31 July 2009 : Times
By Michael Evans
Britain has failed to get on a proper war footing to deal with the military campaign in Afghanistan, the head of the Army has warned.
"We should be under no illusion, we are at war and if we want to succeed, which we must, we must get on to a war-like footing," General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, said. "Not everyone in our nation realises that."
Making his last public speech before he retires next month, General Dannatt said: "If that means an uplift of significant capabilities for Afghanistan, then so be it."
The general, who has fought the Government for more resources in Afghanistan, pressed his case for the campaign to be adequately funded. Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, he said: "Success in Afghanistan is not discretionary. It will top the agenda for the future and we must do whatever we must do to succeed.
"This can be demonstrated by a strengthened and enduring national, political, industrial, cross-Whitehall and departmental commitment to delivering success in Afghanistan. It is very much in our national interest to do this."
General Dannatt also gave his views on the way the proposed strategic defence review should be carried out after the general election. He said that the last review in 1997-98 had been "ambitious" but inadequately resourced, and it was vital that next year's must be properly financed. "Many of the problems we are experiencing now are caused by merely 'filling in the pot holes in our immediate pathway'... to balance books in the short term, as opposed to adequately resourcing a dynamically changing policy that reflects today's reality," he said.
"We can no longer afford to do this," General Dannatt insisted.
One of the problems, he said, was that since the last defence review "a confusion between operational effectiveness in the field and financial efficiency" had developed.
The Afghan campaign was "a misunderstood war", he said. "Afghanistan is truly a war among the people, about the people and for the people. We are succeeding in spite of the tragic losses that we have suffered."
