An Analysis On Britain's Defense And Security Options After Brexit

Steve Maguire, RCD: Great Britain’s Options After Departing the European Union

National Security Situation: Great Britain will leave the European Union in March 2019 ending decades of political and economic integration. This has left Britain at a strategic crossroads and the country must decide how and where to commit its military and security prowess to best achieve national objectives.

Background: Britain is a nuclear power, a major North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally, head of a Commonwealth of Nations, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a strong history of global engagement. Much of this prestige has been tied into Britain’s membership of the European Union and the defence of Europe is currently seen as a critical national security interest. In September 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May re-iterated that Britain remained ‘unconditionally committed’ to the defence of the continent. From a traditional view-point this makes sense; the European Union is Britain’s largest export market and Britain has grown international influence through membership.

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WNU Editor: I expect Britain to maintain its political and economic ties to the EU, albeit in a slightly different form. As for its defense and security needs. It's involvement in NATO has not changed, so I expect minimal (if any impact) from there.

Should Britain's Security Chiefs Be Held Responsible For Failing To Prevent The Latest Terror Attacks In Britain?

Yes. Some careers must end. ::: UK's security chiefs must answer for their failure to prevent this wave of terrorism https://t.co/2Wm2yNKNhy

— Gabriel Elefteriu (@GElefteriu) June 6, 2017

Con Couglin, The Telegraph: Britain's security chiefs must answer for their failure to prevent this wave of terrorism

No fair-minded person doubts the professionalism of the thousands of British intelligence, security and police officers battling to defeat Islamist terrorism. It is by dint of their efforts that, when other European capitals were suffering horrendous attacks, attempts to visit similar atrocities upon the streets of Britain were thwarted.

Theresa May says that counter-terrorism officials have disrupted 18 significant terror plots since 2013. And when Britain did come under attack, those on the front line displayed heroic courage. PC Keith Palmer lost his life trying to prevent Khalid Masood from causing carnage in the Palace of Westminster, and in last weekend’s London Bridge atrocity, a transport police officer suffered serious injury tackling three knife-wielding terrorists armed with just his standard issue baton.

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WNU Editor: The above Telegraph commentary by Con Coughlin is behind a pay-wall. As to what is my take .... my understanding is that there are only a few thousand British counter-terrorism officers overseeing a file that includes over 20,000+ possible suspects/sympathisers/known Islamic radicals/etc.. In short .... Britain's security departments are overwhelmed. Should the security chiefs be blamed .... yes definitely .... but also the politicians and their policies who produced this mess in the first place .... and their complete failure (and I say cowardice) to present a plan/strategy/policy to the public on how to defeat it.

Hat tip Gabriel for this story.

After Brexit Will The U.K. Break-Up?

Source: The Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)

Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR

New York Times: After ‘Brexit,’ 3 Centuries of Unity in Britain Are in Danger

WASHINGTON — When people discuss the stakes of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, they often talk about implications for the “European project,” the continuing post-World War II effort to unify the Continent politically and economically. But within hours of the polls’ closing on Thursday, it appeared that something much more basic could be at risk: Britain as a multinational state.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as it is formally known, is one of only a handful of countries that consist of multiple nations, politically and legally distinct but united under a common government.

That system of government has been the subject of far less frenzied commentary than European unity, because it is smaller, and because it has seemed so stable. But the crisis-ridden, relatively young European Union may well outlast the 300-year-old United Kingdom, a prospect that speaks to both the underappreciated audacity of Britain’s multinational experiment and the strength of the forces that could now put it to an end.

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Update #1: A Less-United Kingdom: 'Brexit' Vote Revives Talk Of U.K. Breakup (NPR)
Update #2: After Brexit vote, Scotland and N. Ireland reconsider ties to Britain (CSM)

WNU Editor: Scottish nationalists want another referendum after losing the last one .... and any excuse will do. And in Northern Ireland the old Catholic - Protestant animosities are looking for an excuse to flare up again. This has more to do with the internal politics of these regions than whether or not they want to be a part of the EU .... but as an issue it is tailored made for all of these parties to exploit.

