Blair and his army, marching to different tunes

The British Prime minister Tony Blair, went to extraordinary lengths last week to deny that there was any difference of opinions between him and the head of his army General Sir Richard Dannatt.

Blair tried in vein to argue (but rather unconvincingly) that, in fact, he had agreed with 'every word' that Gen Dannatt had said in the Daily Mail interview. The truth is, the generals’ comments have sent the government all out to sea, more importantly, it has exposed deep divisions and lacklustre loyalty amongst the higher ranks of the military, and the government.

Ever since the Gen Dannatt made his comments, many have hailed him as some type of 'hero'. Indeed, the Stop the War Coalition wasted no time in reprinting the army chief's remarks in their national petition, demanding that the British government withdraw from 'a war and occupation which is now opposed not only by the majority of the British public but by their own army chief'. It's as if the anti-war movement are using the military commander as some kind of pin-up poster boy for peace.

The anti-war movement, while they were falling over themselves must have forgotten that General Dannatt only wants to withdraw from Iraq because he wants those troops to fight in Afghanistan instead. In any case, who ever heard of a serving British general attending an anti-war demonstration?