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| 7/9 |
| 2006/10/13-14 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:44812 Activity:nil |
10/13 British Army head receives overwhelming support from military
http://csua.org/u/h71 (guardian.co.uk)
One senior officer says chief's statements hurt morale
http://csua.org/u/h73 (telegraph.co.uk)
PM Blair says he agrees "with every word" ... of Army chief's follow-on
statements
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6049126.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6046822.stm |
| 7/9 |
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| csua.org/u/h71 -> www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6145476,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704 UP Huge support for 'frank' Army boss Press Association Friday October 13, 2006 6:13 PM The head of the British Army has received overwhelming support from across the ranks over his call for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq "sometime soon". Senior officers said General Sir Richard Dannatt should be "saluted" for his honesty while frontline soldiers praised their commander for "telling it how it is". Their comments came after Sir Richard, who became Chief of the General Staff in August, gave an interview to the Daily Mail warning that we should "get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems". Sir Richard's frank remarks were seized on as a major broadside at the government's foreign policy. They caused widespread astonishment but appeared to be widely welcomed by his troops, opposition MPs and anti-war groups. Colonel Tim Collins, one of the most senior officers in Iraq in 2003, said Sir Richard had given a "refreshing and very honest insight into what the Army generally feel". "That is that the political shortcomings and the shortcomings in the planning for the occupation of Iraq have made the job of the Army very much more difficult," he told the Today programme. "And there comes a time when the realisation on the ground is that the people of Iraq do resent foreign intervention and there comes a time when we have got to look forward to when we can hand it over to the Iraqis for them to sort out." He added: "I think we have to salute the honesty of the Chief of General Staff and understand that he is reflecting the beliefs of the Army, the people on the ground. He is not a politician and he is not given to spin, so what you hear from him is absolutely ground truth." Unofficial military internet forums were inundated with praise for Sir Richard from serving soldiers. Messages posted on the Army Rumour Service website included: "The most impressive comments I have heard from someone of his seniority for a long time" and "I am thoroughly heartened by this and have the beginnings of a thaw in the cynicism which has dogged my service thinking since 2003." However, the general played down his comments claiming they were neither "substantially new or substantially newsworthy". Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved. |
| csua.org/u/h73 -> www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/13/nirq113.xml Business Personality General under fire for speaking out By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent and Ben Quinn (Filed: 13/10/2006) General Sir Richard Dannatt came under fire last night for his outspoken comments from sections within the Army, of which he is in overall command. "I think that his remarks about us being part of the problem are a little inaccurate," said one senior serviceman in Basra. Another senior officer who returned from Basra in the past few days could barely hide his anger. advertisement "In the past few weeks we are beginning to have a positive effect on the local population but we realise our time here now is limited," he said. But Sir Richard has shown that he is fearless of the political impact in speaking out - in stark contrast to his predecessor, Gen Sir Mike Jackson - as the Army's top soldier. Within a few days of becoming Chief of the General Staff, he was able to articulate what his supposedly tough predecessor failed to say during three years in office. Sir Richard is said to be a quiet, considered, brave, intelligent and focused man whose life was said to be singularly affected after a near fatal incident at the hands of the IRA while serving in the Green Howards in Northern Ireland. In an interview just a few days into his new job in August, he dared to suggest to his political masters that fighting a war on two fronts was going to dent the Army. With a few choice words, he swept away the inertia of the Jackson years by warning the politicians and public that the world's foremost Army was close to breaking point. But Sir Richard's comments last night appeared to cause division in the Army, and defence sources questioned what effect they would have on the morale of his soldiers who have to continue serving on Operation Telic. Troops believe that they have begun to make a substantial difference to the lives of citizens in Basra in southern Iraq after the launch of Operation Sinbad. This has concentrated on taking back the predominantly Shia city district by district. The city now has street lighting at night for the first time since the 2003 invasion and water is running almost permanently. All schools are fully open to girls and boys and good relations have been built with local politicians, the police chief and city governor. Liam Fox, the shadow defence minister, said: "It is unusual to see such a senior officer be quite as candid as this although not quite as surprising as it might seem at first. "Troops on the ground have been saying they are becoming less and less welcome. I think there needs to be a balance so that senior officers are not just going to be rubber-stamping government policy but they should be listened to as well." Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said: "This drives a coach and horses through the Government's foreign policy." Sir Richard's comments came as American army chiefs were drawing up plans to keep soldiers in Iraq at the current level of 142,000 until 2010 at least. The remarks also followed an announcement in the Commons by Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, that the British force in Iraq would remain at its current level of 7,200 for the next six months at least. The Army has made a considerable change to its tactics in Iraq in recent weeks. In the last month, British troops have pulled out the volatile town of al Amarrah in Maysan province where they no longer provide a daily target for insurgents. Instead they are patrolling the border with Iran preventing guns and bombs infiltrating into Iraq. Soldiers admitted that in Maysan their presence was becoming a problem but now they are no longer a target after handing over provisional control to the Iraqis. For the last two weeks in Basra, the British have carried out a major operation to wrestle control from the local militia. |
