The FINANCIAL — Former UK Army chief, General The Lord Dannatt says any decision to bomb Syria “undoubtedly would have been the wrong thing to do”, according to the University of Liverpool.
“The suggestion we should have gone with the Americans and bombed President Assad’s chemical weapon capability undoubtedly would have been the wrong thing to do," said General The Lord Dannatt, the man who led British forces into Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I and others argued very strongly in Parliament that it was the wrong thing to do. The right thing to do was to try and get a diplomatic process going. Low and behold, what’s happened? The Americans have pulled back and thought about it, and the Russians had to decide whether they were going to condemn or condone what has happened. A diplomatic process has begun and, as you and I are talking now, chemical weapons are being dismantled by voluntary agreement in Damascus. That’s a good outcome,” he added.
Now retired, General The Lord Dannatt was appointed British Army Chief of the General Staff in 2006, following his central role in planning the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, in 2001 and 2003 respectively. An outspoken figure, he courted controversy with criticism of the Iraq campaign and his view of the detrimental effect he felt it had on operations in Afghanistan.
With British forces now out of Iraq, it is a view he maintains. He said: “Going into Iraq in 2003 took the American’s eyes, it took our eyes and it took the West’s eyes off Afghanistan, which was really important to get right.”
“I think there’s a big debate to be had in this country about our future ambitions. Are we going to remain the same major player on the world stage that we have been in recent years – a close partner of the USA and leading military nation in Europe – or should we step down to a more minor role,” he said.
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