UK commander in Iraq complains about funding

The commander of Britain's 7,000 troops in southern Iraq has complained that they are operating in conditions that display "a generation of underfunding and relative neglect" by successive governments back home.

The remarks by the commander, Major General Richard Shirreff echoed criticism by two other high-ranking officers in recent months, breaking with a tradition of public restraint by military commanders in expressing political views.

"The nation needs to understand that the quality work done by these courageous men and women out here only happens and can only continue if our soldiers are properly supported back home in terms of the support for training, infrastructure, barracks, accommodation," Shirreff said in an interview with the BBC.

Neglect

"Some of these issues need solving," he said, describing many of them as "the direct result of a generation of underfunding and relative neglect."

Shirreff not blame a specific government and directed some of his criticism at the broader relationship between civilians and the military.

"I don't blame any particular party or government; I think this is a general issue," he said. "There's a whole range of areas -- it's not just the sharp end here."

He said the "military covenant between the nation and its soldiers" was "seriously out of kilter."

Shirreff's followed remarks in October by General Richard Dannatt, the top army commander, who said British troops, based primarily in Basra, should be withdrawn from Iraq "sometime soon" because their presence was adding to security problems.

This month, Dannatt's predecessor, General Mike Jackson, said the government had not been providing adequate support for British forces overseas.

Overstretched

Britain has about 7,000 troops in southern Iraq and 6,000 in Afghan-istan, prompting some military officials to say the army is overstretched by fighting on two distant fronts.

The Ministry of Defense in London said spending on the military had increased steadily by the equivalent of about US$7 billion in the past three years.

The government had "long recognized" the importance of investing in the military, the ministry said.