British Brass Express Unease

Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster1, has written a report, published in an American military magazine, that blasts the U.S. Army's performance in Iraq. American officers in Iraq displayed such "cultural insensitivity" that it "arguably amounted to institutional racism" and may have spurred the growth of the insurgency. Aylwin's report is available from here (PDF)*. In related matters readers should note that it's not only in the US that some rather experienced people are worried about the strain being put upon their armed forces reserves. This from Hansard: Lord Bramall2 "My Lords, does the Minister agree, or at least concede, that this serious situation has come about because of the over-reliance that has been put on our Reserve Forces in operational areas to compensate for the wholly inappropriate cuts in the numbers and units of our regular forces? The volunteers and reserves have responded splendidly to the challenges of Afghanistan and Iraq, but surely the Minister must realise that they are being asked to do too much and to do it too often." … … … Lord Garden 3: My Lords, the Minister may reassure us that things are not as bad as everybody says, but the fact is that on 1 November 2005 the strength of the TA was 36,940 against an establishment of 41,610. There is a rebalancing exercise going on. When is the Minister going to make an announcement about it? Most importantly, can he give us an assurance that this is not just going to be another cuts exercise in order to cover political embarrassment over poor retention and recruiting?The full exchange is reported in Hansard Notes: *"Military Review" is a publication of the Combined Arms Center. Based in Fort Leavenworth the CAC is the "US Army's intellectual center". The (English language) start to Military Review's site is here. 1 Aylwin is a widely and highly respected experienced officer whose experience includes a "busy" tour of command in Northern Ireland during a non-ceasefire period, command of the British Army Training Unit Suffield OPFOR, 2 years (reporting direct to UK Chiefs of Staff) in the MoD in the Directorate of Operational Capability and most recently DCG of the Coalition Military Assistance and Training Team (CMATT) Iraq. 2 Former Chief of Staff Field Marshall Bramall is one of Britain's most distinguished and decorated soldiers. He sits as a cross bencher (independent) in the House of Lords. Prior to the invasion of Iraq he warned that British participation in the Iraq invasion was likely to be as damaging to Britain as the Suez adventure. 3 Air Marshall Lord Garden was Assistant Chief of the UK Defence Staff. He is now Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and is Visiting Professor at the Centre for Defence Studies at King's College London. He is an acknowledged authority on NATO, European defence, conflict prevention and counter-terrorism. He sits in the Lords as a Liberal Democrat peer. See also "This Old Brit 1" and "This Old Brit 2" for an intelligent lay man's take on the subject.