The Thomas Chronicles

*** Please see Update below ***

Mr. James Lewis, at the American Thinker, writes that the British are “rapidly trying to become more like the Continent”. I do not dispute this; however, perhaps the British are further along in their Continental European-ization than we think. Mr. Lewis blogged about “Massive cuts in the Royal Navy” over a week ago, and while I agree with everything he wrote there, there is also an added dimension that needs looking at.

When the United States was attacked on 9/11 and we engaged in battle across the globe against Islamofascism, Britain, under the leadership of Tony Blair, went with us. In fact, throughout our 50-plus years of alliance, Britain has increased our force projection across the globe by approximately a factor of one-third.

However, with the news that Britain will cut almost half of its Royal Navy, a shadow has fallen between Britain and the United States.

According to the Telegraph, soldiers return on leave from dangerous overseas missions are treated to “near-squalor” conditions in their barracks. Even more ominous are reports that ships “are ignoring faults to weapons systems in order to save money but will spend cash if it is a health and safety issue.” This means that ships from the Royal Navy are setting sail into possible enemy fire without even being armed properly.

It is quite clear that Britain’s military has been degenerating for some time for conditions to reach such catastrophic levels of readiness. It can also be surmised that the British Parliament voted to go to war without allocating the money for the conduct of war.

Mr. Lewis quite astutely wrote that this is a direct manipulation on the part of the British elite to coerce “ambitious young officers” into joining the EU’s military rather than Britain’s. Internationalism is finally having its way in Britain—their hour has come round at last.

But what of the United States? Isn’t Britain still “co-equal partners” with the United States in the War on Terror, which rages across the Mideast and other parts of the world?

I think not. Not anymore.

In gutting of the Royal Navy and the other arms of the British military, Britain’s elite are also cutting their American “allies” off at the ankles. We are four years into this war with both America’s and Britain’s military working together in tandem, and suddenly we discover that their Parliament didn’t even provide funds for the war and that the Ministry of Defense is bankrupt? They wait until the consensus of opinion is that the United States is spread too thin across the world, and then makes the announcement that they will cut half of their fleet, rendering them virtually impotent.

If all this is accurate and not just a ploy to trick our enemies, this is not just irresponsible; this is close to Machiavellian in its mendacity.

Perhaps, the Tories will reverse this tide of globalism in British politics and policy, but I wonder if it isn’t already too late. And if it is, they’ll get to sleep in the bed they’ve made for themselves. By slashing their navy, Britain has handed itself utterly to the Continent, who in turn is utterly dependent on Russia for their energy supplies (without which they’ll freeze), and who is becoming more totalitarian with every passing year. Aside from their personal nuclear deterrent, Britain is virtually disarming itself, for what is Britain without its navy? (Was the Norman Conquest of England that successful?)

Haven’t they become just another backbiting sycophant whose heyday has past, like France; and who, in their apparent lack of true courage, accuses the courageous of being evil?

Have the mighty British people sunk to become little better than another marginal EU outpost?

For that matter, what use is Britain to us, now that they have joined wholeheartedly in the chorus of the envious?

God bless them, but I don’t think they know what they’ve done…

Update 1/30/07:

Commentator Captain Mike Davis-Marks wrote:

I am a Royal Navy officer in the Ministry of Defence in London and your blog saddens me, not for the opinion you are offering, but for your willingness to believe what is written in the Daily Telegraph or other peoples’ blogs. The truth of the matter is that the Royal Navy is not about to be halved as reported. In fact, even though decisions have not yet been made it is very unlikely that any significant changes will be made to the force structure at all. Furthermore, the UK is embarking on its largest warship building programme in 20 years with new larger Aircraft Carriers, Destroyers and Submarines all at various stages in the pipeline to add to the best Amphibious capability we’ve had for years. When this works its way through, the Royal Navy will be more capable than ever before. Reports of our demise are, I’m glad to say, premature.

Nothing would delight me more than if Britain remained our stalwart ally.

I’ve long admired the British people with her rich history, from King Henry the Second to Edmund Burke to Winston Churchill. There was a time when I didn’t question our alliance, that of the United States and Great Britain. It was a matter of course between two nations with a shared culture and close affinity that they should help in the defense of one another.

But in recent years, with all the mass protests against President Bush on his visits, all the subtle and vociferous anti-Americanism propounded by the BBC and other media outlets– I’m afraid my confidence in the alliance between America and Great Britain has been terribly frayed.

I do not relish the idea of the United States standing alone against the tide of world, as it increasingly seems to be the case, but it seems many of our “allies” have already abandoned us. This is, indeed, a sad business…

I truly hope I am wrong. I hope the reportage from the Telegraph is nothing more than Leftist propaganda aimed at eroding the will of the British people and her Majesty’s government (much like the Leftist propaganda here in the United States), and I invite anyone more knowledgeable than myself to refute the Telegraph’s article earlier this month.

I would be delighted to print a correction.

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