Britain's Army Chief Clarifies Remarks on Troop Withdrawal

Gen. Richard Dannatt was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying that British troops should leave Iraq "sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems." (By Peter Macdiarmid -- Getty Images)

LONDON, Oct. 13 -- Britain's top army commander, who ignited a controversy by saying that British troops should withdraw from Iraq "sometime soon," clarified Friday that he wants a pullout but not until "the mission is substantially done."

Gen. Richard Dannatt had been quoted in Friday editions of the Daily Mail as saying that British troops should leave Iraq "sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems."

"We weren't invited" into Iraq, he said, but rather "kicked the door in," and "whatever consent we may have had in the first place" from the Iraqi people "has largely turned to intolerance."

Dannatt said he had "much more optimism that we can get it right in Afghanistan."

In television and radio interviews Friday, Dannatt said he was not "backtracking" but expanding on his remarks and putting them in context. He said there was no "rift" between him and Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose office reportedly was engaged in a flurry of phone calls with the Defense Ministry over the issue. Blair recently has said a British withdrawal from Iraq would be "a craven act of surrender."

Military experts on both sides of the Atlantic have said they believe that many British military officials are eager to find a way to withdraw from the unpopular war in Iraq and concentrate on Afghanistan. Britain has 7,200 troops in Iraq and 5,600 in Afghanistan, according to the Defense Ministry. According to ministry figures, 119 British soldiers have died in Iraq and 40 in Afghanistan.

Dannatt, echoing a statement put out by Blair's office, said in a statement issued Friday that "I am on record publicly saying we're standing shoulder to shoulder with the Americans."

In Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Dannatt believed his comments had been "largely taken out of context."

"He's saying there may be some times when the Brits no longer are necessary -- they're there, they're seen as an occupier, that may exacerbate some of the tensions. And that's the context in which he was discussing it," Snow said.

Amyas Godfrey, a former British army officer at the Royal United Services Institute, said officials have responded to public pressure to set a timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq by saying that it will come "when the job is done." So it is significant, he said, that the army chief has said: "We should be leaving."

"Right or wrong, there is a feeling we followed Americans into Iraq," Godfrey said. As the security situation worsens in Iraq, he said, there is a feeling of "it wasn't our idea in the first place, so why are we still there?"

In interviews Friday, Dannatt, who took over as head of the army in August, continued to speak more candidly than previous military leaders. He said that in some parts of Iraq, the "mere presence" of British troops exacerbates violence.

"I am just saying, 'Come on, we can't be here forever at this level.' . . . I have got an army to look after, which is going to be successful in current operations, but I want an army in five years' time and 10 years' time. Don't let's break it on this one. Let's keep an eye on time," Dannatt said.

"Let's face it, we have been there three and a half years," he said. "We have an interest in getting on with this."