US Military Chiefs Warn Of 'Damaging' Cuts To Royal Marines

via Forces.net

Colonel Dan Sullivan warned that the relationship between the US Marine Corps (USMC) and its British counterpart would change if the proposed cut of 1,000 Royal Marines and UK's two amphibious assault ships are lost.

During a visit to London to attend a conference on the impact of technology on defence, The Times reporting him saying:

“My message is to articulate how important having that capability in our partner is, and how damaging I think it would be if our most important coalition partner potentially takes the hits that are projected right now.”

..........

 “From a military standpoint as the UK continues to diminish and as the Royal Marines in particular take a hit, I think that our view of what we will be able to do together in the future changes.”

Story here. 

Hmm.  Not sure why I'm just hearing alarm bells from US officials over UK defense cuts now.

The capability lost BEFORE now is much greater than any additional steps they're considering so I don't understand why things would change with regard to us working together. 

Is it the loss of two amphibious ships?  The potential loss of F-35 sales?  I'm really not sure but would love to know.