UK: Defence cut threat to the special relationship

Inflicting deep cuts on the Armed Forces could threaten the Special Relationship between Britain and the US, President Barack Obama’s defence department has warned the Government.

In private exchanges, the Pentagon told defence ministers and senior officials that the US was worried Britain’s cuts could widen the transatlantic divide in military power and spending.

The warning could put new pressure on the Treasury to limit planned cuts in Britain’s defence capabilities.

The National Security Council will soon meet to discuss the detailed impact of the cuts. The Daily Telegraph today begins a major series of articles examining the implications of the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

The review will reshape the nation’s defence strategy, and raise questions about Britain’s role in the world.

An agreement between Nato countries commits them to spending at least 2 per cent of their gross domestic product on defence. Britain is one of the few Nato members apart from the US that currently meets that goal.

The £37 billion a year defence budget could be cut by almost a fifth as the Treasury squeezes public spending and Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, struggles to pay for an unfunded “black hole” for new equipment.

Dr Fox is considering flying out to Washington to meet US officials to assuage their worries later this month, before the defence review ends.

Whitehall sources have disclosed that provisional estimates from MoD negotiations with the Treasury show core defence spending could fall below Nato’s 2 per cent standard — perhaps to as little as 1.7 per cent of GDP.

The US routinely spends more than 4 per cent of GDP on defence, and military analysts say the widening gap will make it harder for European forces to work with US forces equipped with ever more sophisticated equipment.

"Didn?t the Obama Administration deny that there was any special relationship with Britain?"

Obama has made it abundantly clear that not only is there no special relationship, but that he despises Britain. He has moved away from the anglosphere and toward the Islamic conference. Britain cannot look to Obama's US as anything more than a soft opponent.

We are headed down the same path as the UK, i.e., the choice between guns and butter. In order to maintain their generous social welfare system, the money has to come from somewhere. The UK and the rest of Europe have chosen butter and they have been doing so for decades. They have had the luxury of the US providing the security umbrella.

The US will start gutting DOD as the pressure mounts to keep our entitlement programs afloat. We can no longer afford to be the world's lone superpower. We are going broke. 43 cents of every federal dollar spent is borrowed. We are paying the Chinese, among others, huge amounts of money in debt servicing costs.

We should pay attention to what is happening in the UK and Europe when it comes to defense spending. We are next.

A bipartisan commission appointed by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) laid out ways on Friday to eliminate almost $1 trillion in defense spending over the next decade. The Sustainable Defense Task Force, a commission of scholars from a broad ideological spectrum appointed by Frank, the House Financial Services Committee chairman, laid out options the government could take that could save as much as $960 billion between 2011 and 2020.

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