There is of course another option, which is to fully arm, equip, and support Ukraine, now.
They can and will win with sufficient support, and its a far better investment than waiting for things to get far worse (and far more expensive).
Money spent supporting Ukraine now, getting them to victory, represents a material savings over having to further spend later to fix the mistakes we’ve made in failing to fully support Ukraine up until now.
Noble class first.
That is the basis of nobility, is it not?
The king can lead the charge. Give him a horse and a sword like the good old days.
I’d love to see that wizened old cunt try to mount a horse wearing a full set of plate or chain mail like the kings of yore wore to battle 😂
I thought kings don’t wear armor?
They are always ready to kill your kids in defense of their interests. Them and their kids? Not so much.
I learned to my surprise in WWI the officers had some of the highest casualty rates. I struggled a bit to find the reference just now, but here is something along those lines:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/06/first-world-war-roll-call-senior-officers-killed-ranks
I don’t know about now, but at least at one point in the British imperial past the upper classes shed blood with the poors.
Yeah, I guarantee 500% that this is one of the many things that were different over a century ago than they are now.
No, only the ones who bought the whole noble duty BS did. The folks actually in power were never put at risk outside of the war lords in various hell holes created by lack of governance.
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Can’t we just take all of the sociopaths from the banking industry and stick them on the front line?
As long as we put the health insurance execs, the pharma execs and the big ag execs right there with them.
Who the fuck is the UK going to have a land war with, exactly?
I think instability of the world at the current moment is being acknowledged by military brass throughout NATO as having the potential volatility to see current regional conflicts expand considerably. Middle East, Taiwan, NK (unlikely but a bit of a crapshoot always), Ukraine, etc. Throw in the wild card that is Trump and his rhetoric surrounding NATO and Europe combined with his embrace of Putin and Russia/dictorial aims in the US and you’ve got several things that would have you worried presently. His job is to make sure the UK is ready to address any situations that arise I think statement is more publicly acknowledging that troubled waters COULD be on the horizon.
"Could we try offering actual support to our soldiers and competitive pay and benefits, and eliminating toxic military cultures, to increase recruitment?
No. It is the people who don’t want to ruin their health and their life for minimal benefits in peacetime who are wrong."
We do see that’s the general’s goal, right? He doesn’t actually want conscription; he wants funding and attention.
Or just pay them all enough that people join.
No volunteer army will ever be able to fight a war with Moscow. We don’t need conscription now, but we need to be aware that we might need in 5-15 years time and be prepared.
No volunteer army will ever be able to fight a war with Moscow.
Bullshit. Russia’s military is stretched thin and its economy in tatters to the point that it won’t recover in decades “just” from fighting Ukraine+a shitload of material assistance and sanctions from the West.
If it ever comes to direct war between Russia and the West, especially if that’s during the next few decades, the current forces of the West will absolutely annihilate Russia WITHOUT having to force the unwilling to kill and get killed.
Unless of course Putin snaps and uses nuclear weapons, in which case there won’t be people alive to conscript.
I hope you are right.
So… time to consider conscription.
Of course a warmonger is going to advocate for conscription, but they are only going to want this until AI soldiers are ready to go.
Nah, they’ll still be pushing people towards the deathbots as population control.
I think the government would find it difficult to make all the young people go. If they all protest, what are they going to do, put them in our overcrowded prisons?
This is a horrible time in history to be a pacifist 😮💨
Fuck them all. I’m not fighting their meaningless war…
What does “Sir Richard Sheriff”, “Supreme Commander” of the army knows about life. I won’t let him choose how I die.
“We need a slave army.” –The good guys
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It’s time to “think the unthinkable” and consider introducing conscription to ready the country for a potential land war, Britain’s former top NATO commander has said.
General Sir Richard Sherriff, ex-deputy supreme allied commander of the military organisation, warned that the UK defence budget is not big enough to expand the armed forces alone.
“Britain’s armed forces have traditionally and culturally relied on long service volunteer highly professional soldiers with huge experience - and that is really the way we would all want it to go on.”
The head of the British Army said UK citizens should be “trained and equipped” to fight in a potential war between NATO and Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Major General Charlie Herbert, a military analyst who has served as a senior NATO adviser, said Sir Patrick was trying to “provoke a debate”, nationally and within government, about the size of the army and the defence budget.
“There’s a 1939 feel to the world right now,” senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood told Sky News on Wednesday, warning conscription was a possibility.
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First: a general thinks war is imminent? What a surprise.
That said, 74k troops does seem pretty low.
I think conscription has some value because if anyone can get called up at any time then a broader swath of the public has an incentive to oppose war. An all volunteer army means you’ve primarily got people who want to fight (not ideal from a favoring peace standpoint) or those who are economically disadvantaged, and who disproportionately bear the brunt of hawkish foreign policy.
