UK presence ‘worsening Iraq situation’
By Stephen Fidler and James Blitz and Guy Dinmore in Washington
Financial Times
Britain’s new army chief said UK forces should leave Iraq soon because they are making the security problem there worse.
Such unusually frank remarks from a serving soldier suggest that General Sir Richard Dannatt disagrees with government policy, which calls for troops to stay until Iraqi forces can take over.
Sir Richard said Britain should “get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems”.
In comments reported in Friday’s UK Daily Mail newspaper, the chief of the general staff said foreign forces might be welcomed into a country. But “the military campaign we fought in 2003 effectively kicked the door in. Whatever consent we may have had in the first place...has largely turned to intolerance.
“That is a fact. 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.”
Sir Richard criticised the quality of planning for what happened after Baghdad fell. “History will show that the planning for what happened after the initial successful fighting phase was poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning.”
The general said the US-led coalition in Iraq would have to settle for less than the original ambition of a pro-western liberal democracy that would be an exemplar for the region.
(The rest is here.)
Financial Times
Britain’s new army chief said UK forces should leave Iraq soon because they are making the security problem there worse.
Such unusually frank remarks from a serving soldier suggest that General Sir Richard Dannatt disagrees with government policy, which calls for troops to stay until Iraqi forces can take over.
Sir Richard said Britain should “get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems”.
In comments reported in Friday’s UK Daily Mail newspaper, the chief of the general staff said foreign forces might be welcomed into a country. But “the military campaign we fought in 2003 effectively kicked the door in. Whatever consent we may have had in the first place...has largely turned to intolerance.
“That is a fact. 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.”
Sir Richard criticised the quality of planning for what happened after Baghdad fell. “History will show that the planning for what happened after the initial successful fighting phase was poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning.”
The general said the US-led coalition in Iraq would have to settle for less than the original ambition of a pro-western liberal democracy that would be an exemplar for the region.
(The rest is here.)
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