That’s what Mary Riddell says in The Observer in a well argued piece that also gives a historic perspective.
“History will forgive the war on Iraq. Or so Tony Blair told the US Congress in July 2003, as the first cold shadows fell on the invasion. The Prime Minister also warned of ‘many further struggles ahead’. He cannot have imagined that these would include being gunned down by the head of the British army.
“By calling for a pull-out from Iraq, General Sir Richard Dannatt has reversed the view of the French wartime leader, Georges Clemenceau, that ‘war is too serious a matter to entrust to military men’. In Dannatt’s view, it is too vital to be left to the sofa warriors of Downing Street. His men have had enough, and he has said so.
“The military can barely hide their glee. The previous head, Sir Michael Jackson, was seen by soldiers as Blair’s puppet. Now they have a leader who puts the army first. Dannatt may not share this jubilation. Naivety, or every general’s tendency to rank himself just below God in the cosmic line management structure, led him into an unintended row.
“As he must know, Iraq is rarely kind to generals. In April 1915, General Sir Charles Townshend had a nervous breakdown on the road from Basra, shortly before his troops were decimated. His successor, General Sir Stanley Maude, died of cholera. Almost a century after the last, doomed British invasion, another general decides that the game is almost up.
“Blair, briefed throughout the night as the mutiny unfolded, has smoothed over the cracks, but Dannatt has been warned to stay out of trouble. Ever since Caesar defied the Senate and crossed the Rubicon, politicians have been wary of over-mighty soldiers. Another outburst, and this one would have to go.
“Many war-brokers bend their constitutional roles. Blair has behaved as an unanointed commander-in-chief: Dannatt has adapted the role of General MacArthur, fired by President Truman for trying to declare war on China. Unlike MacArthur, Dannatt has become an all-purpose hero, feted not just by soldiers but by troops-out campaigners.”
The BBC quotes provide excellent examples of double-speak and fudging that’s going on. “Mr Blair said he suspected Sir Richard had given a long interview to the Daily Mail and had then been taken out of context…I’ve read his (Sir Richard’s) transcript of his interview on the radio this morning, and I agree with every word of it.”
And now see what the top Iraqi officials are saying:
“A spokesman for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the departure of multi-national troops now ‘would be a disaster’.
“Iraq’s ambassador to Britain, Dr Salah al-Shaikhly, said British soldiers were close to completing their mission.”
“In Basra, Maj Gen Ali Hammadi, the Iraqi security co-ordinator, has told BBC’s Newsnight that if the British stopped arrest operations in the city, the level of violence there would drop by 80%.”
And the double-speak goes on…
For more on Sir Richard’s comments and Tony Blair’s reaction, the Sunday Times has interesting details.
“In other circumstances a military officer defying his political master might have been sacked. But Blair was in no position to call all the shots. For while Downing Street was furious, the reaction among Dannatt’s own men was one of exultation. At last someone at the top had spoken out for the ordinary soldier — and there was nothing Blair could do about it.
“The army internet forums were full of praise. ‘I think it’s bloody brilliant a CGS (Chief of the General Staff) gets up and says ‘For my lads’,’ one soldier wrote.
” ‘The General has obviously decided to stake his job on this,’ another added. ‘At last, someone who has integrity and genuine concern for his men and his country.’ “
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.