WHY EUROPE No Longer Matters.

UPDATE: British reader Alan Massey sends this link:

The Army is facing an exodus of the next generation of military leaders after nearly 1,000 of its brightest officers and soldiers applied for voluntary redundancy. . . . The Army is expected to lose a substantial number of senior NCOs, who provide the “backbone” of discipline in the field, and it has also been inundated with applications from corporals, sergeants and staff sergeants. Under the defence cuts, the Army is to lose 7,000 troops over the next four years, leaving a force of 94,000.

One decorated officer, who has commanded a battalion with distinction but has now opted to leave, said: “When you know what’s going on at the moment and the amount of money that’s needed to be saved and the impact of that on the Army, what’s the point of staying? People see the writing on the wall and are saying it’s time to go.”

The Army is most concerned by the calibre of the officers who have asked to leave. At least five commanding officers or future battalion commanders have handed in their papers.

Massey adds: “We (in the UK) have had a military that has been continuously shrinking for the last 20 years, despite being sent to fight all over the world. I would hazard a guess that the only reason a lot of them held on at all is in the hope that a change of government would see a change in policy. Therefore it is not at all surprising that we see a collapse in morale and a rise in the number of voluntary redundancies as it has become obvious that the Conservatives are little different from the Labour Party.”

Perhaps some of these retirees will go into politics.