| news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6049126.stm Army chief on Iraq Tony Blair has given his support to the new head of the UK army, who has made controversial comments on the Iraq war. General Sir Richard Dannatt is quoted in the Daily Mail saying British troops "exacerbated" Iraq's security problems and should withdraw "sometime soon". The general later told BBC Radio 4 he meant that troops should leave "when the mission is substantially done". Mr Blair said Sir Richard was saying "the same as we all are", but had been taken out of context in the newspaper. In the Daily Mail interview, Sir Richard, who took on his role in August, said British troops should "get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems". And he said planning for what happened after the initial military offensive was "poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning". Sir Richard's quotes He later told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that when he talked about pulling out of Iraq "sometime soon", he meant "when the mission is substantially done, we should leave". And he said the view that the presence of UK troops exacerbates the problems was "not right across the country", but in parts of it. His intention was to "speak up for what is right for the Army" because that was his job, he said. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said Sir Richard's remarks were little different from what other officers had been saying in private. But the comments had given added urgency to finding an early and effective exit strategy, our correspondent said. Mr Blair said he suspected Sir Richard had given a long interview to the Daily Mail and had then been taken out of context. But he added: "I've read his transcript of his interview on the radio this morning, and I agree with every word of it." Tony Blair Tony Blair says he agrees with Sir Richard Dannatt's comments Mr Blair said the general had set "in proper context" what he was saying during the Today programme interview. "What he is saying about wanting the British forces out of Iraq is precisely the same as we're all saying. Our strategy is to withdraw from Iraq when the job is done." Mr Blair said when Sir Richard talked about the troops' presence exacerbating problems in Iraq, he thought he was "absolutely right". "I've said the same myself, in circumstances where the Iraqis are ready to take over control of areas and we're still there." In places like Basra, the presence of British troops was still "absolutely necessary", he said. Mr Blair told the press conference he had received a "report" about the Daily Mail article on Thursday night, and Sir Richard was "plainly not" saying that troops should be withdrawn from Iraq immediately. Iraqi response A spokesman for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the departure of multi-national troops now "would be a disaster". Iraq's ambassador to Britain, Dr Salah al-Shaikhly, said British soldiers were close to completing their mission. "You've done marvellous in terms of the development, you've done marvellously in terms of keeping the security," he said. White House spokesman Tony Snow said the United States had sought clarification on Sir Richard's comments. "What he said is that the comment was taken out of context and his general point was that you know when your work is done you hand over authority to the Iraqis." In Basra, Maj Gen Ali Hammadi, the Iraqi security co-ordinator, has told BBC's Newsnight that if the British stopped arrest operations in the city, the level of violence there would drop by 80%. |
| news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6046822.stm Army chief on Iraq The head of the British army has defended his comments that UK troops "exacerbate" security problems in Iraq and should withdraw "sometime soon". General Sir Richard Dannatt said he backed "what is right for the Army" and denied a "chasm" with the government. Downing Street said the general had Tony Blair's full support, and the Iraqi government wanted troops there. A spokesman for the Iraqi president said the departure of multi-national troops now "would be a disaster". Reaction from Basra He also said: "I don't say that the difficulties we are experiencing round the world are caused by our presence in Iraq but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates them." And he said planning for what happened after the initial successful war military offensive was "poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning". He later told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that when he talked about pulling out of Iraq "sometime soon", he meant "then when the mission is substantially done we should leave". "We don't want to be there another two, three, four, five years. We've got to think about this in terms of a reasonable length of time." He said the view that the presence of UK troops "exacerbates" the problems was "not right across the country", but in parts of it. And he later said in a statement: "I'm a soldier - we don't do surrender, we don't pull down white flags. We will remain in southern Iraq until the job is done - we're going to see this through." A spokesman said Sir Richard was "actually saying what government policy is. "We don't want to be there any longer than we have to, but ultimately that is a decision for the Iraqi government." The spokesman for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Kamran Karadahi, said: "They are still needed very much to help Iraq. The British troops in the south have done a very good job and are still doing so." He added: "We do not believe the presence of multi-national troops is really the reason for the violence. "We - the Iraqi government, the British, and the multi-national forces (MNF) have the shared goal of helping democracy to succeed in Iraq, and this is very important." British troops in Basra Most of the British forces in Iraq are based in Basra A Ministry of Defence spokesman said Britain had "a clear strategy" and worked with international partners "in support of the democratically elected government of Iraq, under a clear UN mandate". The former Conservative Defence Secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, said: "What he said was actually blindingly obvious and what the vast majority or people would also agree with". Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, called such an intervention by a senior military figure "unprecedented" and said the government had an "overwhelming obligation" to listen to him. Rose Gentle, whose soldier son was killed in Iraq, said: "I'm just really delighted that Sir Richard Dannatt has stood up and spoken out. There are currently more than 7,000 British soldiers in Iraq, based largely in Basra in the south of the country. Since the invasion in 2003, 119 British troops have been killed, most of them in southern Iraq. |