British general, Sir Richard Dannatt, is willing to name the Iraq war for what it is. His honest is bracing:
Sitting in an armchair in his office at the Ministry of Defence, he declares simply: "I am going to stand up for what is right for the Army. "Honesty is what it is about. The truth will out. We have got to speak the truth. Leaking and spinning, at the end of the day, are not helpful."
And what is the truth that will out?
Sir Richard's lead in shining a light on the Armed Forces extends to the mission in Iraq. He says with great clarity and honesty that "our presence exacerbates the security problems". "I think history will show that the planning for what happened after the initial successful war-fighting phase was poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning.
"History will show that a vacuum was created and into the vacuum malign elements moved. The hope that we might have been able to get out of Iraq in 12, 18, 24 months after the initial start in 2003 has proved fallacious. Now hostile elements have got a hold it has made our life much more difficult in Baghdad and in Basra.
"The original intention was that we put in place a liberal democracy that was an exemplar for the region, was pro-West and might have a beneficial effect on the balance within the Middle East.
"That was the hope. Whether that was a sensible or naïve hope, history will judge. I don't think we are going to do that. I think we should aim for a lower ambition."
Sir Richard adds, strongly, that we should "get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems".
Can we give this man a Confucian medal for sincerity? It is speech like this that will enable the noble-minded to act.
This is great
I wonder how long before his career and his reputation get destroyed by those who support the war.
Its like the military commanders who have stood up to Bush, all have gotten a raw deal for standing up for truth.
Posted by: casey kochmer | October 13, 2006 at 03:40 PM