Our forces can’t carry on like this, says General

With the Clintonista administration, indeed, under BOTH Bush administrations there has been a marked tendency to try tu run our military “on the cheap”. This, to any rational mind, must inevitably result in ony one outcome: deterioration of the ability of military forces to successfully perform its mission. This reality is coming home with a vengeance to the Brits after the Blair-Brown EngSoc regime has had its way for years of skimping and shortchanging what remains of the once proud Royal Army.

The head of the Army has warned that years of Government under-funding and overstretch have left troops feeling “devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue”, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, reveals in a top-level report that the present level of operations is “unsustainable”, the Army is “under-manned” and increasing numbers of troops are “disillusioned” with service life.

Gen Dannatt states that the “military covenant is clearly out of kilter”, and the chain of command needs to improve standards of pay, accommodation and medical care. “We must strive to give individuals and units ample recuperation time between operations, but I do not underestimate how difficult this will be to achieve whilst under-manned and with less robust establishments than I would like.”

This is NOT the way that a nation’s military forces deserve to be treated…whether they are the Brits, or us.

The report, a copy of which has been seen by this newspaper, reveals for the first time the general’s concerns on virtually every aspect of the Army, from levels of pay to the quality of food in canteens.