A former British Army officer has warned that if the US pulls out of NATO then Vladimir Putin “will be emboldened” to attack Europe if Donald Trump becomes the next President, this could then prompt “the unthinkable” with conscription.
The former army commander has warned that this will be “the worst possible case scenario” as Europe including the UK will have to be “prepared to commit boots on the ground in Ukraine” should this happen.
Speaking to The Sun Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said, “Without the US, NATO is very much weakened though the arrival of Finland and Sweden is a little compensation.
“But the message it would send to Putin is dreadful and would embolden Putin to push harder in Ukraine and ultimately Europe.
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At least the UK and France still have the nuclear deterrent which will give Putin something to think about.
“If this scenario looks likely the UK and other European NATO countries need to re-arm at pace and I expect be prepared to commit boots on the ground in Ukraine to stop Russian advances westwards.
“This is the worst possible case scenario at the moment.”
Currently NATO has around 3.5 million troops, but if the US pulls out of the alliance there will only be 2.1 million soldiers.
Fighter jets will plummet to 22,000 from 24,000 and the number of tanks will fall from 1.03 million to 1.02 million and the number of nuclear weapons will also drop from 4,200 to 515.
On Monday Trump’s former security advisor John Bolton warned during an interview with Deutsche Welle if he becomes the next US President then he will pull America out of NATO.
Bolton said, “At a time of increasing international difficulties, to say the least, he is exactly the wrong person to become president of the United States.”
The UK’s former NATO commander General Sir Richard Sherriff has said that it is now time to “think the unthinkable” and is he strongly urging the government to introduce conscription.
He said that the UK has had years of defence cuts and he is urging the government to “go further and look carefully at conscription.”
General Sir Richard who is the former deputy supreme allied commander said that the government’s current defence budget need to be bigger.
Speaking to Sky News the former top NATO commander said, “Conscription to most professional soldiers, and I count myself as one, is absolute anathema.
“Britain’s armed forces have traditionally and culturally relied on long service volunteer highly professional soldiers with huge experience – and that is really the way we would all want it to go on.”
Since the end of the Cold War the UK has cut defence budgets, he then warned, “I think we need to get over many of the cultural hang-ups and assumptions, and frankly think the unthinkable.
“I think we need to go further and look carefully at conscription.”
The current Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders warned last month that in the event of a war with Russia British men and women will be called up to fight for the UK.
The outgoing head of the British Army said that the public should be “trained and equipped” to fight a war should NATO trigger Article 5 against Putin.
