“The fact is that a car used by Gerry Adams and myself during the course of the Mitchell review was bugged by elements within British military intelligence.” FactsUsedCoursesMilitaryCarElementsBritishReviewsMilitary Intelligence Author:Martin McGuinness
“If the colonists hadn't rejected British militarism and the massive financial burden of maintaining the British military, America wouldn't exist.” IfsAmericaMilitaryFinancialBurdenBritishMassiveRejectedMaintainingMilitarismColonistsFinancial Burden Author:Rachel Maddow
“Contrary to received wisdom, the British are not an insular people in the conventional sense - far from it. For most of their early modern and modern history, they have had more contact with more parts of the world than almost any other nation - it is just that this contact has regularly taken the form of aggressive military and commercial enterprise.” PeopleWorldFormNationsTakenModernMilitaryBritishContraryContactEnterpriseAggressiveConventionalBritish HistoryModern History Book:Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837 Source: Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837
“The pre-war empire had been sufficiently informal and sufficiently cheap for Parliament to claim authority over it without having to concern itself too much about what this authority entailed. The post-war empire necessitated a much greater investment in administrative machinery and military force. This build-up of control had to be paid for, either by British taxpayers or by their colonists.” WarForceGreaterToo MuchMilitaryAuthorityConcernClaimsPaidInvestmentBritishPostsEmpiresOver ItParliamentMachineryTaxpayersBritish HistoryAdministrativeMilitary ForcePost WarColonists Author:Linda Colley
“Recognising that an ostentatious cult of heroism and state service served an important propaganda function for the British elite does not mean, of course, that we should dismiss it as artificial or insincere. All aristocracies have a strong military tradition, and for many British patricians the protracted warfare of the period was a godsend. It gave them a job, and, more important, a purpose, an opportunity to carry out what they had been trained to do since childhood: ride horses, fire guns, exercise their undoubted physical courage and tell other people what to do.” PeopleShouldMeanDoeImportantStatesJobsPurposeCoursesOpportunityStrongFireChildhoodMilitaryPeriodsExerciseGunTraditionFunctionHorseBritishPropagandaElitesArtificialHeroismWarfareCultAristocracyBritish HistoryInsincereOstentatiousPhysical Courage Author:Linda Colley
“I was brought up in a very naval, military, and conservative background. My father and his friends had very typical opinions of the British middle class - lower-middle class actually - after the war. My father broke into the middle class by joining the navy. I was the first member of my family ever to go to private school or even to university. So, the armed forces had been upward mobility for him.” FirstsWarSchoolFatherForceOpinionClassMiddleMilitaryMembersMy FamilyUniversityConservativeBritishBackgroundsBrokeMiddle ClassTypicalNavyJoiningArmed ForcesMobilityNavalPrivate SchoolUpward Mobility Author:Christopher Hitchens
“The military struggle may frankly be regarded for what it actually was, namely a war for independence, an armed attempt to imposethe views of the revolutionists upon the British government and large sections of the colonial population at whatever cost to freedom of opinion or the sanctity of life and property.” MayWarGovernmentViewsOpinionStruggleMilitaryCostIndependencePropertyPopulationBritishSectionsSanctitySanctity Of LifeBritish Government Author:Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
“Famines occur under a colonial administration, like the British Raj in India or for that matter in Ireland, or under military dictators in one country after another, like Somalia and Ethiopia, or in one-party states like the Soviet Union and China.” CountryMatterStatesPartyMilitaryIndiaUnionsChinaBritishAdministrationSovietIrelandDictatorSoviet UnionFamineEthiopiaSomalia Author:Amartya Sen
“The British Labour Party has always had a very strong "Atlanticist component," with an obsequiousness to American policies, and Blair represents this wing. He's clearly obsessed with Iraq. He has to be because the overwhelming majority of the people of Britain oppose a military action.” PeopleActionStrongPartyMilitaryPolicyMajorityWingsIraqBritishObsessedBritainLabourOverwhelmingVery StrongComponentsBlairLabour PartyMilitary ActionObsequiousness Author:John Pilger
“Military power tends to be a function of economic power, and the British Navy was the essential capability for establishing the imperial sway - which was attuned to furnish the raw materials for the British manufacturing ascendance. So they were mutually reinforcing.” EconomicMilitaryMaterialsEssentialsFunctionBritishCapabilityNavyManufacturingRaw MaterialsEconomic PowerMilitary PowerBritish Navy Author:Charles R. Morris
“In the British military system, there is a very strict chain of command. Americans just want to win, and the correct strategy may be to speak directly to the men.” MenWantMayWinningSpeakMilitaryHe ManStrategyBritishCommandChainsStrictChain Of Command Author:Scott Raab
“This is our problem, our dilemma, yes? We cannot celebrate and declare ourselves to belong to the victorious nations because our brothers and our fathers and grandfathers died in this battle [in Normandy], yes. I understand that the Americans and the British and French celebrate one of the greatest and most important military victories in history. And I understand this. I don't see a reasonable place for the Germans. We watch everything on the television with compassion and sympathy.” ImportantProblemFatherNationsCompassionWatchesMilitaryTelevisionBrotherVictoryBattleDiedBritishCelebrateReasonableGrandfatherOur FatherDilemmaFather DiedNormandyFathers And GrandfathersGrandfather Died Author:Manfred Rommel
“The British Labour Party has always had a very strong "Atlanticist component," with an obsequiousness to American policies, and Blair represents this wing. He's clearly obsessed with Iraq. He has to be because the overwhelming majority of the people of Britain oppose a military action. I've never known a situation like it.” PeopleActionStrongPartySituationKnownMilitaryPolicyMajorityWingsIraqBritishObsessedBritainLabourOverwhelmingVery StrongComponentsBlairLabour PartyMilitary ActionObsequiousness Author:John Pilger