My July 10th blog included a link reporting that Germany was planning a major cut in its armed forces in order to cope with budgetary problems. Now the United Kingdom has announced a similar cut in its military forces. The UK cuts will be particularly deep, and it is hard to see why anyone should take the UK seriously as a world power if it implements cuts of this depth. The UK plans to eliminate “large numbers of fighter aircraft, armored vehicles, warships and military personnel.” A British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, is cited as stating that these cuts “would likely see Britain depart the stage as a major world power.” You can read about these deep military cuts by the UK in the first link below. If the UK does disarm itself to such an extent, expect to see more pressure to have the UK lose its permanent seat on the UN’s Security Council as the UK will simply lack the global relevance to sit on that body.
These cuts could hardly come at a worse time for the UK and NATO. Turkey is increasingly acting as if it intends to betray its NATO partners by drawing closer to Iran and Syria (Iran is an ally of Russia and China). If Turkey leaves NATO, NATO will be faced with a greatly increased threat from Russia and its allies because Turkey had the largest NATO army. The remaining European nations would need to dramatically increase their military forces if Turkey leaves NATO, not decrease them, as they are now doing. The fact that the British are making such deep cuts now indicates to me that the UK’s economic/financial crisis may be much worse than they have revealed to their own citizens or their fellow EU and NATO allies. If the British had a healthy economy and financial position, no such cuts would be needed.
Leviticus 26 lists the blessings that “covenant” nations will enjoy when they obey God’s laws and honor him, and it also lists the curses that nations will bring on themselves when they disobey and dishonor God. That God is being dishonored and disobeyed widely throughout the historically Christian nations of the West is without question. One of the curses for national disobedience is that God will “break the pride of your power.” Power can be either economic/financial or military in nature. The UK in particular is being smitten with this curse. The British Empire used to be the dominant power on earth just 70 years ago. It is today a mere shadow of its former glorious self, and soon it will diminish even further if these planned military cuts are implemented.
The second link documents that the USA is also looking for major cuts in its Defense Department expenses. At least the American cuts described in the second link cut support systems rather than actual weaponry (a good step). However, when/if the American government faces a deeper financial/economic crisis in the future, it may also have to make deep cuts in its military budget. The most obvious and logical way to cut America’s military budget quickly is to end the Afghan War and bring its forces and troops home to rest.
Germany and the UK have announced big military cutbacks at a time when Russia, China and Iran are building up their military power. China is especially aggressive in building a world-class military force increasingly intended to overwhelm the USA and its allies. With each announcement of a military disarmament program by a NATO nation, Europe is making itself an ever-easier target for a military attack from the east. If Turkey leaves NATO in the future, NATO and Europe will face an existential crisis. As regular readers of this blog know, Ezekiel 38-39 prophesy that Russia, China, Iran and their allies will launch a surprise attack against the USA, Europe and their allies at the end of this age, triggering World War III. For much specific information on this prophecy, I invite readers to review my article, What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveal about a Future World War III, available at the Articles link at my homepage.
I’ll close with a bit of a paradox. The final link has a story about a new, high-tech, unmanned stealth fighter designed for the British Royal Air Force. The first link indicates that there is little likelihood this warplane will ever be funded or built. The technology to defend the Western nations does exist. However, the finances and will to defend themselves are fading fast (especially in Europe). If Winston Churchill could see the massive decline that has occurred in his beloved British nation since his death, he’d “roll over in his grave.”
My thanks to readers for making me aware of these stories.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4739367&c=EUR&s=TOP
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4739691&c=AME&s=TOP
