-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: September 1, 2007 9:45:46 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Second British General Bashes Bush's Iraq Strategy:
"Intellectually Bankrupt"
Second British general
bashes US strategy in Iraq
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hLrzgsRV9Fa-0OZGtfGxFdNO7vew
LONDON (AFP) — The British backlash over the US handling of post-
invasion Iraq grew Sunday as another military commander blasted
Washington's "fatally flawed" policy.
Major General Tim Cross, the top British officer involved in
planning post-war Iraq, said he raised serious concerns with then
US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld about the possibility of the
country descending into chaos.
But Rumsfeld "ignored" or "dismissed" his warnings, the general
told the Sunday Mirror newsapaper.
On Saturday, the head of the British Army during the 2003 invasion
launched a fierce attack on the United States over its handling of
troubled Iraq since.
General Sir Mike Jackson branded US post-invasion policy
"intellectually bankrupt" and said Rumsfeld was "one of the most
responsible for the current situation in Iraq."
The comments from both top military officers come at an
embarrassing time for the British government, which has tried to
soothe reported tensions with the United States over Iraq by
insisting it will not cut and run from the southern province of Basra.
General Jack Keane, a former vice-chief of staff of the US Army,
said last month there was "frustration" in Washington at the
deteriorating security situation in the British-run area --
triggering an angry reaction from some quarters in the British
military.
In 2003, Cross was the deputy head of the coalition's Office of
Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.
"Right from the very beginning we were all very concerned about the
lack of detail that had gone into the post-war plan -- and there is
no doubt that Rumsfeld was at the heart of that process," the 56-
year-old said.
"I had lunch with Rumsfeld in Washington before the invasion in
2003 and raised concerns about the need to internationalise the
reconstruction of Iraq and work closely with the United Nations.
"I also raised concerns over the numbers of troops available to
maintain security and aid reconstruction.
"He didn't want to hear that message. The US had already convinced
themselves that Iraq would emerge reasonably quickly as a stable
democracy.
"Anybody who tried to tell them anything that challenged that idea
-- they simply shut it out.
"Myself and others were suggesting things simply would not be as
easy as that.
"But he ignored my comment. He dismissed it.
"There is no doubt with hindsight the US post-war plan was fatally
flawed -- and many of us sensed that at the time."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took over from Tony Blair
on June 27, had been expected by some commentators to take a step
back on Iraq policy.
But he has resisted calls for a timetable for the withdrawal of
British troops from Iraq.
The Pentagon announced this week that it is ready to intervene in
southern Iraq to quell any unrest in Basra.
The Sunday Times newspaper, citing government department officials,
said Britain was preparing to hand over control of Basra to the
Iraqi army as early as next month, in a move which would spark
renewed claims from Washington that Britain was preparing to cut
and run from Iraq.
Around 5,500 British troops are training Iraqi security forces.
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Defence Secretary
Des Browne wrote a joint article in Friday's Washington Post
newspaper saying it was "time to set the record straight" after
weeks of "misplaced criticism."
"The question some people have asked is: have British forces failed
in Basra? The answer is no," they added.
"We believe we remain on track to complete the return of full
sovereignty to the Iraqi people as planned. The United Kingdom is
sticking to the mission we took on four years ago."
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