War with Isis: David Cameron 'lacked the balls' for decisive military action in Syria, says general
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Version 0 of 1. David Cameron lacked the “balls” to take military action in Syria that could have stopped the rise of Isis, the former head of Britain’s armed forces has claimed. In a withering attack on the Prime Minister, the retired general Lord Richards of Herstmonceux attacked Mr Cameron for being more interested in pursuing a “Notting Hill liberal agenda” than showing serious “statecraft”. He revealed that Mr Cameron vetoed putting British “boots on the ground” in Syria in 2012 against military advice while pushing ahead with a “half-baked” campaign to oust Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi. “If they had the balls they would have gone through with it… if they’d done what I’d argued, they wouldn’t be where they are with Isis,” the former general said. “In Ukraine, as in Syria and Libya, there is a clear lack of strategy and statecraft. The problem is the inability to think things through. Too often it seems to be more about the Notting Hill liberal agenda rather than statecraft.” The comments are contained in a new book on Cameron by Sir Anthony Seldon who has previously written biographies of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and John Major. The book also reveals that: • Cameron warned Boris Johnson he risked helping Ed Miliband and told Johnson to “fucking shut up” after the London mayor highlighted the number of ex-Etonians who went on to be prime minister. • George Osborne had to be sustained by David Cameron in the “very dark months” following his “omnishambles” budget of 2012. “The morning after the Budget, I could see we were in for months of misery,” Mr Osborne told Sir Anthony. • David Cameron practised his resignation speech on the patio of his Oxfordshire home hours before he learned that he would be heading back to No 10. The book also claims that Tony Blair contacted Mr Cameron to intercede on the behalf of Colonel Gaddafi ahead of action in Libya. Sir Anthony Seldon, whose new book also recounts a clash with MI6 over Libya Sir Anthony’s book is based on access to Mr Cameron, Mr Osborne as well as military and diplomatic chiefs, Downing Street officials and mandarins. It has been speculated that the co-operation was agreed to “spike the guns” on Lord Ashcroft’s biography of Cameron due out later in the year. But General Richards’ strident criticism of Mr Cameron will not be welcomed in Downing Street as the Government considers extending British airstrikes into Syria. The book recounts a showdown over Libya at a meeting of the National Security Council, where Sir David and top MI6 chief Sir John Sawers challenged Mr Cameron’s motives for intervention. Mr Cameron is said to have stated that his call for military action to depose Gaddafi was “in the British national interest”. But Sir John said Mr Cameron was acting for “humanitarian reasons”. Mr Blair reportedly telephoned Downing Street to say that a key individual close to Gaddafi said the Libyan leader wanted “a deal with the British”. Mr Cameron did not take up the offer. |