Open Letter to General Sir Richard Dannatt
Sir Richard,
You have won enormous respect from many in Britain for your courageous stand against the war in Iraq, despite being Chief of the General Staff.
Your call for a quick withdrawal was sensible given the state of the British Army as deployed and its woeful equipment. Its presence, as you implied, is now doing more harm than good. The debacle of the unopposed capture of Royal Navy personnel by Iran illustrates the point perfectly.
We understand that the deployment of Prince Harry to Maysan Province is now in your hands. May we respectfully make this point?
Being a soldier is one thing, but that one young man should have to take on not only a whole tribe of insurgents plotting to capture and cut him up on the internet, but that his own men may suffer from who he is, is just too much to expect, even from a British Army officer.
This is too heavy a burden to place on one new, untried officer in a war which doesn’t threaten mainland Britain.
Whatever the Prince’s views — and they are gallant — it is imperative, as two former Secretaries of State for Defence said yesterday, to relieve him of a mission which is far beyond the call of duty.
We at Royal Anecdotes trust you will make the right decision in this very special case.
Sincerely,
John Evans
Well said John!!!!! lets hope they listen.
By Trudie on April 27th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I hope so too, Trudie.
By John on April 27th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
From your mouth to God’s ears, John. I hope Sir Richard reads Royal Anecdotes and understands the paramount importance of this decision he will make.
By Gigi on April 27th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
We’ll know soon enough, Gigi.
By John on April 27th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Thank you John . . . from a Yank. Harry’s time in Iraq could only lead to a no win situation for any one. Let us hope that this whole nightmare is over soon and that all of our troops will soon be home in the arms of those who love them.
By Jim on April 28th, 2007 at 2:17 am
True, Jim, it’s a total dead end for the Army and would lead to much anxiety — and maybe worse — for six months or more.
By John on April 28th, 2007 at 8:33 am
[...] Royal Anecdotes’ open letter to Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the Defence Staff, the general has just announced that he has [...]
By Royal Anecdotes - Royal Secrets » Dannatt Pulls Prince Harry From Iraq Deployment on May 16th, 2007 at 4:22 pm