Apparently, the UK faces a 'big decision' on whether it wants to be a 'major defence power'. This quite ridiculous point is mentioned in the same breath as standing by the actions of invading other countries for their own good.

Last time I looked, this was not 'defence'.

But ignoring the controversy of failed Middle Eastern incursions, and the deliberate destabilisation of the Islamic states, the question of whether or not the UK should spend it's nights fretting over having enough military might to police the world is not one which, on the face of things, demands a great deal of cerebral capacity.

The answer Mr Blair, should you happen to be reading this entry, is no, and I'll tell you why. Take a look around you Prime Minister. This country is falling apart at the seams. Taxed to the hilt to fund a combination of multiplying benefit loafers and your failing policies, the public has swayed beyond mere dislike of the current government.

You have all but pledged billions to needlessly developing the next generation of our nuclear enabled submarine fleet. Now you hope to burn billions more maintaining a public service which, in the modern world, is neither needed or wanted on any grand scale. I say this from the perspective of defence, which is to say ensuring the safety of the nation from external aggression.

We live in a time where this country has a glorious and unique opportunity to lead the way on the road to more peaceful times, with greater trust between nations. Instead of taking this chance with both hands and downsizing our might, we are committed to arming ourselves to the teeth with a new generation of nuclear weaponry, and are now pondering the idea of forcefully creating a world power through weight of arms.

Not only does this woefully shortsighted policy ruin the global ideal of peace in our time, it also quite ingloriously short-changes the taxpayer who will individually see no benefit whatsoever from this line of thought, and will instead have to bear an increased tax burden to support this misguided monomania. The opportunity to return the already excessive taxes to the people (where it belongs) is being passed up. The population will be taxed yet more and see less in return, where the alternative would be maintaining taxes and spending the proceeds improving the grossly underinvested infrastructure of this once great nation.

I never believed until today that civil war would be something I would see in my lifetime. It was for the history books, and for the third world. Now, I am not so sure. For how long, and with how much weight, can this government continue to force it's will onto an unwilling populace?

1 message(s) of denial

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fuzzems - 2007-01-13 13:42:06

Imagine living in the US with the unrest in the middle East or with family member, especially the little brothers, over there.

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