Now, that's quite silly!
Posted on 02/06/2008 2:55:04 PM PST by Leisler
THE Army has run out of machine guns, The Sun can reveal.
The crisis is unlikely to be solved before JUNE, a leaked report reveals.
British troops “desperately” need 400 of the jumbo 0.5in calibre heavy machine guns – the weapon most acutely missed.
The Army has also run out of the 7.62mm GPMG and Minimis.
Supply has collapsed partly because of a dispute with the manufacturers, Manroy – which also provides weapons to Saudi Arabia.
The leaked report – prepared for the Army’s command centre in Wilton, Wilts – reveals that generals have urged the Ministry of Defence “to prevent Manroy delivering Saudi weapons ahead of our requirement”.
Generals asked the US to help but were snubbed by the Pentagon – who have dubbed British colleagues “The Borrowers”.
The report says: “We are trying to get 400 guns transferred from the US. However, the material was provided by US DoD and they are not prepared to release them. MoD-level engagement is needed to try and get these released.”
The crisis is having a crippling effect on training in the UK – with all available spares being rushed to war zones.
Almost HALF the Minimi Light Machine Guns used at Catterick and Brecon are also out of commission.
The report adds: “The original spares package was inadequate and usage has been far above that expected. As a result stocks are very fragile.”
Tory MP and ex-Army officer Patrick Mercer said last night: “Thank God the Army have still got their bayonets – it looks like they may be all they’ll have left. This could have been dealt with months ago.
“Yet again, our fighting men are being imperilled by MoD incompetence.”
Last night an MoD spokeswoman insisted: “We have enough guns for operations.
“We recognised a need to increase overall supply and took steps to address this.”
Israel has some Uzi’s they can sell...
Yep, don’t cha know it, I don’t have near enough guns that start with a .5 .
The Huckster doesn’t like Bush’s “arrogant bunker mentality”. As for cray Mc Pain in the arse, his stance is anyones guess on any given day.
Sounds like they could use some M-2s.
What? The Brits think it’s Lend Lease time again?
I’m sure FN would make ya some Minimis. Write the check, mate.
Paying too much Social money to multi wife Muslims? Cut your social programs and buy more defense.
Seem to remember that the number of British troops have been decreasing in Iraq.....but yet they are out of guns.....are they giving them away?
Must take a special kind of person to have a well-paying job and lie like that. Note to self: never date a woman who's a "spokesperson"; she can lie without raising a single pulse beat.
Tell their soldiers to start capturing enemy weapons and use those.
Are they still manufactured or are they using existing stocks?
“The Borrowers!”
Wonder where that attitude comes from? Has the US recently provided a lot of material on loan to the UK?
Despite the intense annoyance that comes from rubbing each other the wrong way from time to time, it is a little bit disappointing to read that DoD is not being very helpful to our ally. However, as intensely as we are using these same weapons at present, maybe there is just not enough of them to go around.
Now, that's quite silly!
It's not too much to ask for the Brits to supply their own weapons.
Same thing happened leading up to WWII. Years of restrictive gun laws had deprived the populace of any serious firepower. Hitler was threatening to invade, and no one had guns to resist him. So they put in a call to Uncle Sugar: “Send us lots of guns, please (for free, of course!)”
Immediately after the war, they rounded them all up and melted them down, picking up with their restrictive gun laws, right where they left off. Now, guess what? They’ve got no guns again! So, please surrender your next five paychecks to the gubmint so we can send our British friends some guns — no charge, of course.
Perhaps we need a new “PLEASE SEND A GUN TO DEFEND A BRITISH HOME” program.
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