Yrys
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
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Armed forces 'smug about ability'a
The comments were made in an
interview with the Economist magazine
UK armed forces have been "complacent" about their abilities in overseas
counter-insurgency operations, the head of the military has suggested. Air
Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, said there had been a tendency to "rest on
their laurels" due to lengthy experience in Northern Ireland.
There are around 4,100 British troops in Iraq and 7,800 in Afghanistan. The
Ministry of Defence said the armed forces had consistently won tactical
battles in the two countries.
The comments were made in an interview with The Economist magazine,
to be published on Friday.
'Bit too smug'
Air Chief Marshal Stirrup said: "I think that we were a bit too complacent about
our experiences in Northern Ireland and certainly, on occasion, we were a bit
too smug about those experiences. "You are only as good as your next success
not your last one. You can never rest on your laurels and I think we may have
done that."
He also acknowledged British forces had faced criticism from some Americans
over their performance in Afghanistan. "If you go around and ask enough
Americans you will find some who are critical to a degree or other of the way
that the British do things and the approach that the British take," he said.
There were some "inevitable differences" in how the countries approached tasks
due to differences in military and social structures, he said. "I see nothing wrong
in that provided that they do not become issues that, frankly, fracture and
disintegrate the cohesion of your overall approach," he said.
He warned there was a limit to what the UK could do in Afghanistan and other
European allies would need to provide more forces in order to achieve a strategic
breakthrough. "Both the UK government and the US government are going to be
looking in particular at seeing whether there isn't some more of that burden that
can be assumed by other members of the alliance," he said.
The Ministry of Defence said that Air Chief Marshal Stirrup's remarks over
complacency had been intended to refer to the early days of British operations
in Iraq rather than Afghanistan. "The British armed forces have consistently won
tactical battles in Iraq and Afghanistan in a complex and continually evolving
environment," a spokesman said. "The chief of defence staff was making the
point that initially in Iraq our traditional counter-insurgency strategies, developed
on successes in Northern Ireland, needed to evolve to meet the changing threat.
"They did and this ensured the overall military success in Iraq."
The comments were made in an
interview with the Economist magazine
UK armed forces have been "complacent" about their abilities in overseas
counter-insurgency operations, the head of the military has suggested. Air
Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, said there had been a tendency to "rest on
their laurels" due to lengthy experience in Northern Ireland.
There are around 4,100 British troops in Iraq and 7,800 in Afghanistan. The
Ministry of Defence said the armed forces had consistently won tactical
battles in the two countries.
The comments were made in an interview with The Economist magazine,
to be published on Friday.
'Bit too smug'
Air Chief Marshal Stirrup said: "I think that we were a bit too complacent about
our experiences in Northern Ireland and certainly, on occasion, we were a bit
too smug about those experiences. "You are only as good as your next success
not your last one. You can never rest on your laurels and I think we may have
done that."
He also acknowledged British forces had faced criticism from some Americans
over their performance in Afghanistan. "If you go around and ask enough
Americans you will find some who are critical to a degree or other of the way
that the British do things and the approach that the British take," he said.
There were some "inevitable differences" in how the countries approached tasks
due to differences in military and social structures, he said. "I see nothing wrong
in that provided that they do not become issues that, frankly, fracture and
disintegrate the cohesion of your overall approach," he said.
He warned there was a limit to what the UK could do in Afghanistan and other
European allies would need to provide more forces in order to achieve a strategic
breakthrough. "Both the UK government and the US government are going to be
looking in particular at seeing whether there isn't some more of that burden that
can be assumed by other members of the alliance," he said.
The Ministry of Defence said that Air Chief Marshal Stirrup's remarks over
complacency had been intended to refer to the early days of British operations
in Iraq rather than Afghanistan. "The British armed forces have consistently won
tactical battles in Iraq and Afghanistan in a complex and continually evolving
environment," a spokesman said. "The chief of defence staff was making the
point that initially in Iraq our traditional counter-insurgency strategies, developed
on successes in Northern Ireland, needed to evolve to meet the changing threat.
"They did and this ensured the overall military success in Iraq."
