Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup said Britain is facing “grave dangers” by spreading in both Afghanistan and Libya.
He called for the government to find a political resolution in Libya urgently to take the pressure off the British army.
"We have to think very carefully about the consequences of our continuing military involvement in Libya," the former RAF commander said in the House of Lords.
"Although Afghanistan has been pushed off the front pages for the moment, it still consumes a great deal of our military capacity.
"What little we have had left in the locker over the past couple of years for dealing with other contingencies has consisted mainly of air and maritime capabilities. These have largely been consumed by the Libya operation, so that locker is now looking pretty bare. Yet we still face huge risks."
Lord Stirrup warned of the potential threat to Britain by other Middle East countries and the difficulty the military would face to confront the new crisis.
"Our military intervention, although not designed to oust Gaddafi, can end only with his removal," he added.
"In view of the risks elsewhere, in view of the grave dangers to us should such risks materialise and in view of the degree to which we have now drawn down on our military account, we have yet one more reason for placing the very highest degree of urgency on finding a political resolution to this crisis as soon as possible."
source:http://www.rebelnews.org/politics/europe/752523-libya-oper-empties-uk-military-locker
Britain’s Armed Forces Have No Cash, but Billions Still Set Aside for Foreign Aid
Britain’s armed forces are now so underfunded that they are incapable of properly defending this country — but the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) current deficit is only 5.5 percent of the ConDem regime’s “ring fenced” foreign aid budget.
The confession that Britain was no longer able to defend herself adequately was made by ConDem Defence Secretary Liam Fox in an interview with a newspaper.
His admission followed a National Audit Office report earlier this week which found that the Ministry of Defence was already £500 million over budget for the current financial year with “insufficient funds to meet planned expenditure.”
It is projected that at as many as 30,000 servicemen will lose their jobs as the ministry meets ConDem budget cuts which entail a 25 percent “saving.”
Mr Fox said that the “state of the public finances meant Britain could no longer be protected from every conceivable threat.”
In addition, Mr Fox announced that plans to buy hi-tech naval warships and RAF transporter planes could be put on indefinite hold.
“We don't have the money as a country to protect ourselves against every potential future threat,” he told a newspaper.
The war in Afghanistan costs in excess of £5 billion per year, ten times as much as the MoD deficit, while the foreign aid budget runs at £9.1 billion.
In the distorted world of Mr Fox and his allies, it is more important to fight a war in Afghanistan which has nothing to do with Britain (and in fact increases terrorism in this country) than to make sure that our own borders are adequately protected.
The British National Party argues that all foreign wars should be halted unless there is a direct British interest involved, that foreign aid be halted and that British tax money be spent on Britain first.
The BNP’s 2010 manifesto spelled out the party’s priorities with regard to defence:
Defending Britain: BNP Defence Policy
* The BNP will end the involvement of British troops in the Afghanistan war.
* The BNP will not allow British forces to become involved in a war against Iran.
* The BNP will withdraw our troops from Germany.
* The BNP will renegotiate our presence in NATO.
* The BNP will raise Defence spending by one percent over the rate of inflation for the next five years.
* The BNP will institute a Community Award Scheme for young people.
Source: http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/britain%E2%80%99s-armed-forces-have-no-cash-billions-still-set-aside-foreign-aid
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