British admirals: Defense cuts ‘practically invite’ invasion of Falklands
In a letter to the Times (firewalled, but here’s a write-up from the Guardian) a group of five fomer British Navy admirals, including the former commander of the fleet, Sir Julian Oswald, warn of the tragic consequences of David Cameron’s proposed defense cuts, particularly the decision to scrp the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the ...
In a letter to the Times (firewalled, but here's a write-up from the Guardian) a group of five fomer British Navy admirals, including the former commander of the fleet, Sir Julian Oswald, warn of the tragic consequences of David Cameron's proposed defense cuts, particularly the decision to scrp the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the Harriet Jet fleet:
In a letter to the Times (firewalled, but here’s a write-up from the Guardian) a group of five fomer British Navy admirals, including the former commander of the fleet, Sir Julian Oswald, warn of the tragic consequences of David Cameron’s proposed defense cuts, particularly the decision to scrp the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the Harriet Jet fleet:
"In respect of the newly valuable Falklands and their oilfields, because of these and other cuts, for the next 10 years at least, Argentina is practically invited to attempt to inflict on us a national humiliation on the scale of the loss of Singapore. One from which British prestige, let alone the administration in power at the time, might never recover."
They move into Godwin’s law territory as well:
The admirals invoked the threat from Hitler to warn about the cuts, saying: "The government has, in effect, declared a new ’10-year rule’ that assumes Britain will have warning time to rebuild to face a threat. The last Treasury-driven ’10-year rule’ in the 1930s nearly cost us our freedom, faced with Hitler."
Of course, the RAF will still maintain an airbase in the Falklands and just in case Argentina should get any ideas, even with an 8 percent cut the British will still exceed them in military spending by about 24 times.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
More from Foreign Policy
At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment
Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.
How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China
As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.
What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal
Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.
Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust
Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.
Sign up for World Brief
FP’s flagship evening newsletter guiding you through the most important world stories of the day. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.
