ORAC:
"Defending the intervention this morning, Lord West said he feared the letter would make him "persona non grata" in defence circles but "there comes a time when something is so crucial to your country that you have to say it." "
Funny how it always seems to happen once the pension is safe. I cant take West seriously, truly I cant. In contrast though, Stanhope says:
“I am very uncomfortable at losing Nimrod. I am happy to say that publicly”
Regardless of the wrongs and rights which have been extensively debated on pprune, at least he's prepared to say publicly what he thinks on equipment/capability matters outside of his service. I could speculate that he was either over-ruled from on high at a political level or his voice was just not loud enough. But that is all it would be, speculation.
However, I dont disagree with the broad thrust of the rest of the letter, certainly regarding FI and said as much months ago and was intrigued to see Sandy Woodward saying a similar thing, along similar lines a couple of weeks ago. "Practically inviting" is maybe a bit melodramatic, but considering this was an open letter for dumbed-down mass consumption, maybe these were the types of terms that needed to be used.
Part of the reply, carefully crafted as it was, was true - the lack of Harrier in itself,
in isolation does not necessarily mean that the islands are any more at risk. That would only be the case if there was ever necessity for a CORPORATE II.
Reinforcement in tension/TTW would probably - almost certainly - alleviate the threat, but its whether that capability is going to be available, almost instantly deployable and the big if, if Argentina does go for it, just how much warning you're going to get of any potential attack.
Woodward's scenario is plausible I think, although his "without a shot being fired" is maybe stretching it a tad. There are only (x) Tiffys at the moment and the SSN cant be everywhere, particularly if its being hunted itself.
And, given the geography and geology of the islands, without giving anything away, I think most of us who have been there often enough know exactly where the blind spot is.
Lose MPA and you lose the Islands.