The Decline Of England

What A Sad Little Empire Britain Has Become -- Janine di Giovanni, Daily Beast

Already choked by austerity, Britain released its 2013 budget this week to howls of outrage. Janine di Giovanni talks to the struggling citizens of dreary, depressed London.

Cyprus may be falling to pieces. Greece, Spain, and Portugal may be going down the tubes, too. But England is not far behind.

The embattled George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is probably the most loathed man in Britain today—next to Tony Blair, who celebrated the anniversary of his greatest mistake, the invasion of Iraq, earlier this week. Osborne released his dreaded 2013 budget on Wednesday (the ludicrously named United Nations “International Day of Happiness”), calling it a plan for “those who aspire.”

Aspire to what? London today is a grim shadow of itself, one of the most expensive cities in the world. The kingdom’s economy, ravaged by austerity, has stalled—according to The Economist, “It needs structural reform; looser money and more infrastructure spending.” Single mothers, average earners, small businesses, and job seekers are really struggling.

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My Comment: High taxes. Bureaucratic paperwork and red tape that would make a Soviet commissar look efficient in comparison. Massive debts to sustain a social network that can no longer sustain itself. I can list a hundred reasons on why Britain has declined .... and they would all hit home. But the British people voted for this type of society and system decades ago .... and continued to vote in the politicians who sustained it. But now .... those who paid the bill in the past do not want to pay it anymore .... in short .... the money has dried up.

A Commentary On Britain's Aircraft Carrier Decisions

Harriers leaving Ark Royal. The new aircraft carriers were designed to carry larger, longer-range jets Photo: ROYAL NAVY

We’re All At Sea Over Our New Aircraft Carriers -- Con Coughlin, The Telegraph

The PM is being urged to do a U-turn on buying jets – but it’s the ships that are wrong, says Con Coughlin.

It says something about the Government’s ability to produce a coherent defence policy that all three Service chiefs are now united in their determination to overturn one of the Coalition’s key decisions.

Only 18 months ago, Liam Fox announced a major overhaul of our multi-billion-pound aircraft carrier programme. Instead of equipping the carriers with a new generation of Harrier jump jets, with their limited range and payload, Dr Fox wanted to fit the carriers with more conventional fighters which could operate over longer distances, carry more weapons and employ the latest stealth technology.

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My Comment: Con Coughlin roasts the previous Labor government on their decision .... as well as the present coalition government .... for the policies that they have implemented on what the future "look" of the Royal Navy will be .... and deservedly so.

Two Must Read Commentaries On The London Riots

Fear, intimidation, cruelty, injustice, savagery: The mass criminality in the big cities is merely a speeded-up and concentrated version of life on most large estates

Years Of Liberal Dogma Have Spawned A Generation Of Amoral, Uneducated, Welfare Dependent, Brutalised Youngsters -- Max Hastings, The Daily Mail

A few weeks after the U.S. city of Detroit was ravaged by 1967 race riots in which 43 people died, I was shown around the wrecked areas by a black reporter named Joe Strickland.

He said: ‘Don’t you believe all that stuff people here are giving media folk about how sorry they are about what happened. When they talk to each other, they say: “It was a great fire, man!” ’

I am sure that is what many of the young rioters, black and white, who have burned and looted in England through the past few shocking nights think today.

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Police Water Cannon And Plastic Bullets? After 50 Years Of The Most Lavish Welfare State On Earth? What An Abject Failure -- Peter Hitchens, Daily Mail

Bitter laughter is my main response to the events of the past week. You are surprised by what has happened? Why? I have been saying for years that it was coming, and why it was coming, and what could be done to stop it.

I have said it in books, in articles, over lunch and dinner tables with politicians whose lips curled with lofty contempt.

So yes, I am deeply sorry for the innocent and gentle people who have lost lives, homes, businesses and security. Heaven knows I have argued for years for the measures that might have saved them.

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My Comment: After spending hundreds of billions of pounds over the years .... this is the end result. Yup .... money ill spent and wasted to pursue a dream of a liberal utopia.

