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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (317558)	7/30/2009 1:32:45 PM
From: MrLucky	1 Recommendation Respond to of 793838

General Sir Richard Dannatt: put Britain on a war footing to win in Afghanistan (Barry Batchelor/PA) General Sir Richard Dannatt Michael Evans, Defence Editor Britain has failed to get on a proper war-footing to deal with the military campaign in Afghanistan, the head of the Army has warned. “We should be under no illusion, we are at war and if we want to succeed, which we must, we must get onto a war-like footing,” General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, said. But “not everyone in our nation realises that", he added. Making his last public speech before he retires next month, General Dannatt said: “If that means an uplift of significant capabilities for Afghanistan, then so be it.” The general who has fought the Government publicly for more resources for his soldiers in Afghanistan and who presented a “shopping list” of requests when he returned last week from visiting British troops in Helmand, pressed his case for the campaign to be adequately funded. Related Links Army turns to US medics as casualties surge MoD promises better compensation for soldiers Ainsworth applies some much-needed logic Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, he warned: “Success in Afghanistan is not discretionary. It will top the agenda for the future and we must do whatever we must do to succeed. “This can be demonstrated by a strengthened and enduring national, political, industrial, cross-Whitehall and departmental commitment to delivering success in Afghanistan. We need to get on to a warlike footing. It is very much in our national interest to do this,” he added. General Dannatt also gave his trenchant views on the way the proposed strategic defence review should be carried out. Although he retires at the end of next month and will not be around to influence the review when it takes place after the general election, the Ministry of Defence has already begun internal consultations to collate ideas on how the Armed Forces should be restructured for future threats. He said the last defence review, carried out in 1997/1998, had been “ambitious” but inadequately resourced, and it was vital that next year’s one must be properly financed. “Many of the problems we are experiencing now are caused by merely ‘filling in the pot holes in our immediate pathway’... to balance the books in the short term, as opposed to adequately resourcing a dynamically changing policy that reflects today's reality,” he said. “We can no longer afford to do this,” General Dannatt insisted. One of the problems, he said, was that since the last defence review, there had developed “a confusion between operational effectiveness in the field and financial efficiency”. “What this has done is accelerate the trend towards pulling decision-making ever more towards the top. \ fine if the top can take decisions, but over-centralisation is the antithesis of mission command,” General Dannatt said. “We must have what we absolutely need for the short term \, and limit our ambitions for the medium and long term to what we can afford,” he said. “Getting this balance right, over time, will be vital for the defence of our nation and our position in the world - and both depend on us making the right decisions,” he said. The Government had to decide what it wanted Britain to do in terms of defence and security and must consult its closest ally, the United States, to find out what the Americans would like this nation to contribute to in future conflicts. He indicated that it would no longer be sensible to try and do everything the Americans did but to offer capabilities and expertise which the US would find helpful. Britain had stood shoulder to shoulder with the US over Afghanistan and had had public support, although he described the campaign as “a misunderstood war”. “Afghanistan is truly a war among the people, about the people and for the people. We are succeeding in spite of the tragic losses that we have suffered,” he said. Taken from the London Times online