recognized by president Obama by the EU and German government as well. Miss Merkel! The vice- prime minister, the
German Left Wing Leader attacks German support for ‘Fascist” Ukraine Government Read More »
I’ve been amazed at the hysterical rigidity of Western responses to President Putin’s Crimea intervention; accusations of Hitleresque moves that threaten the stability of Europe, and a crisis that could lead to World War Three. But these are the ideologues at work – the people who think only of how they can profit from the
Ideologists stirring it up in Crimea Read More »