Britain's Lack Of An Aircraft Carrier Is Starting To Hurt The Libyan War Effort

Friendly fire: An Italian AV8 Harrier fighter jet lands on the Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi during during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)'s Libya mission codenamed Unified Protector. News.com.au

Italy Shames The Royal Navy -- CDR Salamander

The Royal Navy speaks so it can sleep at night.

Adml Sir Mark Stanhope said the campaign would have been more effective without the Government's defence cuts.

The aircraft carrier and the Harrier jump-jets scrapped under last year's strategic defence review would have made the mission more effective, faster and cheaper, he said.

Sir Mark warned that the Navy would not be able to sustain its operations in Libya for another three months without making cuts elsewhere.

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My Comment: A must read, especially view of what happened in Tripoli and on the front line yesterday.

Time To Make A U-Turn On The U.K. Defence Budget (Commentary)

It's Time The Government Made A U-Turn On The Defence Budget -- Con Coughlin, The Telegraph

We’ve had u-turns on the NHS, prison sentences and even on how we can best take care of our trees. So why not a u-turn on the Government’s ludicrous decision to cut the defence budget at a time when our Armed Forces are engaged in active combat?

When the Coalition came to power last year it insisted it would avoid the kind of foreign military entanglements that came to define the Blair era. Never again would a British government send our troops into battle in some foreign land without the proper equipment and resources.

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My Comment: There will be no u-turn on the U.K. defense budget. This is a minority government, and with money scarce they are prioritizing their spending elsewhere.

Only In Britain Do Hate Preachers Who Promote Islamic Violence Against The West Get Subsidized By The Taxpayers

Subsidised: Despite being in Belmarsh prison, jailed cleric Abu Hamza is getting his West London home renovated - at the taxpayers' expense

Jailed Hate Preacher Abu Hamza's Home Has A £40,000 Makeover... Paid By Taxpayers -- The Daily Mail

Hate preacher Abu Hamza’s family home is having a £40,000 makeover paid for by tax­payers, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Workmen from at least three construction firms have already spent two months doing up the £700,000, five-bedroom council property in an exclusive West London street.

Astonishingly, it is the second time in only five years that council bosses have approved expensive renovations on the property where the hook-handed cleric’s wife and eight children live supported by benefits worth nearly £700 a week.

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My Comment: Only in the U.K. can someone promote hate and violence .... keep his passport and citizenship instead of being deported .... and get subsidized to live (by the taxpayer) while having his family live in a £1million home (that is also paid by the taxpayer).

Shesshhh .... how can I get into this deal?

Our Military Humiliation In Afghanistan Is A Scandal - And The Cover-Up Is An Even Greater One -- A Commentary

British soldiers on a joint foot patrol with US marines in Musa Qala in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Photograph: Omar Sobhani/Reuters

From The Telegraph:

The under-funded British Army is being forced to make the same mistakes in Afghanistan that it made in Iraq, says Christopher Booker.

One of the best kept secrets of our recent politics, thanks to the news management of the Ministry of Defence, was how our occupation of southern Iraq turned into one of the greatest humiliations in the history of the British Army. In the end, after our hopelessly ill-equipped and undermanned contingent had been forced to abandon to the insurgents the two main cities of the region, Basra and Al Amarah, the Americans and Iraqis had to intervene to take them back. Last Christmas, having failed in our mission, we were contemptuously ordered to leave his country by the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

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If There Isn't A War On Terror, Then What Exactly Are Our Boys Dying For? -- A Commentary

London suicide bombings case (AFP: AFP PHOTO DYLAN MARTINEZ)

From The Telegraph:

David Miliband has betrayed a misconception about the nature of this conflict, writes Con Coughlin.

The two British soldiers killed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday died fighting for their country against a deadly and determined foe. Gereshk, the area in central Helmand where they were engaged in a night-time operation against enemy forces, is a stronghold of the Taliban, the hardline Islamist movement that is trying to overthrow the democratically elected government.

The British Army has been at war with the Taliban for more than seven years, since the latter provided a safe haven from which Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network planned the September 11 attacks against the US. Yesterday's deaths brings the total number of British fatalities to 141. Add to that the 178 British service personnel who have been killed during our six-year involvement in Iraq, and the scale of the country's commitment to fighting Islamist militants is not inconsiderable.

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