I was playing a Real Time Strategy game once with some friends, called Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. It is one of the best RTS games I have every played, thought its AI is a bit retarded. I was doing well, my base was getting stronger and I was ensuring that my ability to resupply my forces was at increased capacity, so that they re-produced nearly as quickly as they were going to be taken out in battle. In the process I made the mistake of not having enough energy generators and my shields temporarily fluctuated. But the even worse strategic mistake I made was saying out loud, “Woops my shields just dropped out.” Less than a minute later on of my friends swooped in with his aircraft and annihilated most of my main base, including my Commander.
I never made
that mistake again, commenting on my own strategic position, so openly. It was
just an offhand comment, but it cost me the game. If I was left alone for just
one more minute my shields would have been back up to scratch and I would have
been ready to launch an offensive and my base would have been much tougher to
crack.
This was
just a PC game though, what I can’t believe is how much the Western former
powers are announcing their weaknesses to their enemies:
“The UK is now running “dangerously low” on ammunition after
sending large military aid packages to Ukraine.
Stocks of ammunition in the UK are now at “dangerously low
levels” due to the country giving away supplies to Ukraine, Britain’s Defence
Select Committee has now warned.
It is the latest in a litany of recent warnings regarding the
state of Britain’s military, with one former general warning that the country
would likely run out of ammo after just one day in a direct war with Russia.
A similar warning has now been issued by the MPs who sit on
the Defence Select Committee, with a report published on Tuesday detailing the
dire situation the country’s military now finds itself in.
“It is clear that the UK and its NATO Allies have allowed
ammunition stockpiles to dwindle to dangerously low levels,” the report reads.
It also warns that Britain is facing significant supply-side
problems when it comes to securing fresh ammunition, meaning that it could take
“over a decade” for the country to replenish its arsenal after sending billions
of dollars worth of military equipment to Ukraine.”
If it was
not well-known just how much the modern British military is a shadow of its
former self, I’d almost see this as a tactic to make Russia overconfident. But
the truth is many of the western former[i]
powers are revealing themselves to be much weaker than we had even thought.
Which makes sense, countries which have to input most of their goods, like
cars, T.V.s, computers, and other technologies can hardly be expected to turn
this around over night to have a reliable supply of weapons to fight an
escalating war.
But it is
remarkable to me how openly they are saying to their enemies: “We are weak. We
cannot win.” Maybe they just believe that America will save the day. Remember
that scene in the movie Independence Day when the Americans reveal their plan
to all the foreign militaries and the British guys says something like: “about
time the Yanks showed up”, as if it was a given that America would save the
day. Which of course it always did in 1990’s golden age of America action
flicks. Perhaps the Brits and other Europeans feel the same way. I know most
Australians do. They just think it is a given America will be able to
successfully defend us against China, and rush is Deus Ex Machina to save the
day.
But we are
not in a movie, and it is Russia that is facing an international coalition that
wants to break it up as a nation. They will not accept that. Russia is
committed to winning, the western former powers are committed to seeking to
drain Russia while being drained themselves. And they are openly talking about
it. Remarkable.
It is
looking more and more like the West has a rude shock coming. Our time on top of
the world power structure is coming to an end, and quickly. Like a man going
bankrupt it happens slowly and then it happens all at once. And the rising
powers are getting stronger in the process. Australia needs to find a new way to
see itself in this world. Being the loyal lapdog of first Britain and now the
U.S. is not going to end well if it causes us to be belligerent to the rising
powers of China, Russia and other nations. And some of our erstwhile allies are
openly admitting that they are stoking a fight they cannot win. That is the height
of foolishness and we need to distance ourselves from their actions sooner
rather than later.
[i] I
say “former powers” because they are not the powers they once were and are
quickly being over shadowed by the powers rising in the East.
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