First it was Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, head of the Royal Navy, warning about the viability of an extended Libya campaign. Then today Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant, deputy head of the RAF, warned that the service’s capability to carry out future missions will be threatened if the Libyan operation continues beyond the summer.
David Cameron was just asked about it at his Downing St press conference: “There are moments I wake up and read the newspapers and think, I tell you what, you do the fighting and I’ll do the talking.”
That may sound lighthearted but it is a very clear slap-down to the military chiefs.
Cameron repeated his line on Libya, that is, we will keep fighting for as long as it takes: “time is on our side, not Gaddafi’s side.” Public and military unease about the cost of the campaign will only grow, however.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey