When the head of the British Army, General Roly Walker, says the population must be "readied" for war, it's been taken to mean conscription — that Britain's finest will be marched off to take on the Russians in Ukraine. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I have pointed out many times, the British armed forces are not only incapable of taking on the Russians in terms of actual military capability — they're incapable of even getting there, should the Russians be so impolite as to fire on them as they approached the battle zone. This is not about marching off to war with Russia. Be clear about that. But states contain many factions, each with their own reasons. The Chief of the General Staff may calculate that this kind of talk does him no harm in the next round of budget discussions, that it raises his prestige, that it might reverse the long decline in the size and quality of the British Army. Perhaps that's his motivation. What of the cynical media operators who put this message out? The politicians who allowed a blatantly political intervention from Britain's leading general two weeks before the Budget? Their motivation is more structural, and it reflects the reality of Britain's position as a very weak, late-stage parasitic imperial power. Britain's strength is not derived from war-fighting as such. It derives from the extraction of rents from transactions across the world, funnelled through the City of London. The strength of this country is not in fighting — it is in getting other people to fight for it. So what is the message actually for? Perpetual justification. The messaging exists to excuse perpetual failure on the social and economic development the population actually wants to see. Can't get a road fixed? The money's needed for the great crusade against Russia. Health service falling apart? Nothing can be done until we win the war against the Russians. Wages frozen? That's the fault of the Iranians. It's a standing justification for every act of class war waged on the working class. Blame the chosen opponent — Russia, China, Iran; insert the name as required. The British ruling class cannot and will not fight a real hot war. What they will do is keep the Ukraine war going as long as possible — and line up other countries to be turned into what Ukraine has become: a giant outsourced military encampment, funded by the US imperial bloc, so that they never have to take the risk of fighting themselves.