Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure (Brits!)

[TexasLawyer]

Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fence
Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 13/08/2006)

The language is cold and bureaucratic, but the message is crystal clear - the Army is running out of cash and Britain's troops in Afghanistan and Iraq are paying the price.

In a confidential document, defence chiefs talk of "high impact" cost-cutting measures that will cause "some pain" and result "in severe impediment to the delivery of operational capability".

It is a far cry from the pledge made by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, just four months ago, when he boasted that he was going to make an extra £1 billion available. The money, which came from a "special reserve", was meant to help the military to conduct peacekeeping operations around the world.

Now it seems that defence chiefs are being forced to pay for the Chancellor's unusual generosity by slashing military spending, closing bases and withdrawing equipment from service. All of this is, according to some senior officers, "putting the lives of British servicemen at risk".

<snip>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=O0BEW5GEWVXEZQFIQMGCFF4AVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2006/08/13/narmy13.xml

[babylonsister]

1. No problem. We'll take care of it,. nt

[TexasLawyer]

2. You BET we will

The war just got a lot more expensive for the USA.

I wish the British would develop a little accounting mojo. That country could magically get rid of its deficits. They just need to use two sets of books, like we do!:sarcasm:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1893942

[0007]

7. The Brits do have folks like Randy Cunningham and Ken Lay

and Jack Abramoff .... John Major can be proud of Blair and his relationship with junior.

What's a few extra dollars ..... ?

[TomInTib]

4. Hell, we cannot even afford the electric bills on domestic bases.

Hey, 'sister.

[judaspriestess]

3. so this means the IRS will get just a little extra aggressive

than the extra aggressive they are now. Bush gave them free reign to collect on back taxes to fund the war.

[bhikkhu]

5. If I recall correctly, prior to GWII,

the british treasury secretary announced that war with iraq was not an option, as the funds were simply not available. This back when US predicted a walkover and rose petals...

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. The defence budget is mainly used to support the defence industry

rather than, say, run a useful military.

Defence spending has long been a running sore with many senior officers, who believe that the procurement of main weapons systems are too often made for political reasons rather than their practical use on the battlefield.

One senior officer told this newspaper that the Government had wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers money when it decided to buy 232 Eurofighter combat jets at a cost of £50 million each.

The officer said: "We have a situation in Afghanistan where the Army does not have enough helicopters, yet it is going to have dozens of squadrons of Eurofighters which will never be used in war.