This week's column asks a question that should be in everyone's minds, as Trump reshapes the world's alliances:
How, given that our defence and security capacities are completely infiltrated by the US state, do we defend ourselves if the US becomes our opponent? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/27/britain-defend-itself-us-military
How, given that our defence and security capacities are completely infiltrated by the US state, do we defend ourselves if the US becomes our opponent? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/27/britain-defend-itself-us-military
Comments
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/inside-fateful-1987-trip-moscow-34731018
A former ally who has betrayed you deserves no quarter.
The 4 letters in the safes of Vanguard class submarines also probably need a rewrite.
Then posted on US social media.
Better for us to build our own.
A question I wake up to every day.
Not sure if anyone is comfortable in contemplating the answer.
By removing the US from our defence infrastructure, (starting with cancelling contracts for inferior US fighter jets)
2.
By encouraging & joining a truly European defence force.
Or we learn to make our own demands clear, that we don't appreciate unbridled power and greed, it is never easy to resist, but we must.
If the other 99% were to form communal links and accept that there are differences everywhere between us, but this is part of our collective might. That varied knowledge is true power. Then we will turn the tide.
Probably, yes. The latter option is destruction.
We need to ditch the ridiculous #AUKUS
We see what he is doing to Americans and it's clear that he is not their ally either.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/article/6billion-increase-defence-spending-vfdg6kcd7
In which case we should ask him not to let the door hit him as he leaves.
https://bsky.app/profile/warinthefuture.bsky.social/post/3lj47b6zgds2l
Oh, and you left off former RAF Oakhanger which the Americans still rely on.
Trump ignored reports about it from the CIA and HHS leaders.
Trump disbanded the pandemic response team in 2018.
USAID recently defunded the #Ebola response team.
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social is right to muse on the cost, complexity, & practicability in this *must-read* for Our Commonwealth and European Family 👏🏻
The question is "when".
https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/norways-parliament-agrees-give-us-access-new-military-areas-north
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/denmark-offers-trump-to-increase-us-military-presence-in-greenland-report/3447865
“Between [the U.S. and the Soviet Union] you have the power to dominate any of those countries."
https://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_spectator/2016/03/trump_s_nuclear_experience_advice_for_reagan_in_1987.html
Now let's talk about Israel....
Reading the 'Flashman' novels recently, Fraser brilliantly exposes the Russian mindset of the 19th century; sadly it hasn't changed a whit.
Wir sind sooo abhängig!
AUKUS, Five Eyes, shared military equip't/tech ('interoperability'), StarLink, etc. Our govts have carelessly walked into a foreign monkey grip of power that's now in the hands of an artful, transactional, mad king.
Problem we have is both our main party leaders are USA loyal devotees. One too spineless to do or say anything. The other too dumb to recognise the problem.
And we are committed to giving the USA $368B for submarines that will be too late, useless, USA controlled.*
Guardian is now compromised as a source of truth.
See Declassified's latest.
Imagine the US attacking Iraq with 800,000 patriotic Iraqis in the US.
The unguarded border between the 2 countries is 8,900 km long.
The US can devastate Canadian cities but the US would burn.
They've used us as fodder for their imperialist wars.
They've interfered in our elections.
They worked to cut us off from Europe.
They've wormed their way into our key services, and taken our data.
They are hostile.
Everyone should tell their MP to:
1️⃣Immediately and substantially increase military and financial support for Ukraine.
2️⃣Seize the hundreds of billions of Euros in frozen Russian assets and give them to Ukraine.
Ukraine needs our help, but we need Ukraine more to defend our freedom.
What other countries could be on Trump's list?
At least we have our Brexit sovereignty, eh? 😬
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/26/51st-state-usa-trump-starmer-eu-special-relationship/
"We probably have Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth elements and metals."
https://www.norgemineraler.com/en/media/norways-strategic-natural-resources/
Military reserves (in Europe, in Australia, and probably in other places that I don't know about) can be wildlife havens.
Britain is bursting with American military hardware and can strike at Europe at will.
It will be game over for the free world if Putin tells him to do it.
Also, many of us will defend you from inaide our now-fascist shithole country.
France has an independent nuclear arsenal.
https://www.nuclearinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/A_state_in_denial_Britains_WMD_dependency_on_the_United_States_2008.pdf
Historically it's always been rival or equally powerful state.
