GENERAL Sir Richard Dannatt, who became Chief of the General Staff in August, has taken over the Army at a time of enormous challenges in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He has already made it clear in recent public pronouncements that he is not prepared to remain quiet about the key issues facing his service.

He has a reputation for being cerebral and prepared to take a strong moral stand in the interests of the 100,000 men and women under his command.

Unlike his predecessor, General Sir Mike Jackson, he is not well known outside the forces and has reached the most senior position in the Army without making any notable public impact.

However, the holder of the Military Cross — awarded at the age of 22 a year after he passed out of Sandhurst, for anti-terrorist operations — Sir Richard has acquired a reputation for integrity and being prepared to speak his mind. He is also a committed Christian and is vice-president of the Officers’ Christian Union.

A former commander of British forces in Bosnia and Kosovo, his job before becoming Chief of the General Staff was Commander-in-Chief of British land forces based at Wilton in Wiltshire.

When he took up his new job, he made it clear that his top priorities were to ensure “successful operations in Iraq and Afghanistan”. However, he said that the Army was at the limit of what it could achieve. When asked whether the troops could cope with the two major operations in Iraq and Afghanistan he replied: “Just”.

Sir Richard, 55, also gave a warning that British soldiers in Afghanistan would have to stay there “for the long term”, and last month he said he was less than optimistic about the prospect of a significant early withdrawal from Iraq.

He also said that the Army would not let Iraq down. Now, it appears, he seems to have changed his mind and wants the troops to be pulled out as soon as possible.

His forces are concentrated in two southern provinces. Officials have said that they hoped to hand over control of one province, Maysan, by the end of the year, leaving a British force in and around the main city of Basra.

Once regarded as a quiet area of mainly Shia southern Iraq, Basra has seen a rise in violence in the past year as rival Shia militias vie for control of the city and oil hub.

Much of the crime is focused around control of oil smuggling routes that were established to defy UN sanctions against Saddam Hussein’s regime.

The troops face the daunting prospect of tackling militia groups, including those involved in kidnaps and murders, many of which have infiltrated the state security services.

Many officials believe that Iran exerts strong influence among the Shia militias, imposing hardline Islamic codes of dress and behaviour in what was once a liberal city.

There are fears that Tehran may try to provoke incidents as a show of strength in defiance of international pressure over its nuclear programme and its backing of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In a snapshot of the chaos plaguing Iraq, gunmen stormed a television station in Baghdad yesterday and shot dead 11 staff in the biggest attack to date on the country’s media.

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