In the firing line | 26 June 2011

Talk about an own goal. Whatever Air Chief Marshall Sir Simon Bryant thought he was achieving when he told MPs that the RAF were “running hot” because of the Libya intervention, the result has been to fuel the debate about the appropriate role of military officers in the public debate – and, in the latest instalment of the debate, if the current military leadership is actually up to the job.

It is an important question – nothing should be taboo in a democracy and since Britain has none of the parliamentary oversight that the US congress has over military leaders, this debate is an important form of scrutiny.


In my experience in Basra and Kabul, many of our military leaders must take part of the blame for Britain’s failure. With an eye to the history books and a nack for tactics, one Helmand commander after another eschewed strategy and the need to cooperate with the Foreign Office and DfiD to forge a new plan every six months.