The head of the British Army during the invasion of Iraq has blasted the US for its handling of the aftermath, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
General Sir Mike Jackson laid into the then US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a stinging attack, said the Daily Telegraph, which is to serialize his forthcoming autobiography, Soldier.
Jackson branded US policy after the March 2003 invasion "intellectually bankrupt," slamming Rumsfeld's claim that US forces "don't do nation-building" as "nonsensical."
Jackson said Rumsfeld was "one of the most responsible for the current situation in Iraq."
The retired general's comments are likely to fuel perceived tensions over Iraq between allies Britain and the US.
The Daily Telegraph said Jackson feels the US approach to combating global terrorism is "inadequate" and too focused on military might rather than nation-building and diplomacy.
Jackson also defended the record of Britain's military mission in Basra, Iraq's second city.
General Jack Keane, a former vice-chief of staff of the US Army, said there was "frustration" in Washington at Britain's role in southern Iraq as he shed light on media reports that US officials think British forces have failed there.
"I don't think that's a fair assessment at all," Jackson said.
"What has happened in the south, as throughout the rest of Iraq, was that primary responsibility for security would be handed to the Iraqis once the Iraqi authorities and the coalition were satisfied that their state of training and development was appropriate," he said. "In the south we had responsibility for four provinces. Three of these have been handed over in accordance with that strategy. It remains just in Basra for that to happen."
The general also attacked the decision to hand control of planning the post-invasion administration of Iraq to the Pentagon.
All the planning carried out by the State Department had "gone to waste," he argued.
He also said disbanding the Iraqi army and security forces after toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was "very short-sighted.
"We should have kept the Iraqi security services in being and put them under the command of the coalition."
Britain has about 5,500 troops currently based at Basra Airport and Basra Palace, although the small contingent at the latter is due to move out within weeks.
Under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took over from Tony Blair on June 27, foreign ministers have suggested that Britain would pursue a more multi-lateral approach, while maintaining that Washington remains London's strongest ally.
Brown has upheld Blair's line on Iraq, refusing to bow to calls for an immediate withdrawal of British troops.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS