http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,1966474,00.html
General accuses Reid over Afghanistan Deborah Summers, politics editor Thursday December 7, 2006 Guardian Unlimited The former chief of the army continued his verbal assault on the government today, accusing the home secretary, John Reid, of failing to give "the full picture" when he said he would be happy if UK forces did not have to fire a single shot during their mission to southern Afghanistan. Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, General Sir Mike Jackson said it had come as no surprise to him that the army in fact faced fierce resistance from the Taliban. Gen Jackson's comment came after he used a lecture last night to launch an outspoken attack on the government, warning that strategic failings and "inadequate" funding were putting troops at risk. Today, he indicated that he had made his concerns known privately to ministers when he was chief of the general staff, but following his retirement was free to speak openly. Gen Jackson backed away from suggestions that he was accusing Mr Reid of deliberately misleading the public. He pointed out that the secretary of state's comments were expressed as a hope rather than a prediction. But pressed on the issue, Gen Jackson agreed that Mr Reid could be said to have been "economical with the truth". Sources close to Mr Reid said the minister's comments about not having to fire a single shot were not said as a prediction - or even a hope - but to explain the motivation of the mission. "He was trying to explain the difference between what Britain was doing out there and what America was doing," the source said. "We were there to help rebuild Afghanistan, we knew it would be a tough job and John was criticised at the time for overegging it in saying what a tough mission it would be. "But our objective - that of reconstruction - was different to America's objective, to root out the Taliban. We knew our mission would be dangerous but our objective was not to seek out conflict." In his interview, Gen Jackson said it was clear that the coalition was not winning the war in Iraq, but stressed that this did not mean it was losing. And he cautioned against setting a timetable for withdrawal, saying that Britain should not discount the possibility that its troops would be there for very much longer than the 2008 date suggested by the Iraq Study Group. Gen Jackson insisted he was not complaining that the armed forces had been asked to take on too many military commitments with too little funding. But he said that the failure to deliver improvements to soldiers' living accommodation, pay and equipment threatened the "ethos of soldiering" which made them willing to put their lives at risk for the nation. He warned: "Unless we have that glue which keeps the army together and enables it to operate under very trying and testing circumstances, we will not have an army worth the name." Asked why he had not made his views known before his retirement earlier this year, Gen Jackson responded: "It's not a question of whether I said things or not, it's a question of whether I said something publicly or not. I'm now a civilian." +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
