Generals to appear before Iraq inquiry

Two former heads of the British Army will give evidence to the Iraq Inquiry today.

General Sir Mike Jackson and General Sir Richard Dannatt have both been outspoken about failings in the running of the war.

They are expected to be asked about tactics and whether their soldiers were given the equipment they needed, including armoured vehicles and helicopters.

As Chief of the General Staff from 2003 to 2006, Gen Jackson was head of the Army at the time of the invasion of Iraq.

In September 2007, after his retirement from the military, he used an interview with the Daily Telegraph to launch a scathing attack on the US for mishandling the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s overthrow.

He criticised Washington’s post-war policy as “intellectually bankrupt” and described ex-US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s claim that American forces “don’t do nation-building” as “nonsensical”.

Gen Jackson also defended the record of British forces following private claims by American officials that they “failed” in Basra in southern Iraq.

Gen Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff from 2006 until August last year, frequently criticised Government defence policy while still a serving soldier.

In October 2006 he created a stir when he called for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq “some time soon” because their presence was “exacerbating the security problems”.

He also suggested the Government’s aim of creating a liberal democracy in Iraq was “naive” and would not be achieved.

He told the Daily Mail: “Whatever consent we may have had in the first place, may have turned to tolerance and has largely turned to intolerance.

“I don’t say that the difficulties we are experiencing round the world are caused by our presence in Iraq but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates them.”

David Cameron announced last October that Gen Dannatt was advising the Conservatives on defence issues and would be nominated to the House of Lords so he could serve in a future Tory administration.

Gen Jackson and Gen Dannatt both supported holding Iraq Inquiry hearings in public when it was initially announced last year that all the evidence would be heard in private.