Enemies of West Will Exploit Reluctance to Engage in Conflict, Head of Army Warns

General Sir Peter Wall said a decade of "politically awkward
campaigning" over Iraq and Afghanistan has led to "defend
on the goal line"

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: General Sir Peter Wall warns a "moral disarmament" in a war weary West sends a message to future adversaries

A “moral disarmament” in the West that has resulted in a reluctance to engage in conflicts will be exploited by Britain’s enemies, the head of the army has warned.

General Sir Peter Wall said a decade of “politically awkward campaigning” over Iraq and Afghanistan has led to an appetite to “defend on the goal line”.

But adversaries will take advantage of such “reticence” and may have already changed their expectation on how the UK will react to provocation, he warned.

Although he did not name Russia, the comments come at a time when President Vladimir Putin is testing the West’s mettle in a tense stand-off over Ukraine.

Sir Peter, the Chief of the General Staff, also issued a thinly veiled warning against further cuts to the armed forces insisting the potential for “force on force” engagements is not a “thing of the past” as some believe.

The ability to manoeuvre all three forces together also takes a “generation” to create and could be needed “sooner than we think”, he said. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Wednesday, March 12, 2014