England, April 02: The former British chief of the defence has warned that Libya’s crisis spread British armed forces “very thin” and put the army under pressure.
Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup said Britain is facing “grave dangers” by spreading in both Afghanistan and Libya.
He called for the government to find a political resolution in Libya urgently to take the pressure off the British army.
“We have to think very carefully about the consequences of our continuing military involvement in Libya,” the former RAF commander said in the House of Lords.
“Although Afghanistan has been pushed off the front pages for the moment, it still consumes a great deal of our military capacity.
“What little we have had left in the locker over the past couple of years for dealing with other contingencies has consisted mainly of air and maritime capabilities. These have largely been consumed by the Libya operation, so that locker is now looking pretty bare. Yet we still face huge risks.”
Lord Stirrup warned of the potential threat to Britain by other Middle East countries and the difficulty the military would face to confront the new crisis.
“Our military intervention, although not designed to oust Gaddafi, can end only with his removal,” he added.
“In view of the risks elsewhere, in view of the grave dangers to us should such risks materialise and in view of the degree to which we have now drawn down on our military account, we have yet one more reason for placing the very highest degree of urgency on finding a political resolution to this crisis as soon as possible.”
—Agencies