Dannatt does a Gates: Spend on What We Need, Not What We Think We Will Need

Following on from the below article, it appears General Dannatt is proposing the British Armed Forces adopts a frugal approach to defense spending. This will involve ditching 'big-ticket' defense projects and re-focussing defense spending on immediate needs, such as supporting 'stability operations', and away from post-Cold War strategic defense spending.

General Dannatt describes the current British security situation thus:

"We are in an era of persistent conflict. Iraq and Afghanistan are not aberrations, they are signposts to the future. We risk becoming irrelevant if we do not adapt right across the board."

The General also accepts that, wrongly or rightly our reputation as a powerful ally to America and global military force has been "called into question" due to Iraq.

"Credibility with the United States is earned by being an ally that can be relied on to state clearly what it will do and then do it effectively. Credibility is also linked to the vital currency of reputation and in this respect there is a recognition that our national and military reputation and credibility, unfairly or not, have been called into question at several levels in the eyes of our most important ally as a result of some aspects of the Iraq campaign."

Channel 4's Krishnan Guru-Murthy interviewed the General shortly after his speech at Chatham House (click through to the link if the video is not displayed below).



Not surpisingly, General Dannatt is ferociously sharp and his points clearly well considered. The recording of yesterday's speech reminded me more of a presentation by a corporate management consultant, than a military general. Quite fitting I feel, considering once you cut through the euthamisms his proposed solutions are all too common: we must raine in unecessary spending, take stock of our needs and requirements, and focus on what we do best.