Dear All
In life there are always stark truths to
swallow; one is that soldiers, sailors and airmen serving with the British
armed forces may be unwilling to sign up for a new independent Scottish defence
force.
In the various arms of the British Forces,
there are many opportunities which will not be available due to cost in the
armed forces of an independent Scotland.
The military is a good choice for
youngsters from deprived backgrounds to get ahead, learn a trade, see the world
and where needed assist in humanitarian efforts. Iraq and Afghanistan are two
areas where political decisions to use them were wrong. This wasn’t the fault
of military leaders rather the government of the day at Westminster.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond warns
quite rightly that a Scottish defence force would be able to offer only a
"fraction" of the opportunities available in the British forces. Alex
Salmond hasn’t exactly been a great success on military matters, his rationale
is just ‘say no’.
The SNP has had 80 years to have a viable
defence plan, in that time they produced nothing, it ties into what I have said
and said regarding the genuine lack of talent in the Scottish National Party.
And of course there is an issue of trust,
who in their right mind would sign up to a Scottish Armed Forces when a party
like the SNP has people like Tommy Ball in it? Ball resigned his membership
after calling British Soldiers “uneducated racists thugs” and “child killers”.
Although gone from the party, at some stage he will be allowed back in, he is
close to people around the leadership of Nicola Sturgeon.
After independence fails in 2014, watch
out, the SNP will return to being anti NATO at a future conference, the change
of heart isn’t a change of heart, it’s a con, short term thinking to try and
push through indy.
So, Tory MP Phillip Hammond is right to
highlight the SNP's plans for the defence are a "significant gamble".
And to drive the point home, he said in an
interview mocking and ridiculing a SNP promise to keep 15,000 service personnel
in Scotland:
"Join the Navy and see the
Clyde."
In defence, operational experience is
vital, there are risks and lessons to be learned; sometimes those lessons can
be painful and tragic.
Holyrood is run as a 9 to 5 enterprise, the
poor relation to Westminster in terms of talent, although there a few bright
sparks, not enough especially on the SNP benches.
Down south, the SNP Westminster leader and
Defence spokesman is Angus Robertson MP, his expertise in defence appears to be
whinging about troops numbers and looking at the website of the Norwegian Navy.
His latest whine is claiming that the
Defence Secretary has only come to Edinburgh to ‘insult Scottish service
personnel’.
Remember the SNP Tactic of grudge,
grievance and malcontent?
How many times has Angus Robertson been to
Afghanistan and Iraq to support the Scottish Forces?
Hammond added:
"The
British armed forces are able to attract some of the highest calibre recruits
because they are able to offer some exciting and demanding career
opportunities, with the chance to deploy overseas on operations and training
and with the cache of being among the best and most widely respected armed
forces in the world”.
That is the bar that the SNP Government can’t
match.
Hammond continued:
"The nationalists have taken for granted
that soldiers currently serving in the 'Scottish' regiments would want to serve
in a Scottish defence force. But who knows how many Scots would want to serve a
new state as part of a Scottish defence force? They certainly wouldn't have a
fraction of the opportunities they currently have for overseas deployment and
training, nor the diversity of experience or access to the quality of kit and
equipment with which they currently operate. "It is a significant gamble
to assume that troops in our UK armed forces would volunteer for a Scottish
defence force. All of this adds up to a set of serious questions about the
SNP's military personnel plans."
Rather like SNP Activists who are deserting
the SNP, it seems the Scots in the military share a similar view, Alex Salmond
and Nicola Sturgeon aren’t people that command respect and certainly not with
their destiny and lives.
It’s AWOL time at the SNP.
All the SNP can do now, is whine about
troop numbers and play their continual stupid petty little game of grudge,
grievance and malcontent.
Alex Salmond couldn’t defend this country
of Scotland; he couldn’t even get round an obstacle course, as for Ms. Sturgeon
who increasingly is wearing black as she mourns the death of her independence
campaign….. well….. it’s just ….. no thanks!
In a final slap in the face to Scotland’s ’warleaders
in waiting’, Hammond added:
"Taking random units and putting them
together does not make an army. Half a destroyer would be no use to anyone,
neither would be one frigate”.
Lack of thought, lack of vision, no plans,
no preparation, have another curry Alex, the end is coming soon enough.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
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