General accuses Britain of failing troops in Iraq

In the latest unprecedented outburst by a serving British General, Major General Richard Shirreff has said that British forces have been underfunded for the last ten years - the precise time that Labour has been in power - and warned that the covenant between the UK and its service personnel was "seriously out of kilter".

This comes hot on the heels of General the Lord Guthrie's comments that Britain's war in Afghanistan was "cuckoo" and General Sir Richard Dannatt's comments that our presence in Iraq was exacerbating the situation and that we should withdraw.

I can think of no other time in recent memory when the armed forces have been so vocal and so public about their differences with the government over policy.

His list of complaints was substantial including the way wounded soldiers are treated when they return home and even talking about the conditions of the barracks they live in whilst serving.

"I think this is a general issue. We need to look after our people properly and that means not only the housing, not only the equipment, not only ensuring our people get what they need in terms of training.

"It also means ensuring that when they go home wounded they are properly looked after as well, so there's a whole range of areas.

"It's not just the sharp end here, it covers the piece and we must recognise that it is now time to understand ... it is the duty of the nation to support us in doing this."

Gen Shirreff admitted that British ambitions in Iraq had been scaled back, adding: "Clearly I would love a 100% solution. When I set up, came up here and initiated the operations we have been conducting, I was looking for a 100% solution. But this is Iraq, this is Arabia and this is reality, so a 60% solution is good enough for me."

He appears to be saying that most Brits pay lip service to supporting the troops and then seem unwilling to spend the cash that a modern efficient army requires.

"The nation needs to understand that the quality work done by these courageous men and women out here only happens and can only continue if these people, our soldiers, are properly supported back home in terms of training, infrastructure, barracks, accommodation.

"Frankly, some of these issues need solving. Many of these issues are the result of a generation of under-funding and relative neglect in political terms."

Of course, he's also taking a swipe at Tony Blair's government who have overstretched an army that they have also underfunded.

I happen to agree with him. If we are going to ask young men and women to risk their lives to defend their country the very least, it seems to me, that we can do is give them the equipment and facilities that they need.

However, what is astonishing about his intervention is that he is publicly speaking this way at all.

The British Army is now refusing to bite it's stiff upper lip and is openly challenging their governmental masters. This would normally be a very worrying state of affairs. However, after our interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the great mess that we have embroiled them in, it is only to be expected that eventually even the armed forces would say, "Enough is enough".

Bush and Blair have both pursued a policy that required that we all view the battlefield through their own rose-tinted spectacles, seeing victory just over the horizon and refusing to acknowledge the carnage and apparent failure of the policy on the ground.

It is hardly surprising that the army have a more realistic opinion regarding following these two lemmings off the cliff that they are charging towards.

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tag: Blair, Iraq war, General Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the British army, troops, British plans, General the Lord Guthrie, Afghanistan, overstretch, Major General Richard Shirreff