This is huge. The Chief of the General Staff of the British army, Sir Richard Dannatt, has publicly broken with Tony Blair by calling for a withdrawal from Iraq. Sir Richard gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which he called for a withdrawal of British troops from Iraq and asserted what most sane people already know: that foreign troops in Iraq are making matters worse.
Here is an article from the BBC and one from The Guardian on the interview.
This is a stunning development and I need to digest this overnight to write a more thorough post -but I did not want to wait to get this post up. In the meantime, feel free to offer comments on the significance of this interview. There are many issues here, not the least of which is the military openly challenging the policy of the civilian leadership. I suspect Sir Richard will be forced to resign after his comments. I am not sure where it leaves the morale of the British soldiers in Iraq – it almost now seems inevitable that Britain will have to withdraw from Iraq. I can’t see how Tony Blair puts Humpty Dumpty back together again. And what will Mr. Bush do without his trusty poodle at his side?
Your thoughts?
According to the news, he’s already been forced to “clarify” his comments…meaning backpedal. I have to say, though, in all honesty, with all the generals, politicans (R and D both) and ordinary folks saying exactly the same, that we’re making things worse and it’s time to pull the plug on this fiasco, I don’t think this is really such a big deal. Dannatt is just another highly-placed person showing his proficient grasp of the obvious.
Hope your digestive system can work over time…talking about Dr YUNUS!!
How about that!?
Our very own Dr. Yunus wins Nobel Peace Prize. The man who lends to the poorest of the poor.
Check out the following link:
http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2006/10/13/breaking-news-yunus-wins-nobel-peace-prize/
Zafa, saw that on the news today! He has redefined banking in the third world. I was very excited to see that he got the recognitions he deserves. But I hope he can now turn this recognition into more opportunity for the poor.
Now I have two posts to write tonight! :-w
Mandrake, I am loathe to disagree with such a fine British officer as you, but I think in this case this may turn out to be a very big deal. Its as if General Peter Pace decided to go public with serious criticism of the White House – it would send shockwaves.
I think the head of the British military saying publicly Iraq is wrongheaded sends a very strong signal to the rank and file. It is a civilized version of mutiny (British style, of course – pass the scones!). Blair has lost control of the military – that is a very serious problem for any democracy.
It is significant, if only because it shows that recognition that, in the interests of security for both ourselves and Iraqis, we need to withdraw immediately goes up to the highest levels.
However, the Labour spin machine has been working overtime to try and make this a non-story, with Dannat now ‘clarifying’ his thoughts and Tony Blair using those ‘clarifications’ to say that, actually, he and Dannat completely agree on everything. Yeh, right..
Heathlander, I am looking forward to your take on this on your blog (get to work! :)). Blair is doing his best – but the BBC had an interesting take on it. For some reason, Animal Farm comes to mind when I think of Bush and his poodle:
Strangely enough, just a couple of days before Dannat came out with his remarks I wrote a post urging that we force the illegal occupation of Iraq to end. It’s almost as if he read my post and decided he could remain silent no longer…:d
Nah – the agenda for today is writing about the US’ allocation of $42 million of tax payers money to subvert Palestinian democracy and ensure that, if it comes to civil war, Abbas would win.
As far as I’m concerned, we’ve all said what has needed to be said about the Iraq occupation before. It’s undemocratic, its a major cause of murders and violence and its completely unwanted. There is absolutely no justification for staying even a second longer.
Once upon a time, George Bush boldly stated “We’ll go it alone.” Now he will get his big chance. There’s your October surprise. (~~)