Cuts force Royal Navy to drop Somalia piracy patrol

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Cuts force Royal Navy to drop Somalia piracy patrol

Four frigates scrapped in defence review leave navy unable to
commit full-time to David Cameron's foreign policy priority

Nick Hopkins
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 8 May 2012 14.59 BST

The UK has had to scale back its commitment to counter-piracy because the Royal Navy no longer has enough warships to dedicate one to Somalia all year round.

While the US, France, Italy, Denmark and other nations still send frigates to thwart criminals who cause havoc with international trade, the Guardian has learned that Britain has quietly withdrawn its ships from these patrols, even though David Cameron has made Somalia's piracy problem a foreign policy priority.

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Because of defence cuts, the UK can deploy only two frigates for contingency operations east of the Suez canal. They have to cover a massive area of ocean stretching from the Gulf to the Falklands. Neither can be committed to piracy full-time, though HMS Westminster "dips in" when it can, sources say.

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/may/08/royal-navy-cuts-somalia-piracy-patrol

[Turbineguy]

1. A defense scheme based on cost/benefit metrics?

Pretty radical idea I'd say.

[amandabeech]

2. Kirchner is becoming aggressive.

Sending the HRH helicopter rescue pilots in will not impress Argentina.

Our current President will not come to the rescue, even if the situation is dire and Britain has a demonstrably better claim, as I believe.

I hope that the Aussies, Kiwis and Canadians have something that they can send to the South Atlantic quickly. Really, they need to be in the area now, as far as I can tell.

I am not a militarist by any means. I am on record here at DU as opposing Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Libya. The first three because they are or would be patently unwise, and the third because the President did not ask for any kind of Congressional approval, before or after the fact under existing law and the Constitution.

Nonetheless, I believe that the British are being penney-wise and pound-foolish here because the Tory party is a slave to neoliberal economic policy and the Lib Dems are wimps.

Each developed nation must find the coin to defend itself and to take its part in defense treaties and multinational actions absent the type of extreme emergency that does not appear to pertain in Britain at this time.

I never thought that I would see the day that the British would not be in a position to take necessary and wise military action.