[NYTr] Second British general bashes US strategy in Iraq

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Dave Muller (southnews)

AFP - Sep 3, 2007

Second British general bashes US strategy in Iraq

LONDON (AFP) - - The British backlash over the United States's handling 
of post-invasion Iraq grew Sunday as another top military commander 
blasted what he called Washington's "fatally flawed" policy.

Major General Tim Cross, the top British officer involved in planning 
post-war Iraq, said he raised serious concerns with then US defence 
secretary Donald Rumsfeld about the possibility of the country 
descending into chaos.

But Rumsfeld "ignored" or "dismissed" his warnings, the general told
the Sunday Mirror newspaper.

On Saturday, the head of the British Army during the 2003 invasion 
launched a fierce attack on the United States over its handling of 
troubled Iraq since.

General Sir Mike Jackson branded US post-invasion policy
"intellectually bankrupt" and said Rumsfeld was "one of the most
responsible for the current situation in Iraq."

His comments were criticised by John Bolton, the US's former ambassador 
to the United Nations, who told BBC radio Saturday he had "read into a 
version of history that simply is not supported by the evidence."

The comments from both top officers came as the British government has 
been trying to soothe reported tensions with the United States over
Iraq by insisting it will not cut and run from the southern province of
Basra.

General Jack Keane, a former vice-chief of staff of the US Army, said 
last month there was "frustration" in Washington at the deteriorating 
security situation in the British-run area -- triggering an angry 
reaction from some quarters in the British military.

The Pentagon announced this week that it was ready to intervene in 
southern Iraq to quell any unrest in Basra.

The Sunday Times newspaper, citing unnamed government department 
officials, said Britain was preparing to hand over control of Basra to 
the Iraqi army as early as next month.

Around 5,500 British troops are in the south training Iraqi security 
forces, a figure that is set to drop to 5,000 by the end of the year.

In 2003, Cross, who is now retired, was the deputy head of the 
coalition's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.

"Right from the very beginning we were all very concerned about the
lack of detail that had gone into the post-war plan -- and there is no
doubt that Rumsfeld was at the heart of that process," the 56-year-old
said.

"I had lunch with Rumsfeld in Washington before the invasion in 2003
and raised concerns about the need to internationalise the
reconstruction of Iraq and work closely with the United Nations.

"I also raised concerns over the numbers of troops available to
maintain security and aid reconstruction.

"He didn't want to hear that message. The US had already convinced 
themselves that Iraq would emerge reasonably quickly as a stable
democracy.

Cross said that he was not alone in suggesting to Rumsfeld that life in 
Iraq post-invasion would not be as easy as he thought.

"But he ignored my comment. He dismissed it," he added.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took over from Tony Blair on 
June 27, had been expected by some commentators to take a more doveish 
stance on Iraq.

But he has resisted calls for a timetable for the withdrawal of British 
troops, and a spokesman for his Downing Street office on Sunday 
responded to calls from opposition politicians for a full inquiry into 
the war by saying that there had already been three "pretty exhaustive" 
inquiries.

Earlier on Sunday, opposition Conservative Party foreign affairs 
spokesman William Hague told Sky News that his party thought "there
have been many mistakes made. We would like to see a full-scale
inquiry."

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Defence Secretary Des 
Browne wrote a joint article in Friday's Washington Post newspaper 
saying it was "time to set the record straight" after weeks of 
"misplaced criticism."

"The question some people have asked is: have British forces failed in 
Basra? The answer is no," they added.