British military in crisis

Once again, a senior commander in the British military is saying that the service is in danger of collapse.
Boldly following the Decider into a two-front military effort is pushing the military to the limit. Blair's yes-man mentality is slowly fading from prominence among senior commanders, and the truth is coming out about what poor condition the services are really in.

Of course, Britain's steadfast ally, the Bush Administration, has seen fit to show its gratitude by implying the the British military is full of cowards and pansies. Meanwhile, Bush asks for more troops and money for the Afghan campaign from exhausted and reluctant allies. Remember, the Afghan effort was supposed to be a walk in the park - primarily peacekeeping, training, and reconstruction. At the end was a pat on the head from the Decider for all the allies' hard work, while Bush would take the credit for his "vision".

Like Iraq, the reconstruction never came. Desperate farmers are now forced to grow drug crops and pay the Taliban for protection. The perpetually-broke puppet, Karzai, can't even pay his civil servants. Areas that were fiercely won seem to slip back into militants' control almost as soon as the Coalition leaves. Air strikes have produced high-profile civilian casualties, and the Coalition shows a callous, arrogant, and dismissive view of these casualties. Some allies have opted out of combat altogether, and Bush can't seem to browbeat them as effectively as he once did. Coalition troops are finding increasing reluctance and resistance among the Afghan population.

American politicians, such has Rep. Lantos, have hardly helped by telling our allies that they owe us big-time for WW2 and letting them know that we expect a lot more help from them. At what point does an ally become an enabler for an incompetent leader that sees bombings and bullets as the solution to every problem?

With Bush now building up the charge for yet another war with Iran, one wonders how this exhausted British military will be able to handle a third front. Nothing has gone as the Decider said it would in either Iraq or Afghanistan, but somehow our allies are supposed to believe that Bush has it all figured out with Iran.

With Pakistan's tribal areas becoming a de-facto independent state, the challenge only increases for the British military. Thumbs-up, smiley-faced assessments may be good for domestic consumption, but are worthless for planning military campaigns. It remains to be seen if Gordon Brown will continue to be led by the nose into presiding over the collapse of his country's army.

See also here, here, here and here for more stories on the British military's disaster.

Our forces can't carry on like this, says General Sir Richard Dannatt

By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent

Last Updated: 1:30am GMT 18/11/2007

The head of the Army has warned that years of Government under-funding and overstretch have left troops feeling "devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue", The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, reveals in a top-level report that the present level of operations is "unsustainable", the Army is "under-manned" and increasing numbers of troops are "disillusioned" with service life.

Gen Dannatt states that the "military covenant is clearly out of kilter", and the chain of command needs to improve standards of pay, accommodation and medical care.

"We must strive to give individuals and units ample recuperation time between operations, but I do not underestimate how difficult this will be to achieve whilst under-manned and with less robust establishments than I would like."

The report, a copy of which has been seen by this newspaper, reveals for the first time the general's concerns on virtually every aspect of the Army, from levels of pay to the quality of food in canteens.

Gen Dannatt came to public prominence last year when, within weeks of taking over as head of the Army, he said the Iraq war was causing security problems in Britain.

In the new report, he says that operations on the two fronts of Iraq and Afghanistan are putting soldiers and their families under "great pressure", and that the long-term impact of operations is "damaging" and is "mortgaging the goodwill of our people".

In terms of "overstretch", the report says, "the tank of goodwill now runs on vapour; many experienced staff are talking of leaving".

Last week, Lt Col Stuart Tootal, 42, who commanded the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan, resigned from the Army over the "shoddy" treatment of injured troops. In a letter to defence chiefs, he was reported to have criticised levels of pay, a lack of training equipment and the appalling housing - all issues raised in Gen Dannatt's report.

The report lays bare how a lack of funding, resources and manpower are forcing defence chiefs into making decisions once considered unthinkable.

One such move includes sending "medically downgraded" or injured troops and soldiers as young as 17 to guard the Falkland Islands to release fit troops for operations - a move Gen Dannatt says he wholly supports.

The report adds:

• Delays to military inquests are a disgrace

• Military housing estates are unsafe and being overrun by immigrant families

• Poor food quality is creating a "pot-noodle and sandwich" culture among junior soldiers

• Work-life balance is an increasing concern

• Soldiers are "going sick" to get out of the Army

• Leave is often cancelled or constrained because of operational overstretch

• Harmony guidelines - the time between operational tours - are becoming meaningless

• The Army is no longer fun

• Fitness in the Army is tailing off and more soldiers are medically downgraded

The report's findings follow months of interviews with thousands of soldiers and their families from 47 units.

Entitled Chief of the General Staff's Briefing Team Report (2007), the findings are described by Gen Dannatt as a "comprehensive, vivid and accurate" picture of Army life.

He writes that "improvements need to be made in accommodation, pay and medical services" and that the "chain of command must still improve things" if more soldiers are to be recruited.

