'I agree with every word that Dannatt said. But he has got to be sacked'

Matthew Parris has an interesting take on the General's strike... his question is whether Blair would sack his new military chief. I think Blair ought to go. It is necessary to release the blockage so our government can start to move away from the insane foreign policy it has pursued under Blair's command.

I agree with every word that Dannatt said. But he has got to be sacked - Comment - Times Online: "The general knows HM Government’s policy in Iraq: the Prime Minister has made it very clear. It is to stay for as long as it takes to establish and guarantee a democracy there. There is absolutely no way this can be reconciled with an imperative to withdraw “some time soon”.

I happen to think the aims of government policy in Iraq are unachiev- able to the point of folly. Clearly the general does too. In which case he has a duty, and then a choice. His duty is privately to warn the Cabinet that he thinks its aims cannot be delivered by the deployment of the troops over which he has command. No doubt this private warning has been given, and ignored.

In which case a chief of general staff has a choice. He can resign; or he can soldier on, determined to do the best he can even though he suspects the attempt is doomed."