I sat rather despondently in for the statement on defence today. Whatever ones views about this it is not by any definition a ‘strategic’ review. It is essentially about a programme of cuts. If the government is right in their economic judgement then it could be an acceptable policy. If they are not right then it is going to be damaging for the UK economy as well as defence.
I think it`s very difficult to access if it`s a strategic review if one is not privvy to the strategy of the Government concerning our armed forces. I would certainly agree, in my somewhat lacking knowledge, that the MOD hasn`t been run as astutely as it could and has at times thought more of itself than the troops on the frontline.
I am of course concerned as to where we want to be as a worldplayer, as the fourth biggest spending nation in terms of defence I feel something is wrong, somewhere. The Falklands proved to some extent that we may not be as capable as we feel, follow that with Iraq and Afghanistan, the equipment fiasco`s and we can see we have been struggling to keep up. The problem will be that if we intend to keep up with World efforts, with these cuts we will find ourselves stretched perhaps beyond capacity. Heaven help us if the Malvina`s kicks off again.
Of course I can only give generalised opinion, I am not privvy to strategy nor all the facts and figures. I do wonder though that with the general unrest re the cuts, if we needed the Armed Services to step in are there enough ? Are the Green Goddesses a victim too ? If, and it is a big if, civil unrest like that in France occurs with the Police cut backs and Armed Services cuts will we cope adequately in a civilised manner ?
So I am concerned, yes, but maybe not privvy to enough information to make an informed view.
I personally think that, of all the things that can be cut, Defence is not one of them.
Don`t know about Spending Review, I need a spelling review. It`s the one thing about WordPress I don`t like, the inability to edit or delete posts.
“Access” should of course have read ” assess”…Obviously don`t know my “ass” from my…..
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By comparison with the vast sums that are regularly spent on war making, cuts are invariably small.
I doubt whether any Secretary for defence ever has any real control over what the department does in terms of spending other than signing the documents.
Defence needs to be all round.
Withdrawal is one form of defence; and pulling in one’s boundaries ( or ‘horns’) is another.
But the more ‘sacrifices’ being made, the more the no-lose withdrawal becomes a total-loss retreat.
“The love of money is the root of all evil”; and Zarove is right.
What needs to be materially defended is Britain’s Lifesupports, none of which are “money” (check out “you can’t eat money” and the “Midas touch”) and all of which are about keeping ourselves healthy, sustain-worthy, and physically capable of providing all round defence, with our allies, against not simply known enemies but imminent-future surprise-attack enemies.
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One man, one ration.
When our ‘leaders’ can show us how to make our small incomes go further (for our own needs), by living-example, then we can begin to believe and support such otherwise luxury-bubble claptrap as “We Are All In This Together” !
Politicians and Parliamentarians, and most Civil Servants, have never been “all in it together” with us, at the battle-front, down the mines, and in the freezing cold of the gutters.
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JSDM0505F22Oct10