Anthony Webber asks James De Burgh to do the questioning which the Shadow Defence Secretaries should have done
In response to Russia’s recent targeting of strategic objectives in Ukraine, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps made some comments as mentioned in the link below:
Grant Shapps was made UK Defence Secretary in August 2023 , having had no military or political military experience.
He succeeded Ben Wallace who actively supported the Ukraine policies of former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and then Rishi Sunak
In the absence of the Opposition Defence spokespersons doing their job and questioning Grant Shapp’s statement, I asked Defence and Intelligence expert James De Burgh to undertake that very important task, dealing with each section of it:
Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps said:
“Putin’s latest wave of murderous airstrikes are a desperate and futile attempt to regain momentum after the catastrophic loss of hundreds of thousands of conscripts and ahead of the humiliation of his three-day war entering a third calendar year.”
Mr Shapps shares the delusion, common in “western” politicians, that by stating lies and omitting truths somehow the reality of the conflict in Ukraine is changed. The truths are that in total up to 29th December 2023 Russia has suffered less than 300,000 casualties of which less than 10,000 were fatal. Compare this with the Ukrainian casualties of 1.4 million men of whom more than half ie more than 500,000 were killed. 128,000 of those deaths occurred in just 5 weeks from June 4th 2023.
The Russian army under the constitution of the Russian Federation does not allow conscripts to fight on any battle front unless there is a formal declaration of war. Shapps confuses the recall of reservists in late 2022 with conscription.
At no point or at any time did any member of the Russian Government describe the special military operation in Ukraine as a ‘three day war’. This is just an example of the rather childish insults used by Shapps and other western politicians to replace their total lack of diplomatic skills.
“We continue to stand by Ukraine’s defence, which is why today we are sending hundreds of air defence missiles to restock British gifted air defence systems capable of striking down Russian drones and missiles with incredible accuracy.”
Again, Shapps bends the truth, These short- range missiles have proved to be useless at hitting Russian missiles, at best they can intercept slow moving drones and UAVs. Ukraine has already expended a considerable number of these UK missiles with no appreciable results.
“Putin is testing Ukraine’s defences and the West’s resolve, hoping that he can clutch victory from the jaws of defeat. But he is wrong. Ukraine’s degradation of the Russian Black Sea fleet has proven it is still in this fight to win. And today’s air defence package sends an undeniable message, in the face of Russian barbarity that the UK remains absolutely committed to supporting Ukraine.”
Now we come to the pure propaganda, hypocrisy, stupidity and lies. Every military expert in most western countries now admit that Ukraine has lost the war. Sheer population demographics alone explain that quite apart from the superior weapons, tactics and trained manpower that Russia has deployed against Ukraine, its tactical attrition of Ukraine’s military both in terms of manpower and weaponry has demonstrated that Russia controls the battlefield. As to barbarity, it is Ukraine that kills it own soldiers if they retreat, it is Ukraine that fired missiles at its own POWs in Russian hands, it is Ukraine that has murdered Russian POWs in significant numbers.
It is a great shame that Mr Shapps cannot with equal fervour report that instead of dramatically increasing the national debt and pouring billions of UK taxpayers pounds into a Nazi regime in Ukraine at the behest of the USA, he was supporting the British people, alleviating increasing energy costs and reducing child poverty in the UK.
Shapps is just another in a very long line of British politicians who forgets that his prime duty is to serve the well-being of the British people. As the UK has zero air-defence against missile attacks, it is hardly in the interests of the UK population to aggravate a potential enemy who could rain down a barrage of conventional weapons on the UK and destroy its industries and infrastructure at will, or in a worst case scenario reduce the entire country to a sheet of molten ruins in a nuclear attack.
“Now is the time for the free world to come together and redouble our efforts to get Ukraine what they need to win.”
Mr Shapps ignores one very telling feature of Ukraine’s history since 2014, nearly one third of the population fled the country. Ukraine needs a new government not yet more weapons For the sake of world peace Zelensky and his Nazi cohorts need to be defeated and removed from power.
“These air defence missiles (Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles – ASRAAM) are manufactured in the UK by defence contractor MBDA and are designed to be launched from aircraft including the UK’s Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets. In summer 2022, a joint MoD-MBDA team developed air defence systems to fire ASRAAM from the ground for the first time. Within four months of initiating the surface launched ASRAAM project, these air defence systems were developed, manufactured, trialled and Ukrainian crews trained on their usage, on UK soil, before being transferred into Ukrainian hands.”
