London: Prime Minister Gordon Brown failed
to understand the significance of the Afghan military campaign
until a few months ago, even though British troops had been in
the thick of battle in the restive region since the 2001
invasion, a former chief of the UK Army claimed.
General Richard Dannatt, the former Chief of the
General Staff who retired last month, said his relations
with the Labour government had been "frustrating" not just
over Afghanistan but over "considerably out-of-balance"
defence budgets over several years.
"My own dealings with Gordon Brown were sort of mixed
over the time that he was Prime Minister and I was still Chief
of the General Staff," Dannatt told the BBC Radio 4 Today
programme.
The former top general claimed Brown failed to grasp
the significance of the war in Afghanistan until late this
summer, The Times quoted him as telling BBC.
According to Dannatt "it was late in the day that he
was beginning to get it but I think he began to understand the
significance and the importance of what we were doing in
Afghanistan".
The former Army Chief, who now advises the
Conservative Party, defended his decision to take up a post
with the opposition immediately after retiring.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 08, 2009, 23:18