Posted on 01/14/2007 1:33:36 PM PST by John Jorsett
A 400-YEAR epoch of world history is about to draw to a close. If Britain's current Labor government has its way, Britain's Royal Navy will mothball at least 13, and perhaps as many as 19, of its remaining 44 ships, or nearly half its effective fleet.
With one bureaucratic stroke, the Ministry of Defense will end a naval tradition reaching back to Sir Francis Drake - reducing the Royal Navy, which 40 years ago was still the second-largest fleet in the world, to the size of navies of countries like Indonesia and Turkey.
This decision, of course, has to be set against the background of Britain's decades-long decline as a world power. But it also reflects a struggle for the soul of Great Britain that has been going since World War II: Is Britain part of an English-speaking, Atlantic-based strategic alliance that includes the United States and Canada? Or is it part of Europe as envisioned by technocrats in Paris, Brussels and Berlin?
NEXT month's final decision on whether to scrap the Royal Navy may supply us with the answer. Because the Blair government's drastic plans include more than taking existing ships out of commission. The service's entire future as a blue-water navy (that is, a navy capable of operations outside Britain's own waters) may be forfeit.
According to The Daily Telegraph, plans for two new fleet carriers of the kind vital for fighting today's War on Terror and projecting power overseas - and forwhich $6.9 billion had already been set aside - will also be scrapped. Two new destroyers, which were supposed to replace at least some of the retired ships, are also out of the picture. The Telegraph even reports (Jan. 8) that all officer promotions in the navy are to be suspended for the next five years.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Interesting turn of fate that Ireland has a GDP. It wasn't really that long ago when the Brits were starving the Irish.
They're losing from within.
Will history repeat itself? By 1939 the British Armed Forces were obsolete and ill-prepared for even a token show of force against the German onslaught in Poland. In 1940 The British Navy, neutralized by the Luftwaffe, was unable to interdict the Nazi waterborne invasion of Norway.
Does Britain really think it can protect its national interests without being prepared to fight on foreign shores?
We were lucky. RIP RN.
If it doesn't happen like that- what will be your explanation? Will it mean you are wrong about a lot of things or will you have a rationalization for why it did not come to pass as you say?
If you ask me, the US is in much worse shape than any of Europe.
The person that hates America the most in the entire known universe is Speaker of the House. Yet Americans like to point at the much smaller problems that Europe has and say 'they're doomed'.
Any nation that would put Nancy Pelosi in charge of anything is seriously hurting and any nation STUPID enough to allow such a person to be speaker of the house is walking on its last legs.
> Why would any nation incur the expense of a military, when all they have to do is ask the American tax payer to fight there wars for them. When the war or police action is over, we'll pay to clean up the mess. Just call 1-800-U. S.Government( aka sucker)
So far in their history, the Brits haven't done that to the US.
New Zealand (where I live) on the other hand, seems to be following a military policy that suggests, in the event of war, an expectation of intervention by a stronger ally: such as Australia and/or the US and/or Japan. Speaking personally, I think it is a very dangerous policy.
To be fair, tho' -- the US has gone out of its way to encourage this expectation amongst smaller countries. This is because the US is both generous and enlightened in its self-interest. So far, as a US foreign policy, it has generally worked.
Yes...rather ironic. Ireland was an early adopter of the Maastricht Treaty. In the global information economy Ireland has faired well. A superior education system and a work force ready to go. The Celtic tiger was on the hunt.
I visit Ireland every five years and the economic changes are astonishing. The building boom over the last decade alone is a stunner.
There is a downside to it I guess. Ireland is becoming less Irish and more international in style. Dublin will look like Frankfurt in another decade.
Soon, if our liberals have their way, which seems increasingly likely, America will not fight anyone's wars, including her own. Their geopolitical objective, both near and long term, in the event of any foreign deployment of U. S. military forces, is "Bring the Troops Home!"
It doesn't matter if they're part of the anglosphere or part of the EU.
The main tragedy here is that Britain has now put defense of the realm into the hands of people who are paid to defend them, not who have their heart and soul wrapped up in that defense.
This ain't gonna turn out well. Guaranteed.
Never thought I'd live to see the day.
But, hey. More money for socialized medicine and other social programs. They ultimately have the US to defend them. Just like the rest of Europe, which is why they have no military to speak of themselves.
So if you look at it right, the US pays for the EU's social programs.
Re: No jumps for Paras as MoD cuts £1bn (British paratroops now in name only)
Sunday Telegraph ^ | 17/12/2006 | Sean Rayment and Rob Watts
Posted on 12/29/2006 1:07:11 AM CST by tlb
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759754/posts
That slipped by me, too...
Gadzooks, it appears the UK military is going completely down the tubes!
We're walking the same road to be sure, but as of right now they are further down it than we are.
And the cheese stands alone........
As General Washington weeps for ours.
Brits don't care about King Arthur....they care about Marx.
That means they will not be able to protect even the Falklands again, if needed.
Is Spanish or Italian the primary language of Argentina?
I am sure the Falklanders know and will be ordering their universal language tutors.
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