Sep 22, 2007
"The Majority Are Not Bad People"
So spake General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, UK, yesterday at the Military Leaders' Forum organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
"So, because as an Army we are enemy focussed, some words on our adversaries in southern Iraq. The militants (and I use the word deliberately because not all are insurgents, or terrorists, or criminals; they are a mixture of them all) are well armed – certainly with outside help, and probably from Iran. By motivation, essentially, and with the exception of the Al Qaeda in Iraq element who have endeavoured to exploit the situation for their own ends, our opponents are Iraqi Nationalists, and are most concerned with their own needs – jobs, money, security – and the majority are not bad people."
You can watch his presentation here and read a transcript of his speech here by scrolling down to General Dannatt speech (MS Word file).
"So, because as an Army we are enemy focussed, some words on our adversaries in southern Iraq. The militants (and I use the word deliberately because not all are insurgents, or terrorists, or criminals; they are a mixture of them all) are well armed – certainly with outside help, and probably from Iran. By motivation, essentially, and with the exception of the Al Qaeda in Iraq element who have endeavoured to exploit the situation for their own ends, our opponents are Iraqi Nationalists, and are most concerned with their own needs – jobs, money, security – and the majority are not bad people."
You can watch his presentation here and read a transcript of his speech here by scrolling down to General Dannatt speech (MS Word file).