From Tom Whitehead, Telegraph:  During the Libyan conflict in 2011 British forces had to use maps supplied by German intelligence because of cut backs in the Ministry of Defence, it has emerged. . . .

The development was disclosed on the annual report of the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee which raised concerns over decreasing funding for defence intelligence. . . .

Sir Max Hastings, the military historian, said it would likely be the first time Britain relied on Germany like that since Waterloo.

”It is a fact of enormous frustration that it is now almost impossible to conduct any military operation without help,” he said.

The ISC report warned cuts to the defence budget will lead to the loss of 450 defence intelligence posts – the equivalent of 10 per cent. . . .

“Whilst we recognise that burden-sharing arrangements with allies may offset some of the impact, there must continue to be a critical mass that can respond to unexpected events without this being at the expense of coverage of other key areas."

“We are concerned that shifting resources in response to emerging events is ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’: we must maintain the ability to respond to more than one crisis at a time.”   (photo: AFP/Getty)  (via Sal Imburgia)

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