In the First World War the British Army were described as lions lead by donkeys. Fortunately they are still lions; unfortunately they are still lead by donkeys. The British Army is poorly paid, inadequately equipped and their families are housed in substandard houses. But the greatest indictment against the donkeys is the way they have fail to look after wounded soldiers.
The armed forces are poorly served by both the Civil Servants and Ministers of the Ministry of Defence. This Whitehall office block remains in a time warp. It always prepares and plans for the previous war. In the opening months of WW1 soldiers were expected to charge on horseback German artillery. It is a recognised fact that in Iraq and Afghanistan British soldiers are sent out on patrol in Land Rovers - perfect for the Yorkshire dales, but not when coming under hostile fire and roadside bombers.
Tomorrow the House of Commons will debate the replacement of the Trident System. A system designed to meet the needs of the Cold War. Again the Government want to spend £30 Billion on a system designed to fight a previous war, (it is estimated the system will cost £100 Billion over 50 years). In the future, who will the Trident missiles be used against? They say rogue states, such as Iran and North Korea. In the future rogue states will not have to develop nuclear bombs and intercontinental missiles.
Look at one event in November 2006, Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian ex-spy was poisoned with polonium -210. Traces of the highly radioactive metalloid were found in several locations in London. A rogue state could bring any city in the UK to a stop by simply having a suicide bomber walk its streets. No bomb would be detonated but the radio active source they carried would contaminate everyone they came into proximity. Over the next few days, people will start to feel lethargic and nauseous; soon the hospitals would be overwhelmed by people suffering from nuclear radiation poisoning. Under those circumstances a nuclear submarine with a missile system patrolling the Atlantic or Indian Ocean will be as useful as a sieve to carry water.
But don’t worry the Government is putting in place a system to prevent such an event - Identification Cards!
2 comments:
Sorry old chap, but it seems to me that you are mixing up your threats.
Whilst I agree with your sentiments about how badly our soldiers are treated by the political establishment.
Both rogue states and terrorists pose a definable risk to the future security of the UK.
The threat from rogue states is lessened by holding a nuclear capability.
ID cards will do nothing but cost money.
I'm suprised that you didn't use this opportunity to shout about how our government now plans to allow private business to buy access to the infomation, they intend to hold in their database state.
Hi Dowelld.
The point I was trying to make was: if rogue states want to attack the UK or any other country, they do not have to develop missile systems or nuclear bombs. They only have to use a small low technology nuclear radiation source. The Trident system is ineffective against this form of atttack.
As for Trident being a deterrent. Has it deterred Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, India and Israel from developing nuclear weapons? Would it in the future deter the use of those weapons?
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