Britain’s Strong Call for Common Defense Weakly Supported by Its Own Policy

BREAKING: Fly Dubai charter from Bagram with ~100 Americans on board forced to land in Iran [Washington Post], escorted by fighter jets, for “incorrect” flight plan. Reports say that Iran offered to have the plane return to Bagram, but there wasn’t enough fuel for that. Unsurprising given that it was forced down at Bandar Abbas, just across the Gulf from the UAE.

• Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron said at the NATO 2014 summit that he’s ready to commit 3,500 personnel to a “reformed NATO Response Force with headquarters in Poland” if the alliance agrees to set it up.

• Cameron also urged other European members to meet NATO’s goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense. But a briefing [PDF] by the Royal United Services Institute expects the UK’s own spending to dip below that level starting next year, based on current spending plans and growth projections.

• And Britain’s House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee published a report damning the Ministry of Defence’s Army 2020 plans for its failure to consult third parties and assess the plan’s feasability.