These air to air missiles are totally useless in air combat as the Russians use ‘over the horizon missiles’ that destroy enemy aircraft before their own weapons come within range of the Russian aircraft.
The surface fired missile is totally ineffective against Russian supersonic and hypersonic missiles and as Russia fires a great many ‘dummy’ drones and missiles during each major attack. Ukraine expends a lot of missiles firing at targets that pose no real threat.
“The surface launched ASRAAM project has demonstrated the best of British engineering ingenuity and the agility of MOD and British industry to rapidly deliver very effective yet low-cost solutions to the frontline to meet urgent requirements. The systems have proven highly effective – with a successful hit rate reported as high as 90% against some Russian air targets. Ukrainian operators have become adapt at their usage and have asked for more missiles to protect their country.”
Now we descend once more into lies, trolling through the records, these missiles at huge cost, succeed in shooting down drones that cost less than one hundred pounds. The resulting shrapnel from hitting these low flying drones has often injured Ukrainian troops on the ground below.
“Further to the thousands of rounds of ammunition and anti-tank missiles provided to Ukraine by the UK, November marked 30,000 recruits having passed through Operation Interflex – the programme of training delivered to Ukrainian recruits on UK soil.”
All of which proved useless during the Ukrainian offensive, captured Ukrainian soldiers describe the training in the UK as useless. The Uk provided anti-tank weapons have had little effect, several Russian tanks surviving direct hits from them and continuing to fight.
“Including specialised training delivered by the UK to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, such as training of Ukrainian marines, explosive ordnance disposal experts, and combat air pilots, the UK has now trained more than 53,000 Ukrainians since Putin first ordered the invasion of Crimea in 2014. The Defence Secretary previously announced an ambition to train an additional 10,000 recruits in the first half of 2024.”
Some obfuscation here, UK special boat personnel took a direct role in Ukraine operations to destroy the dam on the Dnepr river and to sink Russian warships and the futile attacks on the bridge between Crimea and the Russian mainland.
Crimea was not invaded, after the 2014 coup in Kiev that destroyed the Ukrainian constitution the people of Crimea voted overwhelmingly to rejoin the Russian federation.
“Delivery of a new package of sophisticated air defence missiles for Ukraine has commenced, rounding off a landmark year for the UK’s support for Ukraine – having been the first country to provide modern Western tanks, as well as long-range precision strike capability. The delivery comes as Russia continues its assault on Ukraine, with hundreds of drones and missiles believed to have been launched overnight on cities including Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa.”
This gung ho statement hides a number of realities,
1) The first time Ukraine attempted to use the Challenger Tanks they found that they were too heavy to use the bridges that cross the myriad of small rivers streams and railways of Ukraine. One of these tanks was lost when a bridge collapsed under its weight.
2) When after much effort two Challengers entered the battlefield, both were destroyed, before they could fire a shot, by Russian missiles fired by Russia’s special infantry tank killer patrols.
3) The misleading statement that Russia launches attacks on cities is just another example of easily debunked propaganda. The Ukraine air force issued a statement that clearly indicates that the Russians only targeted military targets with precision guided weapons.
Anthony Webber writes: In debunking the Defence Secretary’s claims, James De Burgh has rightly demanded that UK interests are put first in UK Defence and Foreign Policies.
The total military, and other expenditure on Ukraine amounts to over £9.3b so far, money which could be put to far better use by the UK.
This is for a conflict which is of no UK strategic or economic interest
It is becoming increasing apparent that this conflict has served only the interests of USA globalists who wish to cause damage to Russia.
The consequences of UK government sanctions against Russia has been rises in energy and cost of living, interest rates, increase in national debt and much more.
It is time not just to question the UK government’s policies on Ukraine and Russia but to change them to policies which are in the interests of the British people.
This is what must happen in the New Year of 2024.
Anthony Webber is an Independent Political Commentator
James De Burgh is a Intelligence expert who has intelligence contacts with all those involved in the Ukraine/Russia conflict.
He maintains that his figures are accurate with as possible margin of error of only about 2.5%
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