Head of Army defends Britain's role in Basra in open letter to his troops

[maddezmom]

Head of Army defends Britain's role in Basra in open letter to his troops
Sunday, 27 April 2008


The head of the British Army has taken the unusual step of writing an open letter to his troops in which he defends Britain's low-key role during an offensive against Shia militias in Basra.


The message from General Sir Richard Dannatt, made available to The Independent on Sunday, is intended to reassure troops in the face of claims that the British presence at Basra airport is increasingly untenable, and that the Iraqi government supposedly snubbed senior UK commanders during the recent operation.

The Chief of the General Staff, who has just returned from Basra, stated: "I cannot deny that there are many who said that they would rather be at the forefront of the operations (as CGS I think I would be worried if I headed an Army that did not express such views), but those same individuals were all mature enough to understand it is right that the Iraqis are now taking the lead.

"Indeed, these are exactly the nature of operations that we have been pressing for some months – an Iraqi solution to an Iraqi problem".

more:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/head-of-army-defends-britains-role-in-basra-in-open-letter-to-his-troops-816230.html?r=RSS