This story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
   License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/
   international.

   --------------------------------------------------------------


No matter how far HMS Queen Elizabeth sails, it won’t make Britain great again
By:   []
Date: None

The UK’s new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is a few weeks into its deployment to Japan and back, which is expected to last more than seven months and include a transiting of the South China Sea through areas claimed by China. The operation is considered to be an opportunity to show that post-Brexit Britain has entered a glorious new era of military strength so that it can be seen once again as a great power.

It is true that a naval deployment on this scale – the most powerful since the Falklands/Malvinas war nearly 40 years ago – will be a prominent opportunity to show off the huge carrier, its accompanying warships and their weapons.

This exercise will be welcomed by the arms corporations that have built and equipped the ships, and will be a valuable aid to the future commercial success of the relevant military-industrial complexes – even more so because the contingent is joined by US and Dutch warships, including F-35B aircraft.

The British component of the strike group is made up of the aircraft carrier itself, escorted by two air defence destroyers, two anti-submarine warfare frigates, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, a tanker and a supplies ship. Added to this are Dutch and US destroyers and, quite possibly, a US attack submarine.

We win on government secrecy! We’ve just won a three-year transparency battle against Michael Gove’s department. Can you help us keep fighting government secrecy? Donate now

Poking the bear

The foray was originally mooted as a high-profile ‘showing the flag’ operation but it is already clear that it goes well beyond that. A few days ago, one of the UK destroyers, HMS Defender, detached from the strike force and went through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea, visited a Ukrainian port, and then returned, briefly entering disputed waters claimed by Russia, to the annoyance of the Kremlin. Fortunately for the Boris Johnson government, the HMS Defender happened to have a BBC TV camera crew and a Daily Mail reporter on board, ensuring that brave Britain was seen to be standing up to the ‘Russian Bear’.

However, this provocation caused considerable annoyance in the EU, where member states, especially Germany, have been engaged in delicate discussions with the Russian government to improve relations. It also turned out to be trickier than expected for the UK, as the speed and force of the Russian reaction, including the firing of warning shots, came as a nasty shock. British officials later admitted that they were taken by surprise.

Also this week, American and British strike aircraft from the carrier took part in airstrikes against Isis paramilitaries in Iraq. Such an operation could have been more easily undertaken from the RAF airbase in Akrotiri, Cyprus, or indeed, bases in Qatar or Kuwait, so this was another demonstration of the carrier’s potential force rather than a necessity.

The strike was claimed to be against Isis ‘remnants’ in Iraq, the implication being that the war against Isis is virtually over. That stance is difficult to maintain at the same time as the top US general in Africa warned of a “wildfire of terrorism” on the march across northern Africa, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, involving groups linked to Isis and al-Qaida, and a report confirming a powerful and growing Isis presence in Eastern and Central Africa, as well as across the Sahel.

In the next couple of weeks, the strike group will transit through the Suez Canal and into the Indian Ocean, calling at the new Duqm naval base in Oman, and then head East. Before getting to Duqm, carrier-based aircraft may carry out airstrikes in Somalia, and after Duqm there could be bombing operations in Afghanistan, where the security situation worsens by the day.

[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/no-matter-how-far-hms-queen-elizabeth-sails-it-wont-make-britain-great-again/
[2] url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
   url: https://theconversation.com/us/republishing-guidelines

OpenDemocracy via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/