War Readiness: Where is the money? Where is the infra-structure?

The debate in the House of Commons about Britain's readiness to go to war with few of the theoretical 650 MPs in attendance was quite elighhtening about the real state of the British Armed Forces. Britain is spending 2.1% of its budget in Defense and given the present situation in terms of being really and trully ready for any massive conflict, the amount to be spent would be not less than 15% and this includes cutting down the budget for health, education and other areas of the British budget. To put it mildly, it would be really and truly impossible.

So all the statements made by the British Prime Minister and other Members of the Cabinet are a lot of hot air, a pretense that is not based on real possibilities.

George Galloway and the SNP told things as they are. The total number of members of the Armed Forces could be put in Wembley Stadium. Britain has no real war industries. The Armed Forces are not only facing a recruitment crisis generated in part by British foreign policy, but also by the way Britain treats those who dare to become members of the Armed Forces.

Unfortunately, such a debate did not make headlines for the BBC, Sky News or any other mass media that keep broadcasting incessantly the pretense statements made by the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Defense and others. Nobody is asking questions that should be asked in the country as whole. At times, it feels like very few people care about it. 

UK: In the midst of a crisis, Britain replaces Defence Secretary

In the midst of crisis, a man with a solid military career and proven record is out and a man with little or no knowledge of military matters steps in. Just a few weeks ago when there was talk about a new NATO Secretary General, the then British Secretary for Defense Ben Wallace MP was rejected outright by President Joe Biden that vetoed him pushing him out of the selection process for NATO Secretary General even before the process started.

At this point, a exchange of words between Ben Wallace and Volodomir Zelensky was made public. Ben Wallace told the Ukrainian President that 'Britain is no Amazon'. Not many hours passed when Ben Wallace himself stated that if there was a reshuffle he would not remain as member of the Cabinet and that he would not be standing for re-election at the next General Election. Now, as the reshuffle went ahead, Ben Wallace resigned to be replaced by Grant Shapps, a man with no military career, no rapport within the military and little knowledge of what being Secretary for Defense implies.  

Grant Shapps

And all this is happening, when US nuclear weapons are returning to the United Kingdom to be placed in various RAF locations and work is well underway since the Pentagon was given the monies for such a huge and dangerous endeavour. Let us remember that the American government has now less overseeing of where the monies go and that budget controls have been 'relaxed'. In the military there is an expression: fire at will. 

Ben Wallace

Ben Wallace is not a 'Yes' man. Perhaps this was the reason for his demise. Grant Shapps might be more maleable. There is another English expression: 'Ignorance is bliss'. Don't see, don't talk, don't listen. If the situation gets worse on the battefront, the present British govenrment will find itself with more that it can chew. The British Armed Forces are literally no existing. For decades, they have been downgraded both in terms of equipment and of manpower. A politician might end up asking the Armed Forces to do more than they can actually do and Britain as whole will be in jeopardy.

British soldiers killed in Ukraine: Did Parliament allow the involvement of British soldiers in the battlefield?

If British soldiers are dying in Ukraine, when did Parliament allow the involvement of British soldiers as combattants in Ukraine? Did Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his cabinet bypass Parliament. This allow should lead to the immediate fall of the Conservative goverment.

A British journalist was arrested at Luton Airport and interrogated for not less than five hours. It was a political interrogation. Among other revelations, the British journalist revealed that British elements are carrying out and planning acts of sabotage that constitute acts of war against the Russian Federation.

How long is this going to go before there is massive retaliation against Britain? When is Parliament going to start asking questions about what the Conservative government is actually doing in an area that could endanger the whole of Britain? 

 

The state of British Army accommodation very much reflects the state of the British Armed Forces

 

The state of British Army accommodation very much reflects the state of the British Armed Forces: rundown.

According to statistics,. the amount of artillery used by the Ukrainian military until now is the equivalent of what Britain produces every year.

Britain spends more than the Russian Federation in terms of military budget, but British military capabilities are inferior not just when compared to the Russian Federation but with other Western countries i.e. Germany.

If Britain were compelled to fight an all-out war, Britain would run out of ammunition after merely three days.

This for starters. It seems that British recruitment crisis is not only due to lack of fitness of potential candidates. Of those who are actually enrolled, many want to leave because of not fit for purpose accommodation.

Having said all that, it looks and seems that those in charge either don't know how to implement the changes or are simply not interested in implementing the changes required.

Brexit: Uruguayan Dictatorship respected the will of the people, British Parliament doesn't give a damn about the will of the people

Uruguayan Dictatorship respected will of the people while British Parliament doesn't give a damn about will of the people

In 1980, the Military Dictatorship asked the Uruguayan people if they wanted a Constitutional Reform that would allow the Military to maintain its  political role once the country returned to institutional normality.

En 1980, la Dictadura Militar le preguntó al pueblo uruguayo si el pueblo uruguayo quería una Reforma Constitutional que le permitiría a los Militares mantener su papel político una vez que el país retornase a la normalidad institutional.

There was propaganda on all mass media in favour of the approval of the Constitutional Reform proposed and there was no debate allowed about the reform project since all political freedoms had been suspended, the right of assembly had been suspended and there were political prisoners, exiled citizens and people who had been removed from office. In spite of propaganda and aforementioned limitations the Uruguay Electorate rejected the Constitutional Reform proposed in the Referendum.

