Crack in the armor

George W. Bush is fond of saying he makes his Iraq decisions based on what the generals on the ground advise. Well, a new general has some sound advice. A new general with an accent, a new general who's still active, and a new general who just so happens to be the top dog. This crack in the armor is a big one. Read on from Reuters:

Britain's top army commander said the presence of British troops in Iraq was exacerbating security problems on the ground and they should be withdrawn soon, according to a British newspaper.

General Sir Richard Dannatt also told the Daily Mail in an interview published on Friday that Britain's Iraq venture was aggravating the security threat elsewhere in the world.

In unusually blunt comments for a serving senior officer, Dannatt said the troops should "get ... out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems." [...]

"The military campaign we fought in 2003 effectively kicked the door in. Whatever consent we may have had in the first place, may have turned to tolerance and has largely turned to intolerance. That is a fact. I don't say that the difficulties we are experiencing round the world are caused by our presence in Iraq but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates them." [...]

"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." [emphasis me]

Seriously blunt. Seriously serious comments. The fallout should be interesting.

Truth more.

UPDATE: Someone got to the general. Damn.

Britain's army chief, who set off a political storm by calling for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq "soon," said Friday he meant a phased withdrawal over two or three years, and denied that he was attacking government policy.

On Friday morning, he insisted Britain stood "shoulder to shoulder with the Americans, and their timing and our timing are one and the same."