Head of British Army said there presence is not helping - U.S. Politics Online: A Political Discussion Forum

CowboyTed · #1 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

General seeks UK Iraq withdrawal

General Dannatt took on his role in August
The head of the British Army has said the presence of UK armed forces in Iraq "exacerbates the security problems".
In an interview in the Daily Mail, Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, is quoted as saying the British should "get out some time soon".

He also said: "Let's face it, the military campaign we fought in 2003, effectively kicked the door in."

There are currently more than 7,000 British soldiers in Iraq, based largely in Basra in the south of the country.

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."

BBC political editor Nick Robinson described Sir Richard's remarks as "quite extraordinary".

He said the new head of British army was "effectively saying we are making the situation worse in Iraq and worse for ourselves around the world by being in Iraq".

"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 Dannatt

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The comments "directly contradicted so much of what the government had said", our correspondent added.

Sir Richard might be issuing a "very public warning" to the next prime minister, he said.

In his interview, Sir Richard added that any initial tolerance "has largely turned to intolerance. That is a fact."

Sir Richard, who took on his role in August, also said planning for what happened after the initial successful war military offensive was "poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning".

'Not invited in'

He 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."

Sir Richard told the newspaper: "We are in a Muslim country and Muslims' views of foreigners in their country are quite clear.

"As a foreigner, you can be welcomed by being invited in a country, but we weren't invited certainly by those in Iraq at the time."

He added: "Whatever consent we may have had in the first place, may have turned to tolerance and has largely turned to intolerance."

BBC article

The Head of the British army said the Army is not helping in Iraq and that they should leave soon.

Rakkasan · #2 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

although i agree we have to leave soon for the longer we stay the worse it will be

i still see if we leave now it will embolden the enemy more

Donkey_Left · #3 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rakkasan

although i agree we have to leave soon for the longer we stay the worse it will be

i still see if we leave now it will embolden the enemy more

But how long will we keep saying that?

Rakkasan · #4 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

in 1993 we ran look what that accomplished

Donkey_Left · #5 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rakkasan

in 1993 we ran look what that accomplished

But how long are we going to keep saying we need to stay the course?

ViolaLee · #6 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

In 1984 we ran, look what that accomplished. No war.

In 1975 we ran, look what that accomplished. The end of a war.

Ya'll call it running. I call it ending war.

proUSA · #7 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha

In 1984 we ran, look what that accomplished. No war.

In 1975 we ran, look what that accomplished. The end of a war.

Ya'll call it running. I call it ending war.

Temporary, but the problems came back.

doniston · #8 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rakkasan

although i agree we have to leave soon for the longer we stay the worse it will be

i still see if we leave now it will embolden the enemy more

It's a case of six of one, or half a dozen of the other. But the longer we stay, the more men we lose, without any benefit.

Rakkasan · #9 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha

In 1984 we ran, look what that accomplished. No war.

In 1975 we ran, look what that accomplished. The end of a war.

Ya'll call it running. I call it ending war.

once again running accomplished jack sam and you know it

93 was a major error for YOUR PARTY

REAGAN fucked up and ran

running doesnt solve shit and that not MY PARTY LINE for i claim neither FUCKED UP PARTY

its reality our enemy only respects the SWORD

take away the sword and they see us as weak fucks who cant hang

ViolaLee · #10 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by proUSA

Temporary, but the problems came back.

What's the problem with Vietnam?

ViolaLee · #11 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rakkasan

once again running accomplished jack sam and you know it

93 was a major error for YOUR PARTY

REAGAN fucked up and ran

running doesnt solve shit and that not MY PARTY LINE for i claim neither FUCKED UP PARTY

its reality our enemy only respects the SWORD

take away the sword and they see us as weak fucks who cant hang

In this case we just make more enemies when we draw the sword. If we kept it in our pants and just wiped out Al Qaeda instead of killing 600,000 Iraqis we'd have a lot less enemies and we wouldn't have a whole country ready for the taking by the terrorists....

proUSA · #12 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha

What's the problem with Vietnam?

Nothing now, but the fighting still went on between the north and south for 1 to 1 1/2 years and because we renigged on the funding $$, the south lost many.

ViolaLee · #13 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by proUSA

Nothing now, but the fighting still went on between the north and south for 1 to 1 1/2 years and because we renigged on the funding $$, the south lost many.

That's what happens when we invade a country that didn't threaten or attack us. We finally run out of money and soldiers and we have to leave, more people die, then finally peace comes to the people.

Maybe we should learn our lesson this time.