Thursday, 24 February 2011
Thursday, 24 February, 2011 12:20:48
Comment from UKNDA:
"Already, less than six months after the so-called Strategic Defence and Security Review, it looks like the chickens are coming home to roost. We cannot even get our own people out of Libya never mind provide meaningful assistance to earthquake-wrecked New Zealand.
"The British Government doesn't seem capable of any contingency planning and certainly hasn't the spare military capacity now to deal with what are comparatively minor overseas crises. Surely we should have had transport aircraft, ground forces too if required, available to go into Libya? Instead, Ministers are floundering around making up feeble excuses and bleating that they are trying their best!
"The irony that the one warship we have sent, HMS Cumberland, will be out of service in a few months' time anyway, under the Coalition's defence cuts, cannot be lost on our enemies around the world, who will be watching the British Government's feeble response to the Libya crisis with mounting glee.
"After all, they will reason, if this is the best Britain can do now, how will the British cope next year when their Armed Forces are even smaller?"
-Andy Smith, Director, UK National Defence Association
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