David Cameron is not as keen on fighting wars as Tony Blair. His hesitancy is born out of respect for the military. The last decade saw the British government fight five wars on a peacetime budget, thereby stretching the military to (and often beyond) breaking point. The cost of this was avoidable deaths and inevitable defeats. A few hundred troops on patrol in Basra were never going to pacify a city of three million. Without a surge in Sangin, the troops were left to be picked off. The defence review, due in October, comes at a crucial juncture for Britain as we decide our place in the world.
Around that time, Sir David Richards is expected to take up his post as chief of the defence staff, succeeding the inadequate Jock Stirrup. It would be, for Mr Cameron, a brave appointment. After being made head of the army, Sir David went on record saying that he envisages staying in Afghanistan for 40 years, and that the country ‘has entered my bloodstream’.
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