[jambutty]

Britain hasn’t been a lion with a full set of ivory in its noddle for years Alvin. We are and have been a poodle of the US of A for years. We are as close to being the 51st state of the USA as you can get without actually being one.

Our deterrent is not ours but under the control of Bush and if we wanted to retaliate against someone we would need Bush’s OK first. Unless the US was also threatened or attacked that OK would not be forthcoming. In the event of an altercation that could escalate to threaten the US the UK would be sacrificed to prevent it.

Although there may well be some factions in Russia that dream of being a super power once more, the people who matter have realised that commerce is the way to gain power - not force.

Look at Switzerland, they have been neutral for donkey’s years with no significant armed forces but they’ve done all right and not a nuke in site.

The powers that be in Westminster should grasp reality and that reality is that we are no longer a force to be reckoned with world wide, although our armed forces are some of the besting the world but rather poorly equipped.

Instead of wasting money on a sham we should be equipping our current armed forces with the right equipment to help them do the job properly and survive. No more sending in paper thin Land Rovers to patrol an area where roadside bombs are the norm.