Top UK generals lay out their plans for permanent covert global warfare

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Top UK generals have laid out their vision for a permanent state of covert global warfare. The plan includes using drones and special forces and a ramping-up of hostilities in the Far East.

Speaking on 30 September 2020 at the Policy Exchange think-tank, the head of the UK military general Nick Carter outlined his plan for the UK’s part in the US-led global Forever War.

The multi-faceted new approach will be known as the Integrated Operating Concept and aims to counter enemies like China who, he claimed, operate at a lower level than outright war-fighting, preferring covert tactics like espionage and cyber warfare.

Carter said the concept recognised:

the need to compete below the threshold of war in order to deter war, and to prevent one’s adversaries from achieving their objectives in fait accompli strategies.

He also indicated that this new approach to military operations could occur anywhere in the world with no time limits:

a campaign posture that includes continuous operating on our terms and in places of our choosing.

The shadow war

Ahead of Carter’s keynote speech, another senior general had already touted some of the details of what the next phase of UK military adventurism will look like.

On 29 September, general Mark Carleton-Smith, one-time head of the UK’s Special Forces, addressed journalists at the headquarters of Britain’s secretive psychological warfare and propaganda unit, 77th Brigade at Dennison Barrack, Berkshire.

A renewed push into the Far East, high-tech drone swarms and an expanded Special Forces capacity featured among the new initiatives the British defence establishment is planning.

Carleton-Smith told those present:

In time, Armoured Fighting Vehicles will be command hubs – ‘motherships’ – commanding teams of robots and thereby generating a new form of combat mass. They will be supported by longer range and more powerful artillery than the Army have ever used, firing on targets identified by swarms of drones.

He said that there was a “market for a more persistent presence from the British Army in the Far East.”

He added:

If we are going to see a UK presence in the region from Carrier Strike Groups I would like to see some of those naval assets disembarking elements of the British Army for their own training in that part of the world.

Carleton-Smith said that “growing our Special Operations and intelligence capability” was essential to stay ahead of rivals. He insisted that their role would be to “shine a light into the shadows.”

The Forever War

But we should see the Integrated Operating Approach in the context of the UK government’s Integrated Review. This mass audit of every aspect of UK foreign policy – from overseas development and nuclear weapons to defence and intelligence – was due to be published in 2020. But it has been delayed by the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.

The shift towards covert warfare and military operations has been underway for some time. And the new integrated approach could be read as an attempt to sell to the public the increased use of drones, militias, Special Forces, cyber and air power which has characterised UK military activity since the failure of the Iraq and Afghan wars.

One of the key democratic issues is the accountability of such operations. It is government convention to refuse comment on operations of the kind the generals are looking to expand; operations which are already largely exempt from Freedom of Information requests on the grounds of so-called ‘national security’.

As the UK’s top generals push for their vision of perpetual war, this accountability is needed more than ever.

Image via eliteukforce

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  • Show Comments

    1. He didn’t mention how much it was costing, which magic money tree he was planning to shake, or what parts of what are left of the national assets he’s willing to kill off in order to pay for it then.

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      1. Cost isn’t important. Downing Street/Whitehall is a coven of psychopaths & they will do whatever they want. The Tories ignored the Cygnus report & 35,000 elderly died & the Eton Spiv bought Amerikan nuclear weapons instead. They’re capitalists who only care about money not people.
        The only way to stop this criminal behaviour is mass disobedience but this is UKania peopled with slaves who obey HMV……Spiv was elected in 2019, eg. UKania is just a Yankee Poodle.

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        1. One source of extra cash for the toy soldiers is the chunk of money being removed from benefit claimants next year. The other thing to niote is that everything announced can be used at ‘home’. Yes here. It’s worth remebering that in a ‘symetrical’ conflict we’ll be right royally buggered.

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    3. Refugee problem from War inspired by this mindset. No trouble for this outlook on life.
      The Glory, and usefulness of the “Hundred Years War” from centuries ago still appears to be the only future this group understands.
      In fact it brings to mind the eons of war in Europe delving deeper into the past than the Crusades.
      This crowd must be so dissapointed they have to be socially discreet, even secretive about in this day, and age. How maddening it must be.
      Democracy appears loathe to finance it for the stupid consequences it has?
      What a strong social movement this democracry is to champion for the goodness in human nature.
      Perhaps religion began in essence for this very reason, but was socially used by this crowd finding our darkness irresistable.

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      1. If only we had a morally responsible ‘Opposition’ or a religion that wasn’t an imperial head dress. For all of its praise of the so-called ‘early Christians’ Imperial Christianity conveniently forgets that they were anti- war, imperialism, overt worship of the State and its elite functionaries. In short they were the anti-Establishmenters of the Classical world – hence the persecution, which of course never ended. Happy to be a Heretic.

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    5. Whew! This stuff is really explicit.
      When I saw the title, “Top UK generals lay out their plans for permanent covert global warfare,'” I wondered if perhaps a few phrases had been taken somewhat out of context and twisted to some extent. But no way. This is a brutal, stark, in your face statement of intent. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
      This deserves to be more widely known. It’s the perfect rebuttal for anyone saying permanent covert global warfare is a loony conspiracy theory.

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