Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline:n/a
Date: September 3, 2006
LONDON, Sept 3, 2006 (AFP) - Britain's military is at the limit of its
capacity and can barely cope with the demands placed on it, the head of
Britain's army told The Guardian in an interview published in the
newspaper's Monday edition.
General Richard Dannat, who took over from General Mike Jackson last week,
told the newspaper: "We are running hot, certainly running hot ... Can we
cope? I pause. I say 'just'."
He said the armed forces would be in Afghanistan for "the long term", but
when asked about whether other NATO countries should contribute more troops,
Dannat said Britain was doing "more than its share of what is required in
Afghanistan".
Asked by The Guardian about the hopes of some senior British soldiers that
the number of British forces in Iraq could be halved by the middle of 2007,
Dannat stressed that those possibilities had been described as a "hope" and
pointed out that previous hopes about Iraq had not been fulfilled.
Dannat also declined to set a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops
from Afghanistan.
He added that the army was "meeting challenges on the hoof" but refused to
comment on whether the current budget allocation for defence was sufficient.
The general's comments came after news that 14 British troops died in a
plane crash in Afghanistan on Saturday, the single biggest loss of the
country's soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq since the US-led war on terror was
launched in November 2001, prompting renewed debate about the mission there.
The incident brought the number of British armed forces personnel deaths in
Afghanistan since the start of operations against the hardline Taliban
regime in 2001 to 36, including 15 in combat.
Byline:n/a
Date: September 3, 2006
LONDON, Sept 3, 2006 (AFP) - Britain's military is at the limit of its
capacity and can barely cope with the demands placed on it, the head of
Britain's army told The Guardian in an interview published in the
newspaper's Monday edition.
General Richard Dannat, who took over from General Mike Jackson last week,
told the newspaper: "We are running hot, certainly running hot ... Can we
cope? I pause. I say 'just'."
He said the armed forces would be in Afghanistan for "the long term", but
when asked about whether other NATO countries should contribute more troops,
Dannat said Britain was doing "more than its share of what is required in
Afghanistan".
Asked by The Guardian about the hopes of some senior British soldiers that
the number of British forces in Iraq could be halved by the middle of 2007,
Dannat stressed that those possibilities had been described as a "hope" and
pointed out that previous hopes about Iraq had not been fulfilled.
Dannat also declined to set a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops
from Afghanistan.
He added that the army was "meeting challenges on the hoof" but refused to
comment on whether the current budget allocation for defence was sufficient.
The general's comments came after news that 14 British troops died in a
plane crash in Afghanistan on Saturday, the single biggest loss of the
country's soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq since the US-led war on terror was
launched in November 2001, prompting renewed debate about the mission there.
The incident brought the number of British armed forces personnel deaths in
Afghanistan since the start of operations against the hardline Taliban
regime in 2001 to 36, including 15 in combat.
