Iran escalation?

robel

“Nigerian carpenter Bashir Muhammad has never been to Iran, but he would fight to the death for the country.

If Iran wants our help, we are ready to go and help it, even with our blood,” he said. “Donald Trump needs to know that Iran has followers all over the world ready to help defend it against America.”

If Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “says everyone who finds an American in their country should kill him, we will kill him,”

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

springtide

More today..
Iran summons British envoy over 'illegal seizure' of oil tanker

Looks like UK now involved with Iran tensions, seemingly requested by the USA.

justincase

Now the UK are apparently saying it was nothing to do with the US ,they were upholding EU sanctions against Syria

Rasczak

After the incident between HMS Montrose and Iranian forces, the Ministry of Defence are now sending a second major warship to the Gulf:
UK to send second warship to the Gulf

The events have prompted Hunt to say that, if he was elected leader, he would increase spending on the Royal Navy as it has been “run down too much”.  A sensible position although, of course, it was the Conservative Government of 2010 that imposed the most savage cuts that left the Royal Navy where it is today in terms of numbers of frigates and destroyers.

domtheone

Ahhh, the coalition years.

Sonic67

I wonder what happened in 2010 that might have been connected?

2010.

BBC News - Treasury chief's note to successor: There's no money

New Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws has revealed his predecessor left him a note reading: "I'm afraid there is no money."

Oh yeah.

Since then the Conseervatives have kept both aircraft carriers, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark and there's talk of raising defence spending from 2% GDP to 2.5%.

Something you are against.

Should Britain remain a 'Tier One' Military Power?

Rasczak

Yes, that is a fair point.  If any Lib Dems comment that the Royal Navy is "run down", they too should be criticised.  Have any done so?

Yes, I think we all know there was a financial crash.  But, as I pointed out at the time, it was a true folly to sink so much cash into Afghanistan rather that focus on ensuring a balanced military that could best serve British strategic interests in the two decades that followed the 2010 review.  If the Iran situation escalates during the next 5-10 years, the Chickens most certainly will come home to roost!

And yes I am against increasing defence spending.  We already spend a hell alot of money on defence and the taxpayer is very heavily put upon.  We could, of course, be much more sensible about what we spend money on in the defence sphere.

Sonic67

No just not voted for them. You seem keen on them once they came out as a remain party.
And as I pointed out, ISAF was a Nato-led commitment and was established by the UN. We shouldn't meet Nato commitments? What exactly are the armed forces for?

I see we are back to you upset about the costs of the body armour and vehicles. People were dying. You want people to die as you are worried about "the balance of the armed forces" decades later?
And you are happy for people to die because of inadequate kit?
We can fund billions in foreign aid, billions to the EU. That's around £25 billion.
Actual need is a good place to start.

Rasczak

It's also not part of the Ministry of Defence budget.  The defence budget is quite large enough without consuming other budgets.

Of course - but given long procurement and training pipelines, we need to be able to anticipate what we need a decade hence.  Which is why the 2010 SDSR defined what Force 2020 would look like.  And here we are, six months from that target, and things are looking very stretched, hence Hunt's comments.

Sonic67

No reason why it can't be.
Or it's not large enough and this is just your view. What do you think most people would say? We voted to leave the EU, in part due to how much we give. I've not seen many agree with a ring fenced handout to foreign countries.
So now you say it looks "stretched" but also we shouldn't be funding it? Wrapping yourself up in knots already.

How about European countries actually start paying their way and we leave them to it? They could beef up Eastern Europe.

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-biggest-enemy-threadbare-army-bundeswehr/

BERLIN — Fighter jets and helicopters that don’t fly. Ships and submarines that can’t sail. Severe shortages of everything from ammunition to underwear.

If it sounds like an exaggeration to compare Germany’s Bundeswehr to “The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight,” look no further than the army’s standard-issue assault rifle, Heckler & Koch’s G36. The government decided to scrap the weapon after discovering that the gun misses its target if it’s too hot.

“There is neither enough personnel nor materiel, and often one confronts shortage upon shortage,” Hans-Peter Bartels, a Social Democrat MP charged with monitoring the Bundeswehr for parliament, concluded in a report published at the end of January. “The troops are far from being fully-equipped.”

On a recent trip to Lithuania, where about 450 German soldiers are stationed as part of a NATO mission to deter Russian aggression, U.S. officials were dismayed to discover Bundeswehr personnel communicating on unsecure mobile phones due to a shortage of secure radio equipment.

Fewer than 20 percent of Germany’s 68 Tiger combat helicopters and fewer than 30 percent of its 136 Eurofighter jets could fly in late 2018. Pilots, frustrated that they can’t fly, are quitting.

“No matter where you look, there’s dysfunction,” a high-ranking German officer stationed at Bundeswehr headquarters in Berlin said.