The general accepts the view that delays in holding military inquests are a "disgrace" and writes: "I share the frustration and know that many families feel let down by the process. The delays are unacceptable and I will continue to press for improvements."

Military housing is an area singled out for criticism. "Estates are becoming less safe and more run down. Some are degenerating - in Germany it is reported that many of the neighbouring areas are occupied by immigrant families with hordes of children.

This is of particular concern for wives when their husband is deployed [on operations]." In Britain, some service families' accommodation areas have "ex-married quarters owned by housing associations, and disruptive civilian families have moved in, causing concerns over vandalism and theft".

The report strongly criticises the "Pay As You Dine" policy of making soldiers pay for what they eat, which many in the Army call a "disaster".

It says: "There are real concerns about the new eating habits of some soldiers due to Pay As You Dine. A "pot noodle and sandwich" culture is being created and soldiers are cooking rations over gas burners in their rooms. There are apocryphal stories of soldiers flaking during PT sessions from a lack of nutrients".

The report adds: "Pay As You Dine was sold as a strap line of new restaurants, better choice and good quality. The reality is very different - for most, the only investment has been a till."

There is a growing problem of troops "going sick" to get out of the Army.

There is a lack of "training areas, range availability, shortages of ammunition, spares and manpower - which is limiting the amount of meaningful training that can be undertaken. There are insufficient serviceable aircraft for parachute training. Apache flying hours are limited by lack of serviceable aircraft".

Patrick Mercer, a Tory MP and former infantry commander, said: "These problem areas existed 10 years ago. Now we have a crisis and it is a disgrace that senior officers and ministers have allowed this to happen. I am staggered that the head of the Army thinks it acceptable to send kids and those medically unfit for war to guard the Falklands."

Bush shuns and insults Britain

I guess it's not enough that Britain backed Bush in his ill-conceived, delusional, and disatrous invasion and occupation of Iraq from the start. Or that Britain has been by far the most reliable ally in Afghanistan. Or that they took their military to the brink of collapse in Iraq as Bush kept up the "turning the corner" masquerade. It also isn't enough that Britain squandered several billion in Iraq with nothing to show for it.

No, Britain didn't destroy their military or go bankrupt backing Bush, so now they are "unworthy".

And, of course, Bush new-found allies in France and Germany won't take this as an object lesson on the cost of following his delusional policies.

The worst part, by far, is the insult to the British military in saying that they have "performed poorly in Basra".

France has taken no part in Iraq or Afghanistan. Germany has restricted itself to safe parts of Afghanistan, and even then will only commit to training the Afghan police. Great allies, eh? However, since they back Bush's new war against Iran, they are apparently Bush's new best friends.

full story from The Daily Telegraph

Britain 'no longer closest Bush ally'

By Toby Harnden in Washington

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 03/10/2007

The White House no longer views Britain as its most loyal ally in Europe since Gordon Brown took office and is instead increasingly turning towards France and Germany, according to Bush administration sources.

"There's concern about Brown," a senior White House foreign policy official told The Daily Telegraph. "But this is compensated by the fact that Paris and Berlin are much less of a headache. The need to hinge everything on London as the guarantor of European security has gone."

With Tony Blair departed, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is seen by many as the man George W Bush can best do business with in Europe. Although Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has not lived up to initial expectations in Washington, she is still seen as far preferable to her predecessor Gerhard Schröder.

The White House official added that Britain would always be "the cornerstone" of US policy towards Europe but there was "a lot of unhappiness" about how British forces had performed in Basra and an acceptance that Mr Brown would pull the remaining 4,500 troops out of Iraq next year.

"Operationally, British forces have performed poorly in Basra," said the official. "Maybe it's best that they leave. Now we will have a clear field in southern Iraq." Another White House official described Mr Brown as "challenging" and far less close to the US than Mr Blair.

There has been a notable reduction in contact between Downing Street and the White House since Mr Blair left and US officials have remarked on how few British ministers have visited Washington in recent months.

...

Privately, White House aides accept that Mr Brown would not support military action against Iran. There is also disquiet about what US officials view as double dealing by special advisers briefing an anti-White House message in London and a more favourable one in Washington. "That sort of manoeuvring is not appreciated," said one diplomatic source.

The wariness about Mr Brown could open doors to the Conservative Party.

Owen Paterson, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, recently met several key White House officials, including Barry Jackson, who recently took over many of Karl Rove's duties as a policy adviser to Mr Bush.

A British diplomatic source said: "In the White House there's a sense of enormous change from Blair. They used to be on the phone to Blair all the time and that's no longer the case because Brown clearly wants to be the unBlair.

"At the Pentagon, there's a feeling that Britain is letting the side down on Iraq. The new best friend is Sarkozy and that means Brown taking a step back doesn't matter as much. In White House eyes, Sarkozy is taking up the slack from Blair. "When things get tough, however, they're likely to turn to Britain again."