Word: lasts
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...return for such wisdom, the sparsely equipped Brits called on the richer U.S. forces for material assistance. Major General Patrick Marriott, who since last September has been commandant of Sandhurst, led British troops alongside U.S. Marines during the 2003 Iraq campaign. "The Americans called us 'the borrowers,'" he says. "When we ran out of field kitchens, which we did because we were underresourced, the Americans delivered in a split second and it was magnificent. We've been underresourced in our history on numerous occasions. But within the psyche, we cope. Americans fix and we cope...
...Indeed, once British forces acknowledged the flaws in their Iraqi strategy they successfully recalibrated their approach and made substantial strides in the stabilization of Basra before their final withdrawal last year. General Salmon, who took command of coalition forces in 2008, says he reinterpreted his role to be a "catalyst and a convening authority" for Basrawis and the different agencies working in the area, most of them outside his command. "As a military commander, not owning quite a lot of the other organizations and lines of development on the social, economic, political and development front, how do you then start...
...before the start of the U.S. surge last summer, morale among British forces was undermined by mounting casualties - three-quarters from improvised explosive devices - and public skepticism about the NATO mission. Operation Moshtarak, this spring's offensive led by U.S. troops, has helped buck up spirits but misgivings remain. Prime Minister Gordon Brown denied that the decision made at a January summit in London - to offer cash to insurgents to lay down arms - amounted to a bribe. But the idea is a hard sell to soldiers who saw colleagues killed providing security last year for presidential elections stained by fraud...
...Nobody expects overall troop numbers to be boosted any time soon. On the contrary, a January report by defense analyst Professor Malcolm Chalmers for the Royal United Services Institute predicts cuts of 20% to military personnel over the next six years. Political leaders justified the last cutback of this scale, the replacement of the British Army of the Rhine in 1994 by a standing force of less than half its size, as a "peace dividend" arising from the end of the Cold War. But with failed states on three continents giving cause for concern, the chance of a new peace...
...General Richard Dannatt, head of the army from 2006 to last year, says a lack of resources had left the military conducting operations "with at least part of one arm tied behind one's back." Facing brutal decisions about priorities across the services, the army, navy and air force are now turning their fire on the government and each other. Afghanistan is "not the only show in town ... We must remain prepared for surprises and strategic shocks," declared navy chief Admiral Mark Stanhope in a recent speech...