Hubo propaganda en todos los medios a favor de la aprobación de la Reforma Constitucional propuesta y no hubo debate sobre el proyecto de reforma dado que todas las libertades políticas habían sido suspendidas, el derecho de reunión  habia sido suspendido y había prisioneros políticos, exiliados y personas a que se les prohibía ejercer cargos públicos. A pesar de la propaganda y las limitaciones mencionadas el Electorado Uruguayo rechazó la Reforma Constitucional propuesta en el Referendo.

The Military Dictatorship didn't turn around and tried to reject the outcome of the Referendum. Quite the opposite. The Military Dictatorship fully respected the will of the Uruguayan people expressed in the Referendum.

La Dictadura Militar no trató de rechazar el resultado del Referendo. Todo lo contrario. La Dictadura  Militar respectó la voluntad del Pueblo Uruguayo expresada en el Referendo.

What a difference when compared to the attitude of the British Parliament that instead of respecting the will of the British Electorate decided to create all kinds of obstacles in order to ignore the will of the British people.

Una actitud muy distinta en comparación con la actitud del Parlamento Británico que en lugar de respetar la voluntad del Electorado Británico decidió crear todo tipo de obstáculos para ignorar la voluntad del Pueblo Británico.

When a Parliament that is supposed to be Democratic fares worse than a Military Dictatorship, Britain is in serious trouble. 

Cuando un Parlamento que es supuestamente democrático es peor que una Dictadura Militar, Gran Bretaña afronta problemas muy serios.

Manchester attack was a masterpiece

Manchester attack was a masterpiece

The terrorist attack in Manchester was carefully planned and a true masterpiece. To begin with the choice of venue, the occasion and the political background - during a General Election Campaign - everything was done for maximum effect, ensuring that there would be massive repercussions and international mass media coverage.

Whoever organised it is a true genius and we should give him, her, them credit for that. It was a despicable murderous attack but it was carried out with absolute efficiency. We shouldn't underestimate the people we are standing against. They have the brainpower to organise this kinds of attacks for maximum effect.

It was a low-cost operation, requiring not so much technical expertise and requiring limited manpower that minimised loss of human resources, therefore making it practicably undetectable. The Security Services due to lack of manpower usually focus on operations requiring big amounts of money, technical expertise and manpower because this is what usually allows early detection. They Security Services are not equipped to deal with operations like the Manchester operation.

Islamic State quickly make sure that it quickly capitalise on the political repercussions and it must have been a huge morale boost for its embattled troops in Iraq and in Syria.

These people are not cowards, they are not crazy and they are extremely intelligent. They know exactly what they are doing. The aftermath of the Manchester attack and the fact that alert levels have now been raised to Critical with the deployment of the army is certainly a huge success for Islamic State.

Muslim Kamikazes are not cowards and are not crazy

Muslim Kamikazes are not cowards and are not crazy

Because I had the life experience of confronting some of these people, I know that the political establishment, the Police and the mass media and people in general are making a serious mistake.

We are dealing with individuals who do not want to divide us. The couldn't care less if we are united or not.

They are not cowards. No one willing to lose his or her own life could possibly be called a coward.

They are not crazy. They truly believe that they are fighting for a right cause and they could be more rational and more logical than anybody else.

The constant speeches about 'we stand together and they will not divide us' is sheer rubbish. We are confronting an enemy who doesn't cares about our lives or our values. They purely and simply want to destroy us and in so doing wipe out everything we stand for.

Everybody talks about how awful it is that they target children. They target everybody regardless of sex, age and gender. In their minds, children will grow up to become what we are and therefore they just kill them to stop them from growing and becoming what we are.

We are at war with an enemy that is very much living around us, in our own environment and who will attack whenever they feel that they can achieve their objectives.

We could organise ten thousand Cobra meetings. It will not make a heck of a difference. We cannot use Nuclear weapons against them. We cannot used force against them. We cannot predict when they will attack. We are totally and utterly defenceless. They have total access to our technology. They have total access to every part of our social and defensive structures. They can strike anytime and they have the time to be selective in order to make the greatest impact.

The Police cannot protect us against them. MI5 and MI6 cannot protect us against them. The attack in Manchester could not be foreseen as the killing of Lee Rigby came out of the blue.

I know that the Prime Minister and various other politicians and broadcasters would like to be reassuring to soothe people who are suffering because of the atrocity Manchester suffered in the last few hours. They have good intentions but their good intentions will not help us avoid the next atrocity and there will be more atrocities.

Karl Hohenstauffen

A veteran who lost his legs fighting for Britain in Afghanistan had to apply three times for citizenship

Cayle Royce

A South African who joined British Forces in Afghanistan and lost his legs fighting against Taliban had to apply three times for British Citizenship despite the fact that he had been awarded an MBE.

One wonders how many times those who have done practically nothing for Britain and come to Britain to milk the Welfare State have to apply for British Citizenship before they actually get it.

The buck stops with the British Prime Minister David Cameron, the clown that walks around talking about how much he cares for the British Armed Forces.

If David Cameron and the cohort of those who support him really cared about those putting their lives on the line of fire for Britain, they would put legislation through the House of Commons to ensure that the shambolic system a British veteran had to face is no more. We will have to check the records of the House of Commons to see if the South African soldier's plight was ever mentioned. Since Cayle Royce was awarded an MBE I have to conclude that Cayle Royce was mentioned in the Houses of Parliament but those in charge of the Home Office seem to have been unaware of who they were dealing with.