High Spirits
Whilst I agree with your sentiments, I would like to say that I don't believe that MOD is broke - we're getting circa £35Bn from the Govt this year. It's just that we're squandering it at a horrific rate - I saw a UK defence company last year getting £14.5M for a contract for a "risk reduction study" for a future project - I reckon I could have written it for £500k given the chance and that would have been a rip off!
I am still gob-smacked that our defence budget is in the Top 5 but our capabilities are in the Top 20 - something is going drastically wrong, from 3-4 stars who seem paralysed from making a decision to 75,000 civil servants with at least 50,000 of which would have been the wheezy losers at school (about as much common sense and get-up-and-go as a wet fish).
This malaise set in within the military when we stopped letting warfighters get to the top and pushed for the perceived all important "political animal".
Banging my head and going to bed
LJ