Calm down dears - by Richard... Friday, October 07, 2011

Calm down dears - by Richard... Friday, October 07, 2011

Contrary to some rumours, the Greeks have not just bought 400 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks. The original press report, on which subsequent rumours are based, refers to the refurbishment or upgrade of second-hand US tanks currently in storage in Europe, and their acquisition by Greece, a process which has been ongoing since last year.

The problem for the Greek Army is that it still operates a number of very old M48/60s, which need urgent replacement. Leopard-2 stocks from Holland and Germany are depleted, and there is no option for replacement with that type, despite some 350 earlier Leopard 1 models currently being operated by the Greek Army.

The Army is thus seeking alternative solutions from the US Army. The only obstacle is the poor operational condition of US equipment, requiring large funds for their re-activation. It does, however, revisit an old ambition of the Greek Army, which nearly purchased Abrams tanks in a dealnegotiated in 2001.

So far no work has been done on this new initiative, but Letters of Offer (LOA) and acceptance are expected soon, following approval by the US government. A fleet of AAV7A1 amphibious assault vehicles is also to be ungraded, making this a routine upgrade contract for armoured vehicles that are now older than the Second World War was long.

As for the Abrams tanks, you wouldn't be using M1A1s for a military coup - which would not, in any event, be delivered before 2014. Their fuel-hungry gas turbines make them highly unsuitable for such purposes. You would be better off with M113s, of which the Greek Army has a considerable stock. The target, as always, is the Turkish Army, which is the ever-present threat.

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Confidence dealt a blow - by Richard...

This is Moody's Investor Service downgrading the credit ratings of some of Britain's biggest banks. Lloyds Banking Group, Santander UK, Royal Bank of Scotland, Co-operative Bank, Nationwide and seven smaller building societies are affected.

A Lloyds spokesman said: "It is important to note that both the stand-alone rating and short-term ratings remain unchanged. We believe this change will have minimal impact on our funding costs". So that's alright then?

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Another exercise in rhetoric - by Richard...

Ten years into the war in Afghanistan, to call our strategy "fatally flawed" – as does Sherard Cowper-Coles in an incredibly lame piece in the Failygraph - is to pay it a huge compliment. It isn't even that good.

All Cowper-Coles, former British Ambassador to Afghanistan, can do is bleat about us "ignoring all the lessons of the Great Game", as we fail to engage Afghanistan’s neighbours and near neighbours systematically in the struggle to return Afghanistan to its proper place as the crossroads of south-west Asia.

That much is extruded verbal material. The "Great Game" was the interplay between two empires, the British and Imperial Russia. What we have today is altogether different – a proxy war between India and Pakistan, played out on the plains and hills of Afghanistan.

Since it is current British policy to suck up to the Indian government, not a word must be said about the malign role of the Indians in fomenting and perpetuating the strife in this benighted country. This means that the gigantic Indian elephant must perpetually be ignored.

Of course, dealing with India means addressing the Kashmir issue, which means getting India and Pakistan sitting at the same table. That is not going to happen. Even now, with talk of a regional conference to discuss Afghanistan's future, India's presence is not assured. Turkey is trying to broker a deal.

That, in fact, says it all. India was left out of the last regional conference and that it should be left to a minor-league player to be fronting the effort to get it to the table, instead of a high-level Indian presence being the centrepiece of US strategy, says that the policy out there is fundamentally unserious.

The other important player is, of course, China, and here diplomatic paths also lead back to Kashmir. But the really crucial players and India and Pakistan, and without them getting together, any further steps are, as one regional observer puts it, just another exercise in rhetoric.

I'm sure our troops out there would be highly delighted that they are, in the final analysis, fighting and dying for rhetoric. But if they hadn't already realised that they are wasting their time, and that their sacrifices are for nothing other than to save Cameron's face, then it's too late for them to find out now.

Soon enough though, the dreadful charade will come to an end – but not before more billions have been spent, and more lives lost. Until then, there is little more to be said. If there was ever any rationale for us going in, it has long departed. The sooner we get out the better.