We are spending £6million a week bombing Libya, so why the cutbacks?

[Iuchi_Zien]

It's probably quite good value bombing Libya. I doubt it really costs anything in the long run.

 

We employ pilots to fly planes. They wear out and use fuel whether flying over Libya or Derbyshire. They just don't disturb folks here when they are over Libya. We haven't bought any new planes to bomb Libya.

Pilots need to be trained to drop bombs and fire missiles. All these things have a use by date, so you might as well fire them at a tank rather than at a military range. It costs a fortune to strip down missiles that have gone past date, and there is no substitute for genuine combat experience.

Most of the munitions we use are UK made. Its all good for jobs. It even employs journalists.

 

Incidentally I see the Russians are now supporting NATO calls for Gadaffi to go. Neither Russia nor China ever gave support to our actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

 

Better yet, having destroyed their Airforce, Navy and Army we then have the opportunity to sell them new equipment

[harvey19]

Better yet, having destroyed their Airforce, Navy and Army we then have the opportunity to sell them new equipment

Will we lend them the money ?

[Iuchi_Zien]

Will we lend them the money ?

Possibly, for a nice healthy share of their oil.

[Tony]

You'd be in trouble without oil. Quit moaning about other people making decisions on your behalf that you are too weak to make.

 

Libraries shutting, crossing patrols ending, front line police going, surestart schemes closing, Park Rangers made redundant, swimming pools closing, leisure centres closing, inflation 5%, wages suppressed, cutbacks, cutbacks,cutbacks, all in it together.

 

So how can we afford £6million per week to bomb Libya? Where has the money come from? Why is this more important than public services?

 

And why do the condem fanboys continue to claim that cuts are inevitable and that there is no other option?

 

Next time a crucial public service is cut don't listen to the voice that tells you there is no other option...because quite obviously there is. If the Govt can find £6million a week for a war why can't they find money for a crossing patrol, or a swimming pool, or a library, or respite care, or home help, or community policing.

 

I'm not saying our intervention in Libya is wrong..just that it proves that there are always options in Government spending and no-one should fall for the line that we are broke and cuts to vital services are inevitable.

 

Come on taxman, you're much, much brighter than this silly posts suggests.

 

Interest payments on the deficit are £120m per day. Libya is inconsequential and diversionary. As you say, there are always options but the previous government removed lots of them.

[Anna Glypta]

Libraries shutting, crossing patrols ending, front line police going, surestart schemes closing, Park Rangers made redundant, swimming pools closing, leisure centres closing, inflation 5%, wages suppressed, cutbacks, cutbacks,cutbacks, all in it together.

 

So how can we afford £6million per week to bomb Libya? Where has the money come from? Why is this more important than public services?

 

And why do the condem fanboys continue to claim that cuts are inevitable and that there is no other option?

 

Next time a crucial public service is cut don't listen to the voice that tells you there is no other option...because quite obviously there is. If the Govt can find £6million a week for a war why can't they find money for a crossing patrol, or a swimming pool, or a library, or respite care, or home help, or community policing.

 

I'm not saying our intervention in Libya is wrong..just that it proves that there are always options in Government spending and no-one should fall for the line that we are broke and cuts to vital services are inevitable.

 

Is it because the interest payment on our debt is £60 billion per year and this was rising at around 10-11%/P.A. Dropping a few bombs on Libya to prevent genocide won't drop the UKs credit ratings and put up the interest rates. Not cutting the deficit will.

[Fishcake]

It's a false economy not getting involved properly. Either get involved and kill Gaddafi and hammer his forces and do it quickly or don't bother with this drip drip support. Hard and fast or not at all (ooooooer)

[Harleyman]

We weren't talking about foreign aid though, we were just talking about the cost of executing some military intervention, 6mill/week is pretty low really, given the cost of a single cruise missile...

 

But if you want to talk about foreign aid, consider the benefits of it as well as the cost, how else can you make a reasoned judgement? It's cheaper to give aid and build schools and have a grateful country somewhere, than it is to do nothing, watch it slide into extremism and then have to fight a war with them in 20 years time.

Maybe your president is taking the long view and you're only thinking about the short term...

 

Thing is the US is not now at the point it was even as recently as the 1980s to be the key player in carrying out military operations overseas. Maintaining a huge mobile naval force roaming the seven seas and military bases in foreign countries is costing the country dearly at a time when the economy is at a very fragile stage and the future well being and affluence of the middle class is in serious jeopardy. As we all know it's the middle class that keep any country afloat. There used to be a saying "As General Motors goes, so does the country" but now it's the middle class, not General Motors.

I worry for my grand kids when I see school days being cut, class sizes increased, teachers laid off and programs being eliminated along with rising college tuition fees that are slowly becoming beyond the reach of not only students but the parents of students who want to see their kids go on to college and earn a degree

I also worry for seniors who see cuts in Medicare and Social Security being discussed by politicians in order to reduce the trillions of dollars the country is now in debt.

I'm not saying that all foreign aid should be cut but it should be a subject that should be looked at long and hard by the government. Too much money has been given away yet never reached down to where it was intended.

We cant support every needy country in the world. Sooner or later the chips must fall where they may and the longer we support such countries the less inclined they are to solve their own problems within.

[Harleyman]

It's a false economy not getting involved properly. Either get involved and kill Gaddafi and hammer his forces and do it quickly or don't bother with this drip drip support. Hard and fast or not at all (ooooooer)

 

Let's hope that whoever replaces Ghadaffi isn't some fellow traveler of Al Qaeda. We're banking on his succesors as being pro-western but there's no guarantee of that. Not in that part of the world

[Fishcake]

Let's hope that whoever replaces Ghadaffi isn't some fellow traveler of Al Qaeda. We're banking on his succesors as being pro-western but there's no guarantee of that. Not in that part of the world

 

It is indeed a gamble over there but he cannot remain in power there, well he hardly is in power now but you know what I mean. I am sure the powers that be have someone lined up who is pro western.

 

I stand by my thinking though, which is get involved properly and fully or don't mess around at all.

[Harleyman]

It is indeed a gamble over there but he cannot remain in power there, well he hardly is in power now but you know what I mean. I am sure the powers that be have someone lined up who is pro western.

 

I stand by my thinking though, which is get involved properly and fully or don't mess around at all.

 

 

Not boots on the ground now or ever I hope. The UN mission statement was originally intended for NATO to protect civilans being killed by Ghadaffi's forces through targeting his military such as tanks and artillery. It specifically stated that we were not there to force regime change or kill Ghadaffi but now his compound in Tripoli is increasingly under attack by NATO airstrikes so where do we go from here? Gradually being sucked into yet another middle east war and having our troops sent in to take on Ghadaffi personally?

 

I agree that if the rebels with all the fire upport they've been given so far cant prevail over Ghadaffi within the next two months we should just pack up the operation and bail out.