Quote:
Originally Posted by STEED
Dose anyone have the phone number to the Samaritans I just read the most depressing post every!  |
I thought it realistic and quite refreshing.
Where is Britain? Mr Angry of the North Atlantic writes...
Until we and our politicians accept that we are now just a little European county with a
history of empire (like, say, the Italians, Dutch, Danish, Spanish and so on) rather than some major global player (which costs so much more than we can really afford) and that the thing that we were pre-war (or even during it) was destroyed by it, just as much as Germany was, Britain will keep going around in circles and not quite know what to do or not do. That, I think is where we are. Perplexed. Hence the sort-of-in, sort-of-not approach to Europe and everything else.
The "stick-on hairy chest" of Trident is, frankly, indicative of this old thinking as are two huge aircraft carriers with no planes or the 600 armoured cars just ordered. Force projection - aye, right: let's face it, these really look like vanity projects to get a seat at the table with the big boys and girls. A more sensible approach would be to, say, invest heavily in submarine detection, submarine H/Ks and (tactical) nuclear bombers that can also be used conventionally. Lots of big, shiny, noisy ones that make a point about defence and can't be missed - one bomber will always get through. Russian Bears anyone?
Want a vanity project? - here's one for you. Equip the second carrier as a hospital ship, with operating theatres, water, accommodation, medics, you name it. Send it to where it's needed, to support disaster zones. Paint it white and call it the "Slarty Bartfast" or whatever. Too expensive? Really?
Whereas loading it with planes, missiles and the like will be cheap, of course and would make us look like an Empire again. I forgot.
