The generals must share the blame

It’s fashionable for military top brass to attack politicians when things go wrong. But, says Paul Robinson, many of the army’s problems are of their own making

In recent years, failure to ‘support the troops’ has become the ultimate political sin. The Conservatives’ soon-to-be defence adviser, General Sir Richard Dannatt, blasted Brown a few weeks ago, letting it slip that his brave plea for 2,000 extra troops had been ignored by our callous PM. But has Gordon Brown really ‘betrayed’ the troops in the field? A good degree of cynicism is in order. In reality, both as Chancellor and as Prime Minister, Mr Brown has given Britain’s armed forces a lease of life which they had no reason to expect, while the country’s military leaders, including and especially Dannatt, a former army chief, must share the blame for the difficulties their troops have faced in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Of course, it’s deeply unfashionable these days even to think of blaming soldiers for anything.