Do away with the Royal Navy? seriously?

Skybird · 10-19-10, 06:48 AM

I must admit that there is plenty of arguments that mirror my own thoughts on the issue. Iraq 03 at the latest should have been a harsh wake up call for those Britons still romanticising about their "special relationship" they assumed to have with the great hegemon behind the Atlantic. Neither America nor Britain nor any of the major Western military powers really can afford the maintaining of those forces they still stay with, which is especially true for the US that builds it's military might at the price of becoming even more finanically and economically depending on foreign powers, namely China.

That Britain cannot fire "it's" (it's?) Tridents without the US first ulocking them, tells a lot. I first grasped for air in disbelief when reading that, then had to laugh out loud. Not just Blair was Washington's poodle - the whole country and the whole British anvy was.

No, that article gets a lot of arguments correct indeed. That way it paints a the picture of an historic era passing away (or better: that already has passed away), and it also is another symptom of a whole cultural sphere in decline and in the process of loosing importance in the globalised world, yes. But no matter how much that is being regretted and offends our egos, it nevertheless is a a realistic assessement of the realities we have to face. In the end, the Himalaya is only the second highest mountain on earth. The highest moutain is the heap of unpayed bills of ours, and debts we have collected and already were unable to pay back even in times when our economies ran smooth. How much less potency we have to get rid of those debts now in the times of crisis and increased globalised economic rivalry!

Real money, not just bonds, make the world go round. An uncomfortable truth that America obviously is determined to learn the hard way.

I think it is in Britain's best interest to make it's relation to the US object of very critical and brutally realistic analysis. In the past, since the end of the cold war and Iraq 91 at the latest, one has allowed to lie to oneself way too much over that. That was nice for the US. But not for Britain.

10-19-10, 06:48 AM	#9
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,783 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	I must admit that there is plenty of arguments that mirror my own thoughts on the issue. Iraq 03 at the latest should have been a harsh wake up call for those Britons still romanticising about their "special relationship" they assumed to have with the great hegemon behind the Atlantic. Neither America nor Britain nor any of the major Western military powers really can afford the maintaining of those forces they still stay with, which is especially true for the US that builds it's military might at the price of becoming even more finanically and economically depending on foreign powers, namely China. That Britain cannot fire "it's" (it's?) Tridents without the US first ulocking them, tells a lot. I first grasped for air in disbelief when reading that, then had to laugh out loud. Not just Blair was Washington's poodle - the whole country and the whole British anvy was. No, that article gets a lot of arguments correct indeed. That way it paints a the picture of an historic era passing away (or better: that already has passed away), and it also is another symptom of a whole cultural sphere in decline and in the process of loosing importance in the globalised world, yes. But no matter how much that is being regretted and offends our egos, it nevertheless is a a realistic assessement of the realities we have to face. In the end, the Himalaya is only the second highest mountain on earth. The highest moutain is the heap of unpayed bills of ours, and debts we have collected and already were unable to pay back even in times when our economies ran smooth. How much less potency we have to get rid of those debts now in the times of crisis and increased globalised economic rivalry! Real money, not just bonds, make the world go round. An uncomfortable truth that America obviously is determined to learn the hard way. I think it is in Britain's best interest to make it's relation to the US object of very critical and brutally realistic analysis. In the past, since the end of the cold war and Iraq 91 at the latest, one has allowed to lie to oneself way too much over that. That was nice for the US. But not for Britain. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.