Defence: Public ignorance, the media, and cutbacks

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

WEBF, shippers; that link to the LA Times only works if you subscribe to the thing. Why would one?

If the other side of the Pond life is bleating that nobody else is pulling their weight, perhaps they should look at a certain D Rumsfeld circa March '03; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2838593.stm ,

US ready to fight 'without UK'

The UK general public read that, I believe, as the US could and would. This gives the British public subconscious the view that America is so big and strong that whatever we or any other European country does is insignificant. "We don't need strong defence because it's a shared danger and somebody else will cover it" sort of mindset. The Public is also obsessed with its own needs and ambitions and would probably swop a T42 DD, say, for more IVF clinics and drug rehabilitation centres any day.

Why should a change in PM make any difference? Once Cameron starts worrying about the "carbon footprint" of a Typhoon or a big Naval gas turbine, we're all buggered.