Sir Richard Dannatt under fire … from a fellow officer

Wow. The military-political row over Afghanistan and the Government’s support for the Armed Forces just got more complicated.

We all know about General Sir Richard Dannatt and his record of speaking out against the Government’s record. He’s done so again today. What we haven’t heard is any military criticism of Sir Richard. Most people have assumed that the former Army chief enjoys universal support among the military.

Not so. In truth, some officers have grave doubts about Sir Richard’s choice to fight his battles in public. Those doubts go high up the chain of command. But they have not been expressed openly.

Until now. Col Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, has just voiced some serious criticisms of Sir Richard. Speaking at a fringe debate here at the Conservative conference in Manchester, Col Kemp, who also worked for the Joint Intelligence Committee, said that Sir Richard’s public attacks were ultimately harming the military’s cause in Whitehall.

Here’s what he had to say about Sir Richard:

“It was incredibly dangerous for him to speak out when he was in office. He was a member of the Government team. I have to ask if his pressing for more troops was in any way undermined by his public criticism of ministers.”

“That was a very dangerous thing for him to do which undermined the relationship between the military and the politicians. It’s very easy for generals to point the finger at politicians and blame them, but decisions on defence taken at the highest levels are joint decisions. I don’t think the military advice to ministers has always been the very best.”