Anybody here remember WPC Yvonne Fletcher?

I am not really sure how I feel about this one; I don’t really have anything against Julian Assange but I don’t really have anything for him either. It does seem that he only has respect for any law when it is of benefit to him; happy to be protected by UK law until extradition was likely and then breaks his bail conditions. And how much was that bail, who paid, and who has lost their money?

What about the US serviceman who went to jail for giving secrets? Does Assange not feel any responsibility there?

I don’t really have any sympathy for the US case either; yes the US (or the UK) has ‘secrets’ that they’d rather not become common knowledge but if they get out why does the US think they have any rights to punish Assange who is not a US citizen and who is not in the US.

The murder of PC Fletcher is one of the times when I would think it appropriate to go into an embassy and make arrests. Diplomatic immunity is a great idea, but it does not extend so far as to let anyone murder British Citizens with impunity. This crime, Libya shipping weapons to the IRA and the lockerbie bombing all add up to a completely justified casus belli imho, but that’s for another day.

As for Assange, I’m not sure what to make of the man. I do find it an odd state of affairs. The charges originally leveled against him of sexual assault were dropped, but then miraculously re-emerged after he had upset the US and other powers. Another point is that Sweden has never before asked for anyone to be extradited on these charges. Whether he is guilty or not, it seems clear to me that this is being politically motivated.

Bradly Manning, the US serviceman who released documents to Assange, is still being held almost two years after his arrest without receiving a trial, and there have been allegations that the treatment he is receiving is extremely harsh, intended to break his will and demoralise him.

I don’t personally believe that anyone has suffered injury (except to maybe reputation or pride) as a result of the wikileaks documents releases, and I think the US is yet to produce any evidence to substantiate their claims that it has. I understand the security forces need to keep some secrets, but it seems to me that even our democracies are getting too used to keeping things from their citizens, and more openness, not less, is what’s needed. I think that the real reason they are so angry with Assange and Manning is that they don’t want us, the citizens of the West, to know what our governments are really up to.

Just my 2cents

I think Adam Smith would be a better starting point if you want to understand the underlying concepts.

Prototype US recon blimp sighted:

Article and video

Isn’t this the one that was initially designed by a company in the UK?

It would not be at all surprising if the RAF might be hankering after a 2025-model, probe-and-drogue F-35A, with greater range (less tanking requirement) and lower acquisition and operating costs.

Wouldn’t it be easier to just go for the F-35C and not throw any more money at Lockheed to develop probe and drogue F-35A? It would also mean that if in the future we wished to change the carrier configuration we could already have carrier capable aircraft.

Nic,

I didn’t deny that the MoD is run by idiots, or that HM treasury wants to gut the UK armed forces at every available opportunity, I simply said that they often do buy British when they can, even when it means we pay more and get less.

In all honesty, what do you expect the ordinary man on the street to do when the politician who are the only ones who could effect and change are universally incompetent and ignorant with regard to defense issues?

I’m surprised we haven’t seen the MiG 21 LanceR on this thread yet. Here is one firing a Magic.

Several similar images on this site, just scroll down.

This is my understanding of why the Nimrod MRA4 brought in.

The MoD wanted a new MPA to replace the Nimrod, but they knew that asking the treasury to fund a new aircraft would always get turned down.

So, they said they were just going to ‘upgrade’ the nimrod – that sounds cheaper, doesn’t it? Except they still actually wanted a new aircraft, so the ‘upgrade’ included replacing almost every single part. Sure it would be expensive, probably moreso than just buying new, but before this became obvious the treasury would already have approved it.

In any case, this was at a time when major cost overruns were commonplace, they’d find a way to slip it in somewhere. The RAF gets it’s new aircraft and the Treasury gets to save face by only allowing them to ‘upgrade’ existing airframes.

Basically a mixture of bad management, machiavellian scheming and general incompetence.

What about some kind of UAV MPA? Something like the Predator C or the BAE Mantis?

It would mean introducing a new type yes, but with much lower operating costs.