This week, General Patrick Sanders – current Chief of General Staff of the British Army – said that Britain must begin to prepare for an “all-out war with Russia”.
Sanders – who previously oversaw operations in the north of Ireland – said that British civilians must mentally prepare themselves for war with Russia, and praised European countries in NATO which have laid the foundations for “national mobilisation”.
His comments come shortly after other statements made by NATO officers regarding moves towards war preparations.
Last week Admiral Rob Bauer – NATO’s most senior military officer – said that mass conscription should be considered in preparation for “all-out war” with Russia, and encouraged an expansion in the military-industrial sector.
Similarly, Sweden – now on the verge of officially entering NATO – has seen rhetoric calling for people to enlist in voluntary defence organisations, alongside an expansion of compulsory national service.
Sanders called for further funding for the British Army and said that the country should prepare a “citizen army”, and that the effort to place British society on a war-footing would be a “whole nation undertaking”.
It can only be assumed that – if followed through with – such an undertaking would no doubt be extended to the north of Ireland, where there are already up to 5,000 British troops still on active deployment for Operation Helvetic. We of course ask what interest do the people of the six counties have in fighting in an army which has massacred civilians in Derry and Ballymurphy, colluded with loyalist paramilitaries, and is currently complicit in supporting the genocide of Palestinians?
Anyone with notions of what such a “citizen army” would be fighting for need only look at the state of Britain today and its rulers.
Any notion that such an army would be fighting “for democracy” and “against authoritarianism” falls apart when considering that the last two British Prime Ministers have been unelected and that Britain has no qualms at all in deepening its friendship and military ties with the deeply repressive Saudi Arabian monarchy.
The interests in mobilising such an army would be the same as the Russian ruling class: to assert imperial interests at the expense of the lives of its working class and youth while capitalists get rich off war profiteering.