Leighton Ashdown

@PronouncedHare Free? No such thing..

TOP is the party of policy-based evidence making.

@PalmerLuckey @zhao_dashuai It's purely defensive....

@zhao_dashuai Okay bro, have fun pretending China isn't creating the largest army in history to invade and sieze the democracies of their choice.

How it feels when your tax money is used to build up your own country rather than fighting foreign wars.

@FennellJW Mshq.... Rebranding your corporatized/bureaucratic hq as a strategic hq. Same people...no change. I'd recommend deletion as opposed to addition. Empower your best and get the rest out of the way

We need an integrated force, but we also need the abiity to generate defence grand strategy, which was the forte of the Admiralty. The new MSHQ should be able to do this, but the rarified air of sovereign strategic thinking will need a new breed of leaders.

@DC_Draino Where was all this coverage bank when this actually happened about 6 years back

This is like saying someone needs to strangle you to protect your breathing.

@_HenryBolton Unfortunately true. You have an excellent officer cadre...but the lack of hard resources compared to other members would cause issues.

In 2010, if the US had pulled out of NATO, there’s little doubt that the natural successor for the position of Supreme Allied Commander Europe would be a Brit. However, thanks to the appalling neglect of our hard power by every Prime Minister since, and including, David Cameron, that slot would be highly contested now.

@kaiviti_cam It's almost satire

If you were wondering if the National Party is woke... the answer is yes, as evidenced by their internal comms guide...

@Scholars_Stage Excellent books

A recurring theme in Ian Toll's Pacific War trilogy is the benefits that accrued to the Americans from spending so much effort on rescuing downed naval aviators, vs. the Japanese, who did not.

@SGTWipper1Each Probably 1945

During what years was the United States Military at its greatest?

@aniobrien Yes, but how good is it! Bear public service by far

Holy moly. Not only has the public service not been shrunk, every govt department now pays MORE than the private sector. Bureaucrats: +21.37% pay growth Everyone else: +14.49% taxpayers.org.nz/bureaucrat_sal…

@TugboatPhil I'd want to see that too. If there is a stick it should go in the unit history room and become an accountable item on the property register.

I hear the Colonel who was rescued climbed to 7000 ft with a bum leg. My guess is he had some kind of magnificent stick to help him get up that hill. I want to see the stick.

@_HenryBolton Your discounting the entirety of the US state department.. The US understand the region. Also this is pretty rich coming from the British

President Trump appears to believe he can bomb Iran into submission. He’s wrong. He seems incapable of understanding the Persians and Arabs. He’d be well advised read TE Lawrence’s “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”. Yes, he may bomb Iran into the Stone Age out of frustration, but they will take it philosophically, he will dig the hole deeper - greater global economic shocks, humanitarian consequences and an eventual reconstruction bill for someone - and he still has no end state or exit strategy. Again, “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” might help him in how to prosecute this campaign with a successful outcome. It doesn’t matter how big or capable your war machine is @POTUS every commander needs to know his enemy in order to use his resources to best effect. Try to understand how your enemy thinks, don’t underestimate your him, and don’t make hubristic assumptions like those your friend President Putin did regarding the Ukrainians. Be more sophisticated. Be more clever.

@SeanPlunket @realtimsharp @MarinaPurkiss Nothing Sean has said here is incorrect

@realtimsharp @MarinaPurkiss Hezbollah hide guns and rockets in those villages and use them to bomb school children and innocents in Israel. The un isn’t allowed to search civilian homes. Hezbollah are directed from Iran and support the irgc’s nuclear weapon aspirations.

Exactly how does Israel bombing residential villages in Lebanon prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons? Explain it to me like I am 5.

@UnimportantO The issue is even the process to create the DIP has become complex. A complex process to provide direction to a complex system, where no one is accountable.

I understand the frustration of delays to the Defence Investment Plan, but trying to match genuine needs and aspirations with limited budgets (there’s always a limit even if it grows) is complex and rushing it out would be worse than letting lobbying bounce out a bad plan.

@Ziya_Meral @defencewithac I agree with you. Every country will try and do something within their capability.

At this stage, Iran is also open to operations after a month of heavy bombing and complete air superiority.. Again, this was an impressive rescue and happy for the serviceman, my reaction is to MAGA accounts on my timeline saying no other country would actually seek to rescue their soldiers even if means loss of aircraft and risk..

Really happy for the US serviceman who was rescued and impressed by US SOF as ever.. But a lot of these tweets in tune of 'no one else but Americans would dare or care' really does no service to anyone.. I often remember Operation Barras nam.ac.uk/explore/operat…

@Arrogance_0024 This is all backwards. The us has the power and will to recover it's personnel despite the operational situation. No one else comes close. Aircraft costs are no factor... No mil planner would even ask about the cost of the A/C in this context.

The "leave no man behind" doctrine is actually a strategic weakness disguised as a virtue. Name one other military on earth that destroys 6 aircraft and fights a ground battle inside a sovereign nation to recover one pilot. You can't. Because no other military confuses tactical sentimentality with strategic logic. Soldiers serve the mission. The mission doesn't serve the soldier. The US has now established that Iran can shoot down an F-15, then watch America spend $300M and expose Delta Force trying to prove it didn't happen. That's not military doctrine. That's politics with weapons. A military that cannot accept the risk of loss cannot win wars. The US hasn't won one since 1945.

@jaglancy Agreed. The Brits have gone backwards with fixed wing capabilities

The Tories should never have sold off Britain’s C130Js to save a few quid. The Americans continue to use them. 👇 Hiding in the mountains, the injured US airman had only a pistol for protection. telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

@cruadin Or the generals fired throughout vietnam..WW2...and the GWOT. It's almost the case that if no one is fired there is an issue

You should look into how many generals Lincoln fired over a brief four year span, or what happened to MacArthur in the middle of the Korean War.

@dccommonsense These generals are not in operationally facing positions. I suspect it's not related to some principled rejection of orders but instead more likely tied to their support for previous administration policies. Which is still ugly.

I don't know if the speculation that SecDef is firing generals because they won't do something they believe to be illegal is correct. But if it is, let's hope their replacements are just as principled.

@GBNT1952 People so far removed from what a war actually is...but so deep in a legal framework of what they wish it to be..

An act of aggression is a war crime now 😂 The internet has given a voice to the stupidest people alive…