Armed forces to defend Britain not to serve the New World Order

The current Government dithering over what cuts should be made to our already distorted and overstretched  armed forces  is taking place not in the context of what we need to defend Britain and her interests,  but by asking  how the cuts  can be made to allow the dangerous and  destructive fantasy which has been taken hold of British politicians for several decades – that Britain can perform  the  quasi-imperial role of  bringing  “enlightenment”  in the form of  political correctness to the benighted natives – to  be sustained.

What Britain needs, as every state does, are armed forces to defend its territory and to intervene abroad when a vital British interest is at stake.  The article below (which was published by Right Now! in the summer of 2004) attempts to define what such armed forces should be and give a broad defence strategy which goes beyond the armed forces.

Armed  forces  to defend Britain not to serve the  New  World  Order (NWO)

For  the British political elite the loss of empire  did  not  signal the end of the imperial  mentality.  As a consequence, Britain’s   defence  capability continued for decades  to  be built  upon the ridiculous assumption that she still had  the military responsibilities of a  great power.   This has meant until recent years that Britain has shaped her  defence to be able to operate,  in theory at least,  anywhere in the world, with  a  very full range of expensive military toys  such  as aircraft  carriers  and  heavy tanks,  neither  of  which  is necessary for the defence of modern Britain.

That  policy  was mistaken but not inherently  dangerous.  It  cost  the  British  taxpayer a great  deal  of   money  spent  unnecessarily,    but it did not commit Britain to  dangerous  adventures or leave Britain incapable of defending herself.

In   Tony  Blair’s hands this  “great  power”  mentality  has  transmuted  into an ideology what might be described as   New  World Order (NWO)  chic,  whereby  Britain’s armed forces are  no  longer intended to protect British territory  but  rather  exist to operate as an arm of some ill-defined  international  order.   To  call them defence forces is rapidly  becoming  a  misnomer.  Equally important,  the military enterprises which  our armed forces are being shaped to perform are fraught with  diplomatic,  military and economic danger,  not least because  they are likely to be taken in conjunction with the USA.

Creating the NWO force of tomorrow

The  shaping of our armed forces to serve the NWO rather than British  needs  is   already   well  under  way.    This   is  exemplified by recent   equipment proposals which, at massive   cost, lumber Britain with weapons which are not needed.   Two giant  aircraft  carriers  have  already been ordered   at  a  current   estimated  cost  of  £13  billion  and a  new “mini-tank” which can be lifted to foreign fields  by air  is proposed at another  œ6 billion (Sunday Telegraph London 5 10 03).

In  addition  to these vast equipment projects,   Britain  is committed   to   providing   a   rapid-response   force   for “international  emergencies”  and is being  gradually  lured,  whatever Blair says, into an EU defence force.  The  effect  of  this reshaping of our  armed  forces  is  to starve  them of  the means to defend Britain.   The  aircraft  carrier  project  alone will take  a  quite  disproportionate amount  of  the defence procurement budget  for  many  years,  while the mini-tank  project, if it goes ahead,   will result  in the end of our heavy armour  regiments altogether.

The defence policy Britain  needs

It is improbable that Britain in the foreseeable future  will  have  to  fight,  as  a  matter  of  necessity,   either   an aggressive war  abroad on its own or in alliance with another    country such as the USA.  What Britain needs are armed forces which  will  prevent  attacks on Britain  itself,  guard  her waters  and (just conceivably) allow her to break a blockade.   Such a policy could be easily met within Britain’  s  present spending,  because it is always easier and cheaper to  defend your own territory than to have to invade another territory.

Having  armed forces which are  designed to  operate only  in the defence of  Britain should  mean that recruitment of both regulars  and reservists   becomes easier  because  long  and frequent  tours  of    duty abroad would   no  longer  be   a problem.  In particular,   shortages of specialists  such  as military  medics should become a non-issue.

The  policy   would   have the  further  great  advantage  of  hamstringing    politicians.    Whatever    their    natural inclinations,   even   the  most   reckless   politician   is     constrained in what he  can do by  simple practicalities.  If  Britain  has  armed forces which are only equipped to  defend  British  territory,  they  cannot easily  be  sent  to  fight  abroad, even in conjunction  with a power such as the US.

Equally  importantly for the long term interests of  Britain,  if  politicians cannot  engage in military action abroad,  it is  probable  that   their  ability  and  desire  to   impose draconian “anti-terror”,  laws such as those which the  Blair  Government has been eagerly passing since September 11,  will  be  much diminished.  Stripped of the propaganda   engine  of  how  Britain is militarily tackling “the war on  terror”  and “our  boys are at war”,   any government would  find it  very difficult  to  rush through  authoritarian  measures  because  opponents  amongst the elite would be more willing  to  speak out.

What are we guarding against?

There  are  three  general threats to Britain,  nuclear  war,   conventional   war/blockade/sanctions  against  Britain   and  terrorist  attacks from within and without.   Nuclear war  we  can   only  deter  by  possessing  a   credible   independent deterrent,  which  would also deter  a  direct  conventional attack. As for blockades and sanctions, these can be resisted by ensuring we are self-sufficient in necessities.

At  present  we  have  Trident and that  is  it  for  nuclear weapons. Trident  may  not be  under our control –  Tony Benn believes  that  it cannot be operated without the release  of American codes because it is dependent upon US satellites for its  guidance system – and we scrapped our  freefall  nuclear  bombs in 2003.   Britain  should develop a variety of nuclear  weapons and delivery systems.

