Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

America is at best a fair weather friend and having bases here increases our target value to the many and increasing number of enemies it has in the world.

In any case the justification for NATO ended in 1995, today our enemies are very different and already establishing colonies here.

If we have to buy trading partners then they're not worth having.

Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

Give me a list of all of our friends, fair weather or otherwise.

Give me a list of our enemies who are likely to target us.

Give me a list of our enemies who are likely to target American bases in the UK.

Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

When push comes to shove England has no friends.

Which of our enemies would target us - start with Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, etc.

Enemies who would target us because of the presence of American base here - all of Americas enemies and there's an ever increasing number of them.

Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

Quite probably true, though I suspect that we might rely on some, including the Five Eyes nations.

Do any of those have the ability to target our country, apart from sending us their unwanted dross of course?

Those who do have the ability wouldn't dare, because they'd be risking reprisals from at least two nuclear powers.

Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

#1 if push came to shove it will be everyone for themselves


#2 Yes. And they would if only to take out American first line defensive systems.

#3 That would be of little comfort to us even if, and it's a BIG if any of the other nuclear powers of which there are many more than two decided to enter the game which I VERY much doubt and especially not America unless they saw it as a direct threat to themselves. It took the Zimmerman Telegram to get them to move from selling to both sides in pre-escalation WW1 and Pearl Germany declaring war on America to get them to step up in the case of WW2.

No nation can be trusted and especially not America.

Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

Well, we'd have to wait and see, I suppose, although we and others, even the Frogs, have joined with America in conflicts in the Middle East.

What? Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, etc? Perhaps they have a suicide wish!

So you believe that if someone attacked American citizens and resources in this country, America would just sit back and accept it? And the same people attacked our own land, we would do the same?
I think you're running out of ideas and certainly I have seen no evidence to support your opinions.

Getting back on-topic. Perhaps you are suggesting that if we don't pay foreign aid we shall be attacked by Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and others, or have I missed your point?

Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

I think you've missed my point - or maybe I'm just a cynical old bastard and believe that in today's world very different values exist when it comes to international relations that even fifty years ago.

Just touching on Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran it's not a case of "don't pay rue the the the day" it's a case of them having the capability to inflict nuclear strikes on the UK and I firmly believe they would, especially Iraq and Iran if part of a strike against America.

I firmly believe that the UK should "Do a Switzerland", only retain a domestic defence force only, get out of NATO, and move into the banking and tax haven business and stop pretending to be a world power which we patently obviously have not been for decades.

Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

Pakistan is known to have nuclear weapons. Do they have the means to fire them all the way to the UK? They would surely need ICBMs. India has a space programme, so it is possible that they have the means, but not Pakistan.

I confess that I was completely unaware that Iran and Iraq also possessed nuclear weapons. When did this happen?

Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

In the case of delivering a nuclear device it could be sent by cargo plane. Same with biological weapons, eggs in thermos flasks.

As for atomic weapons in the middle East - and elsewhere of course they abound, North Korea has been exporting them for a couple of years now. Probably Pakistan has been doing the same.

Look, if a thing can be made it can be sold if someone wants it and buying is a whole lot easier than making.

Re: Foreign Aid department scrapped.

I think it's right that we should stop sending these brown envelopes elsewhere.

After all, nobody, in the UK, would ever stoop so low as to accept a bribe to get an advantage!

Trouble is, we're not stopping sending the envelopes - we're just renaming the system.