Originally Posted by
Ken Scott
I guess if France was routinely firing rockets at London and sending armed men across the Channel to kill civilians in Kent then we would commit more resources to defence. The West has become soft and complacent in its regard to that oft quoted ‘first priority of government’, arguably so too had Israel who were content to hide behind their fence, the difference being that when the inevitable attack came they are in a position to do something about it. The UK maintains a fig leaf of capability whilst having given away much of our ammunition to Ukraine.
Fortunately we don’t currently face an obvious assailant to our country (but we have several overseas territories at potentially greater threat…) except perhaps a missile threat from Russia in which case we can do our bit to annihilate the globe in a nuclear war.
GB situation compares with the situation of Japan, i.e. Russia to the north and west, holding onto the Kuriles, muttering about taking Hokkaido, and sending aircraft patrols to regularly test Japanese reactions. Then there’s the DPRK just to the west gone nuclear and constantly threatening to destroy Japan and its US bases. Southwest is the central mass of China, sending ships and aircraft to test Japan’s reactions and defensive preparedness around her southern islands. Taiwan lies due south, counting on help if and when China decides to try to take Taiwan by force. No EU collectivity and no NATO back-up leaves them with little choice but to stay armed and ready for anything, despite US assurances.