Britain and America

The American Soldier

The differing ways in which America and Britain honour servicemen has been noted by this website before.   Conservative Defence spokesman Dr Liam Fox has also written about it:

"I watched in Dulles Airport as two soldiers went through security and noted the warmth and courtesy with which they are treated. Are we so out of touch with our Military in the UK that we cannot understand the sacrifices they make on our behalf? Is it because so few people in modern Britain have direct contact with the armed forces that there seems to be so little comprehension about what they actually do or is it part of a general decline in respect for any form of authority? Is it because we see too few servicemen and women in uniform nowadays?"

Yesterday I came across this Toby Keith video, The American Soldier:

Alongside Michael W Smith's There She Stands, that is one of the most patriotic and inspirational of YouTube videos.

PS General Petraeus has issued his letter to the troops.  The text is on The Weekly Standard's website.

New Campaign for British Defense Funding

British defense funding is in a parlous state.  At the time of the Falklands War, it was 5 percent of british GDP, which enabled the Royal Navy to propose, mount and dispatch a substantial task force within a day or so of the Argentinian aggression.  Today, it is a mere 2 percent.

Intelligence analyst Glenmore Trenear-Healey has commented:

That this continues to occur while British armed forces are overextended in commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan and suffering from the accelerated deterioration in their equipment from unanticipated overuse cannot be justified.

Swingeing cuts are forecast in the number of Royal Navy surface ships and aircraft. The Royal Air Force suffers from inadequate heavylift capability; ELINT aircraft bordering on unserviceability from fatigue faults and a woeful lack of helicopters to support the British Army.

The litany of complaints about flimsy, unsuitable equipment that our soldiers currently have, is reason to challenge the government's 'duty of care' responsibility for military personnel.

This is vitally important to the Anglo-American alliance.  If Britain is to be an active partner in the primary alliance in defense of freedom, it must have the equipment to back up the effectiveness of her servicemen.

Winston Churchill and former Labour foreign secretary Lord Owen agree, which is why they have helped to found the UK National Defence Association.  Their target is a mere 3 percent of GDP as an acceptable level of defense funding.  Responsible political parties should agree with that.

--Iain Murray

Honouring Servicemen

I was struck by General Sr Richard Dannatt's comments that the British public are treating servicemen with indifference.  As it happens, I live in an area that has a lot of US military families; two of my immediate neighbours serve in the army.  My 6-year old daughter says, "Thank you for keeping us safe," whenever she sees a man or woman in uniform.  That is a manifestation of the military covenant Sir Richard tells us about.

It seems to me important that military personnel should wear their uniforms around and about the places where they live.  It reinforces the idea that soldiers and sailors, marines and airmen alike are part of the local community, men and women just like the rest of us.  When you see a person in combat fatigues standing in a queue at the supermarket (or "in line at a grocery store" as we say over here), there can be no animosity, no resentment of the job they do, unless you are a very twisted individual.

You don't see that in the UK, of course.  From what I recall, UK servicemen were forbidden to wear uniforms in public during the height of the IRA terror campaign, on the grounds that it identified them as legitimate targets.

If Sir Richard is serious, one thing he could do is to ask the MOD to revisit those rules.  The current terrorist enemy we face cares not for any distinction between military and civilian target, as they have shown on many occasions.  It would strengthen the position of servicemen in British society if people saw them around more.  If they wear the Queen's uniform with pride, it should also enable the public to take pride when they see it.

Iain Murray