British Army chief predicts a 'generation of conflict'

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The head of the Army has ordered his senior staff to make preparations for “a generation of conflict”, in a speech that the Ministry of Defence tried to keep secret.

General Sir Richard Dannatt gave warning of the dangers posed by a “strident Islamist shadow” and suggested that the British Army was “on the edge of a new and deadly Great Game in Afghanistan”.

He also told senior staff that the trust and respect of the public could be “increasingly difficult to gain” in the context of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The challenge of this generation is as great as any that have gone before us,” he added.

General Dannatt’s thoughts about the way forward for the Army were revealed in a speech given to a conference in London in June. The speech remained secret because the MoD did not allow the media to attend. However, under a Freedom of Information request, the contents of the address to senior British and overseas military have now been released.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2337285.ece