Britain's last war?

Since the Cold War’s end, the combined GDP of NATO’s European members has grown 55 percent, yet their defense spending has declined almost 20 percent. Twenty years ago, those nations provided 33 percent of the alliance’s defense spending; today, they provide 21 percent.


This is why Robert Gates, before resigning as US defense secretary, warned that unless Europe’s disarmament is reversed, future US leaders “may not consider the return on America’s investment in NATO worth the cost.” Born to counter the Soviet army on the plains of Northern Europe, NATO may be expiring in North Africa.

In Testimony, Brown Says Iraq War Was ‘Right Decision’

Well played, Mr. Brown, well-played.

Britain's Defense Industrial Complex

Prince William (left) and Prince Harry are feeling the effects of Great Britain's defense industrial complex... Harry Wales can't even afford to get his haircut!

Good news! We aren't the only country with a "broken" defense industrial complex... or does "broken" (in a good government sense) mean that the defense industrial complex is actually healthy (in a "business of America is business" sense)?!

Anyhow, Great Britain's defense procurement process is broken too! The "United" Kingdom, who only spends about 2.4 percent of their GDP on their war machine, has new equipment arriving five years late and 40 percent overbudget and "the incompetence is helping enemies who "are unlikely to wait for our sclerotic acquisition systems to catch up."

"How can it be that it takes 20 years to buy a ship, or aircraft, or tank?" Gray wrote. "Why does it always seem to cost at least twice what was thought? Even worse, at the end of the wait, why does it never quite seem to do what it was supposed to? The issue is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, shrouded in an acronym."

The report warned of "too many types of equipment being ordered for too large a range of tasks at too high a specification". It said delays in the shipbuilding programme meant Britain could not have fought a Falklands-style campaign in the last 20 years. "We would have risked significant casualties, the very significant costs of acquiring adequate equipment at short notice (if available) or the embarrassment of not fighting at all."

"We're not going to win this war"

UK Commander backs Taliban talks

Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade

"We're not going to win this war," Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith was quoted as saying in a British newspaper on Sunday.

He also reportedly said a deal with the Taliban might be on the table.

"If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this,'' Carleton-Smith was quoted in The Sunday Times newspaper as saying.

The inclusive approach appeared to be echoed by General Abdul Rahim Wardak, Afghanistan's defence minister, who said the idea that Afghanistan had to find political solutions to end the fighting had long been endorsed by Hamid Karzai, the president.

"For a total solution we must work on different fronts - political, economic and military," Wardak said on Sunday at a news conference.

"Economically, we must improve the lives of the people, help find them work. Politically, we need to reach a middle ground and have everyone accept the Afghan constitution," he said.