To  have a potent threat  below the nuclear,  Britain  should also  pursue  the development of weapons such as the  neutron  bomb  and  lasers and any other appropriate  sub-nuclear  new technology  which  arises.   Such  technology  would   permit  Britain  to defend the Falklands with some  certainty  whilst deploying little manpower.

The Navy and Airforce should be reshaped utterly.   To defend  Britain,   we  require  not  giant  carriers  but  plenty  of submarines,  minesweepers  and small assault  ships  such  as  destroyers to police our immediate seas.  The airforce should turn  its efforts towards the development of unmanned  planes and a  space programme capable of at least launching our  own satellites – at present we are entirely dependent on Nasa  or European  Space Agency satellites the use of which  could  be denied  at  any time.  The space programme would  be  run  in conjunction with general missile development.

The  regular  army is large enough as  it  is  (approximately 110,000)  provided  women are excluded from the count and  it is  supplemented by a decent sized TA and properly  organised reservists, ie, the regular soldiers who have completed their service and then go onto the reserve list.

Military procurement

In the end, the only certain  defence is that which a country can  provide for itself.   Relying on foreign  suppliers  for   military equipment  is  self-evidently  dangerous because  it  places  us  in their hands.  There is also the  inability  of  Britain to ensure that foreign equipment is upgraded  through further development.

A  country like Britain has it within its  power  to  produce all the weaponry and associated equipment it needs.   That is  especially so if the defence of British territory is the sole  concern  of Britain,  because the range of  equipment  needed becomes much reduced,  for example, we would  not need  heavy tanks or aircraft carriers.

Those  who doubt that Britain could go it alone in  producing their own equipment should reflect on the fact that until the early  sixties  Britain produced virtually  all  its  defence equipment,  including   cutting  edge  planes   such  as  the Lightning  fighter  and the V bombers,  when  our    national  wealth was, in real terms, very much less than it is today.

To   those   who  argue  for  the  economies  of   scale   in  joint-projects  with other countries I would simply  say  one  word “Eurofighter”.     Originally intended to enter  service in  the 1990s,  it has still  to do so,  nor is it clear when it will.

Nor is simply buying foreign a panacea. Take the case of  the Apache  Helicoptors  purchased  from the USA.  These  have  a  rather  distinctive design fault:  rockets can only be  fired from   the right-hand side of helicopter because if they  are  fired from the left hand side  debris may hit the  tail rotor which is situated  on the left-hand side.

National self-sufficiency

There  is  more to defence than men and armaments.  The  more  self-sufficient  a country is  the less vulnerable it  is  to  foreign  pressure.    There  is no  point  having   the  best equipped defence force in the world if   a country is reliant  on  the import  of much of its food or raw materials such  as iron  and energy sources such as oil.

With modern farming practices,  Britain could feed herself at a pinch.   Presently, we produce approximately 60% of what we eat. In addition, we export a substantial amount of food.  We  might  not  be able to  produce as much food  as  we  consume today, but  if we had 80% of what we consume  now – something which could be achieved  by  temporarily banning exports  and  maximising the use of existing agricultural land – in time of   emergency we could continue to feed ourselves.

We  also  need  to  maintain  the  capacity  to  produce  all  necessities,  not  necessarily at the level we  now  consume, but  to  have  the ability to manufacture them.  In  time  of emergency  the capacity could be expanded.   If  no  capacity  exists it cannot be expanded.

Energy needs should be  entirely met by the country. The only practical  way  of doing this rapidly is by   engaging  in  a  nuclear power building programme.  In the longer term,  other renewable energy sources can be expanded.

Lastly, strategic stockpiles of vital raw materials should be created   by the government sufficient to provide five  years working  stock.    This  would  allow  time  to  withstand  a  blockade or devise ways to evade  sanctions.

International treaties and joint defence

Mutual defence treaties are  a perpetual source of  mischief,  providing an ever-open door to unnecessary war.  For example,  in 1914 Britain  went to war ostensibly because  of a  treaty  signed  in  1839  which committed Britain to the  defence  of  Belgium.

Presently  we are primarily tied into Nato.   I came  to  the conclusion  that  Nato  was essentially a PR  vehicle  around 1970,  when I could not quite  bring myself to  believe that the  US  would launch a nuclear strike on the  Soviet   Union simply because the Soviet Union invaded or attacked any  part    of  Western Europe  – which was  the bottom line of  Nato.  I  find  it even less probable that an enlarged Nato would  come  to the aid of a member if it was  attacked, not least because the  most likely attacker of a Nato member  is  another  Nato member.

Whatever  the  utility  of  defence  treaties  in  the  past, nuclear  weapons  have changed the rules of the game.   If  a  country  has  a nuclear capacity it is most unlikely  to   be  attacked.   Thus  defence treaties are,  for  nuclear  powers  which  have no aggressive ambitions,  practically  redundant.

Britain  should withdraw from them,  together with any  other treaty, such as the Treaty of Rome, which restricts Britain’s freedom of action and control of her borders.

Let us not sleep-walk  to disaster

Should   Britain continue to have forces which are shaped  to engage  in NWO expeditionary adventures there will be no  end to military and political quagmires such as  those which  now find  British troops trapped in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the  absurd   but  sinister  “War  on  Terror”   will   carry   on indefinitely.   There is no end to the madness and peril such policies  could engender.  We need to remove  temptation  and   opportunity from politicians.