Originally Posted by
Crromwellman
I wonder how sorry some people are that we left Belize, probably to satisfy the bean counters, despite still having interests in that area. The French and Dutch kept garrisons in the area and consequently they had the wherewithall to respond to the recent hurricane disaster. Not us though. We rely on deploying from UK which all takes time and gives the media the excuse, not that they need one, to describe our response as "pathetic" and "too little, too late." If we had kept a small presence in Belize with some pre-positioned stores, we could have responded as quickly as the French and Dutch. Short term thinking rules - OK
RFA Mounts Bay was at Anguilla 12 hours after the hurricane hit with stores and personnel. I doubt anyone stationed in Belize could have got as much there as quickly. The French and Dutch garrisons are on the islands that got hit, which does give you something of an advantage in the response time, but you have to dig yourself out from under the rubble first.
The press coverage has mostly been uninformed b******s.