The Army is overstretched and under-manned. Iraq is a mess … and thousands of soldiers will be sent to Afghanistan next year. And the MoD is still bent on cutting four infantry battalions.

To ask brave soldiers to go into the inferno of Afghanistan and Iraq and by virtue of their skill and courage, under the televised scrutiny of a global audience, end the rule of murderers was not easy. Nor was staying on to help the helpless. Yes, the truly frightening alternative was the blustering inaction that we have seen for the past 20 years that led to September 11 and the real quagmire in the Middle East.

Eventually the US Army will go back to Afghanistan. They've got to get back to that mission.

Bush, you must confess that you have been defeated in Iraq and in Afghanistan and you will be in Palestine soon.

Appearances can be misleading. You just never know what’s inside someone until he’s tested.

Soldiers with Kalashnikovs and pickup trucks is not an army, ... To make the Iraqi Army stand on its own without American or coalition forces, we need command and control equipment, transport vehicles and training.