The Brits – Flaming useless?

From an article in today’s Times newspaper:-

Quote:
…Perhaps most important of all, the military alliance between Britain and America – which has cemented the political alliance since the First World War – is beginning to crack. I am told that a report circulating at the highest level in the Ministry of Defence concludes that there are now serious doubts in Washington about the effectiveness of the British Armed Forces. Senior military figures are said to have been surprised, and shocked, by feedback that arrived in Whitehall last month. Described as “highly sensitive”, it raised questions about the worth of the UK contribution to US-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. “It showed that the Americans don’t value us much,” one source told me. “Britain’s military ability is no longer rated as highly as we thought it was.”

This is not a last gasp by the outgoing Bush administration. Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, who has been asked to remain in his job by Mr Obama, is one of those said to have reservations about the British military contribution.

The message has filtered across to the Foreign Office, too. At a diplomatic as well as a military level, concerns have been raised about the quality of British troops and equipment. Too often, the Americans complain, they have had to ride to the rescue of the Brits, rather than being able to rely on them as equal partners. There are question marks in Washington about Britain’s political commitment to military engagement: Mr Brown will not be forgiven if he fails to send substantial numbers of troops to support an Obama surge in Afghanistan.

“The US generals think the Brits need to be taken down a peg or two – that we have not performed well in Basra and Helmand province – and that has trickled up to the Pentagon,” says a Foreign Office insider. “It’s not terminal but it’s an important warning to us that if we are going to trade on our military partnership we are going to have to raise our game.”

Some would say that this is a reflection of the sad situation in Basra, and pays no regard to the real successes in Helmand and elsewhere (including in Desert Storm and OIF).

Informed sources suggest that this as much about the philosophical differences in the way we approach military operations – that they “don’t understand/agree with our ways of counter insurgency” and that they’d have criticised us in Malaya (successful/winners) vice them in Vietnam (unsuccessful/losers).

Others would hold up their hands with a quick mea culpa, and an admission that the Brits are the “best trained, but the worst equipped” forces in NATO.

Nonetheless, I thought that the article would be seized upon with alacrity and enthusiasm by the usual gang of anti-Brit posters, and so this is my belated Christmas present to them!