Dannatt was wrong to speak out, but at least he is on the side of his troops, says tim collins |
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General Dannatt's venture into politics last Thursday is not unprecedented. General Sir Frederick Maurice wrote to the Times in May 1918, soon after the 'Kaiser's battle' had nearly destroyed the Allies on the Western Front, complaining that the Government of Lloyd George had been spinning the truth about the vulnerability of British deployments. He was asked to resign.
Let us earnestly hope that General Dannatt (right) is not hounded out of office. I personally applaud his comments as simply the truth. It is rare enough, God knows, as we live in the last days of Blair's reich.
However, there is a dangerous precedent when soldiers begin to take a political view. Thailand is the most recent democracy to fall victim to its military not approving of political matters and Pakistan has a history
littered with military intervention which has crippled the nation. The origins of the Spanish Civil
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| General Dannatt would have been fired by breakfast if Lord Drumglass had been Defence Secretary |
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War were seeded by the military opposing the elected government too. Not for a moment do I suggest that this is the first step towards a coup. But, as I was reminded this weekend by Lord Maginness of Drumglass, a politician of 35 years standing and a former army officer, this is not the British way of doing things.
Like Tony Blair, Lord Drumglass agreed with every word General Dannatt uttered. But had he been Defence Secretary, he said, Dannatt would have been gone by breakfast on Friday.
I am vexed. While I agree with Lord Drumglass, I believe General Dannatt was representing the views of his soldiers - the Queens soldier's, let's not forget. In my old regiment The Royal Irish, given our high numbers of non-British nationals (some call it Britain's Foreign Legion), the men swear an oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth - not Tony Blair. That is the odd thing about the Army. Our soldiers are there to defend the nation - they're not Tony's heavies.
Also, unlike the armies of almost every 
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