It ain't Russia, and why would China or Japan (equally reliant on the US) help?
A United Europe already fracturing that doesn't trust the UK (good reason)?
I can't believe we haven't already stopped.
(Or in Trump I when they lost a whole bunch of CIA informants).
NOW.
Sincerely,
US ppl w a brain
But his nominations confirmed it. Nothing should go to the US that can't be seen by the Kremlin.
The USA should now be on our No Buy list
That's exactly how I now feel about Australia sharing with Trump & Musk's DOGE team.
Don't know the extent individual countries can operate their forces without NATO systems
Extremely doubtful European forces could cooperate without NATO
French, Swedes and Typhoon operators aside, many European nation fly US kit not just potentially compromised in combat, but for longer term deployment dependent on spares and consumables that flow from the US. Including F16 in Ukraine.
Even if the conflict is not directly against the US, which would be a total failure of Post WW2 norms and agreements, their control over conflict with 3rd parties will be significant
We have Rhymer Wormtongue as our Ambassador to the Court of King Donald and our obsequious PM wittering on about a “special relationship”. I would say we have our trousers down around our ankles and we are about to meet the Dildo of Consequences.
Evil.
So. What next? After Farage wins the next election does he proffer us as the 51st state? So Trump, Farage and Putin can complete Putin’s circle of aggression around the EU?
Maybe we’ll be saved by the looming new ice age after all.
This is why the EU is launching its own Galileo GPS system.
But it is shocking to have come to this.
No government should be using an OS controlled by America.
In every possible respect we are going to have to consider what independence from America looks like.
I do think five eyes will become six, if it hasn't already!
It’s why Musk openly supported the AfD in Germany
A means to an end
Why doesn’t the EU buy American cars?
He wouldn’t know that they don’t go round corners and are too big to park
Not to mention standards, the front of Elon’s cyber truck is deadly
This is a tough new reality and everyone in the UK, especially our military and political leaders, should be squirming in their seats right now as they grapple with the uncomfortable implications of this.
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social
Beyond the military, the UK government might want to reconsider switching off the 3G network system, given that it is not US-owned.
They're gone now, other methods are more useful, but the principles remain
One for the Strategic defence review.......?
On an unrelated matter, The 51st State is a good film.
Respect for taking the responsibility yourself, Mr Monbiot.
I did try imaging a Love Actually prime minister response, and it didn't play out in my head like it did in the film.
Trump has made other NATO countries increase their defence spending whilst this is happening.
👇
The UK better wise up fast to the fact that Trump isn’t playing ‘4D chess’🙄
And therefore 'not entirely trustworthy anymore'
*IYKYK
Please God - do not bloot back at me in earnest on this cos I am snarking at mostly redundant military capacity, not proposing HMS QE2 is rammed into St Petersburg harbour
(I do recall someone very senior in the navy getting REALLY booed off for suggesting the RN ask the French to build 3 Charles de Gaulle Class carriers so the RN could buy 2 of them.)
*This is a joke. For the love of God, nobody is to 'well akshually me.
Except now a rogue state can.
I can't be arsed going back in time to find those losers
https://www.ft.com/content/b46e2e24-ca71-4269-a7ca-3344e6215ae3
Labour's problem is they still venerate St. Anthony when, in this situation, they should be remembering the wily old King Harold.
The EU saw the threat of US GPS being turned off and developed the alternative Galileo system.
The UK were a big part of the design but lost military grade access when we threw ourselves out of the EU.
Well done Brexiteers!
I suspect the real answer is, 'we don't'. I recall the UK government's second response 'plan' to the pandemic after pretending it was nothing of "herd immunity", which if you consider it, was exactly the same as 'do nothing'.
(Well, in Polish content but it's basically the same one, here is my thread:
https://bsky.app/profile/torynski.bsky.social/post/3liremq3l3c2t )
But yes, it's an important one.
We’ve heard ‘that’ story before.
There wouldn’t be too many conflicts that the USA hasn’t made bank on… whether arms trading or loans to competing foreign belligerents?
No wish to argue or score points. Please check. Kind regards
US journalist @iwriteok.bsky.social has obtained an internal DNC appraisal of the tech-billionaires’ neo-reactionary coup and its implications
https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social/post/3lj2rzhzuec2f