Summary
Is the West losing its military edge? Mark Urban investigates whether the US and its allies are losing superiority as they cut defence spending while rivals increase theirs.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thanks for downloading this podcast. |
| 0:39.0 | Here's a special program we made for Radio 4. Not strictly an addition of analysis, but we thought loyal |
| 0:44.8 | listeners like you would like to hear it anyhow. Should we be worried about a |
| 0:49.6 | decline in Western military strength? Mark Urban reports in The Edge. |
| 0:56.0 | Battery stand by! Fire! |
| 1:01.0 | In the Saudi desert 24 years ago I watched the greatest display of military might of our age. |
| 1:07.0 | More than half a million troops and thousands of aircraft had come to smash Saddam Hussein's army, |
| 1:20.0 | the biggest in the Middle East after it had invaded Kuwait. |
| 1:25.0 | It was a mind-boggling spectacle. |
| 1:29.0 | The entire military machine developed at enormous expense to fight Soviet Russia transplanted to the Gulf. |
| 1:37.0 | Day by day, night by night, |
| 1:44.0 | night, Iraq's capacity to wage war is being systematically destroyed by U.S. and coalition |
| 1:52.0 | military forces in our investment, our training, and our |
| 1:57.1 | planning are paying off. We will prevail. Make no mistake about that. |
| 2:03.4 | As crews missiles and precision bombs |
| 2:08.8 | rained down on the hapless Iraqis, some believed it marked the dawn of a new age in which the USA |
... |
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