UK Army Chief Drops a Bomb, Calls for End to Occupation of Iraq

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The head of the UK army has dropped a political and public relations bomb on the occupation of Iraq, blowing to bits the upbeat, stay-the-course talking points of the Blair and Bush administrations. According to an interview in The Daily Mail, "The head of the Army is calling for British troops to withdraw from Iraq 'soon' or risk catastophic consequences for both Iraq and British society. In a devastating broadside at Tony Blair's foreign policy, General Sir Richard Dannatt stated explicitly that the continuing presence of British troops 'exacerbates the security problems' in Iraq. ... Sir Richard, who took up his post earlier this year, warned that 'our presence in Iraq exacerbates' the 'difficulties we are facing around the world.' He lambasts Tony Blair's desire to forge a 'liberal democracy' in Iraq as a 'naive' failure and he warns that 'whatever consent we may have had in the first place' from the Iraqi people 'has largely turned to intolerance.' Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman Michael Moore said: 'This is the frankest assessment we have had about Iraq. It illustrates that the government has no clear strategy.' The party's defense spokesman Nick Harvey added: 'This drives a coach and horses through the government's foreign policy.'"