• @TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1015 months ago

    There is of course another option, which is to fully arm, equip, and support Ukraine, now.

    They can and will win with sufficient support, and its a far better investment than waiting for things to get far worse (and far more expensive).

    Money spent supporting Ukraine now, getting them to victory, represents a material savings over having to further spend later to fix the mistakes we’ve made in failing to fully support Ukraine up until now.

  • @DragonTypeWyvern
    link
    English
    475 months ago

    Noble class first.

    That is the basis of nobility, is it not?

    • @Kornblumenratte@feddit.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      25 months ago

      No volunteer army will ever be able to fight a war with Moscow. We don’t need conscription now, but we need to be aware that we might need in 5-15 years time and be prepared.

      • @Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        75 months ago

        No volunteer army will ever be able to fight a war with Moscow.

        Bullshit. Russia’s military is stretched thin and its economy in tatters to the point that it won’t recover in decades “just” from fighting Ukraine+a shitload of material assistance and sanctions from the West.

        If it ever comes to direct war between Russia and the West, especially if that’s during the next few decades, the current forces of the West will absolutely annihilate Russia WITHOUT having to force the unwilling to kill and get killed.

        Unless of course Putin snaps and uses nuclear weapons, in which case there won’t be people alive to conscript.

  • @EdanGrey@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    95 months ago

    I think the government would find it difficult to make all the young people go. If they all protest, what are they going to do, put them in our overcrowded prisons?

  • @hector@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    6
    edit-2
    5 months ago

    Fuck them all. I’m not fighting their meaningless war…

    What does “Sir Richard Sheriff”, “Supreme Commander” of the army knows about life. I won’t let him choose how I die.

  • AutoTL;DRB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    55 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    It’s time to “think the unthinkable” and consider introducing conscription to ready the country for a potential land war, Britain’s former top NATO commander has said.

    General Sir Richard Sherriff, ex-deputy supreme allied commander of the military organisation, warned that the UK defence budget is not big enough to expand the armed forces alone.

    “Britain’s armed forces have traditionally and culturally relied on long service volunteer highly professional soldiers with huge experience - and that is really the way we would all want it to go on.”

    The head of the British Army said UK citizens should be “trained and equipped” to fight in a potential war between NATO and Vladimir Putin’s forces.

    Major General Charlie Herbert, a military analyst who has served as a senior NATO adviser, said Sir Patrick was trying to “provoke a debate”, nationally and within government, about the size of the army and the defence budget.

    “There’s a 1939 feel to the world right now,” senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood told Sky News on Wednesday, warning conscription was a possibility.


    The original article contains 1,120 words, the summary contains 175 words. Saved 84%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • @LesserAbe@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    -25 months ago

    First: a general thinks war is imminent? What a surprise.

    That said, 74k troops does seem pretty low.

    I think conscription has some value because if anyone can get called up at any time then a broader swath of the public has an incentive to oppose war. An all volunteer army means you’ve primarily got people who want to fight (not ideal from a favoring peace standpoint) or those who are economically disadvantaged, and who disproportionately bear the brunt of hawkish foreign policy.