HMS Queen Elizabeth — dead in the water I have several different issues I want to raise. I am posting my chat with Judge Napolitano today....
I have several different issues I want to raise. I am posting my chat with Judge Napolitano today. I am told by a good friend and tough critic that it was one of my better efforts. I’ll let you be the judge.
Let’s start with the military disaster that is the United Kingdom. Britannia is no longer capable of ruling the waves in a wading pool. For example, one of Britain’s two aircraft carriers — the HMS Queen Elizabeth — is dead in the wate.
Operation Steadfast Defender, the biggest Nato exercise in Europe since the Cold War, was a perfect opportunity to show off the modern face of British sea power.
Instead, it has proved to be both a national embarrassment and depressing metaphor for the parlous state of our Armed Forces.
HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of the Royal Navy’s two state-of-the-art aircraft carriers and flagship of the fleet, was to have taken pride of place in the British detachment.
Humiliatingly, she has been consigned to dry dock, apparently because of a rusty propeller shaft. She will be replaced in the exercise by her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, but that’s hardly the point.
Having shelled out £3.5billion to have her built, the taxpayer is surely entitled to expect the Queen Elizabeth to be maintained in working order.
The sad state of the British Navy is emblematic of the entire British military. It is a disaster. One of my good friends, a retired former SAS (i.e. Special Air Service) operator sent me the following early this morning:
Larry:
Put another spin: Our national football stadium has seats for 90,000 people. So, we put all the Army in it and still have 15,000 seats to fill! And how many are actually warfighters?
Capita – or Crapita as it is known to the rank and file – has been an unmitigated disaster. By the time thy get their shit together a typical recruit has already spent 9 months on the shelf. The potential recruit has moved on by the time their slot comes up. The Royal Naval College care and maintenance is also outsourced and is an unmitigated disaster of dangerous grounds and shoddy housekeeping (personal knowledge) also https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-66603297
Amusingly, barracks that are used to house soldiers are categorised as unfit for illegal immigrants!809 squadron, Fleet Air Arm F34B, is not up to strength and will not be until 2025 despite our carriers being available (I use that term loosely) for 3 years. And it contains RAF (Crabs!!) not just naval personnel. Can you smell turf wars? There is also nearly a 12 month delay in going from the Military Flying Training System to Operational Conversion unit training. UK military pilot training in limbo for beleaguered RAF – Airforce Technology (airforce-technology.com) The RAF face the same issue so it is not just the Navy pilots who are suffering. Flying fast movers is a perishable skill.
Pensions and healthcare benefits for reservists? Should I point out that MoD have sold most of their military hospitals so regulars who had injuries in the field were then fed into normal National Health Service wards, who are not used to squaddies and the military mind set, and those wards were often serviced by immigrant muslim cleaners. Yes, some injured were assaulted in hospital. Good deal.
The Government is over 4 years late just rolling out a Veterans ID card. No real benefits just an ID card.
Overall, the UK is in a shit state, and the government leaderless, or spineless twats. It is unlikely to change whoever is in power. Note, they only make the nominal 2% Nato contribution because they include pensions in their spend numbers. Last time I checked pensions don’t kill enemies.
Yes, I am pissed off as almost all other vets are to see today’s state of play. Rant over.
My friend, like most native Brits, is a man of reserve and great self-control. His anger speaks volumes about the depths of England’s problems.
Speaking of weak, the United States is bombarding more than 85 targets in Syria, Iraq and Yemen and it is having little noticeable effect. These are expensive operations because the United States is using bombs and cruise missiles that it cannot easily or quickly replace/resupply. And why are we bombing so many targets in Iraq and Syria? There was only one site that launched the device that hit Tower 22, killing 3 U.S. soldiers and wounding 47 others. Instead of punishing those responsible the U.S. is engaged in collective punishment and is likely killing innocent tribesman scattered throughout the deserts in western Iraq and eastern Syria. This is simply creating new enemies who will be energized to seek revenge against America. Not a smart policy, but then how could we expect Biden to be smart.
In fact, the Iranian backed fighters wasted no time in striking back today:
At least six US-backed Kurdish fighters have been killed in a drone strike on a US base in eastern Syria claimed by Iranian-backed militia that was the target of US airstrikes on Friday.
The deaths are the latest indicator of how conflict is seeping across the Middle East since the beginning of the war in Gaza, with ever less predictable consequences for regional stability.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have fought Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria, said six of their fighters were killed in an attack on their commando academy at a US base at al-Omar oilfield in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province.
A further 18 were wounded. A UK-based monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, put the death toll at seven.
Notwithstanding U.S. bombing, the attacks on U.S. bases in Syria are likely to intensify, not decrease in the coming weeks.
I discussed these issues today with Judge Napolitano.
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