Army leader's aide tells how he had to beg, steal and borrow kit



Andrew Mackay has resigned - reports said was unhappy about strategy

The shock resignation of the major general who commanded Prince Harry in Afghanistan has highlighted the growing rift between military leaders and the Government over the conduct of the campaign.



Serving officers and MPs reacted with astonishment yesterday to the news that Major General Andrew Mackay has quit after clashing with ministers over the Government's strategy in Afghanistan and resources committed to the front line.

General Mackay, the 52-year-old commander of Army forces in Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland, is the most senior of a string of prominent officers whose frustrations have caused them to resign in recent months.

He led UK forces in Helmand Province for six months in 2007-8, when Prince Harry was among soldiers under his command, and personally oversaw the successful recapture of the Taliban stronghold town of Musa Qaleh.

Major Nick Haston, General Mackay's deputy chief of staff, resigned from the Army earlier this year in protest at bureaucratic incompetence and kit shortages.

He said the General had raised issues over equipment shortages with the Ministry of Defence, and that British troops had to 'beg, borrow and steal' kit to recapture Musa Qaleh in 2007.



He said of his boss: 'There was no secret that he was openly frustrated about some of these issues.



'We were unhappy about some of the basic things, such as vehicles and the procurement process for vehicles. The numbers that we had on equipment lists didn't necessarily match what was in theatre.



'I have many colleagues who are still in the Army who I know are immensely frustrated and their morale is affected.'



One Army officer recently returned from Afghanistan told the Mail: 'When a Major General who's nearing the summit of his career walks away in disgust, something is really badly wrong.



'We are not talking about some grumbling passed-over junior officer. This is a very highly-respected man who has been out there and seen it for himself, and proved himself as an operational commander.'



General Mackay's resignation has piled fresh embarrassment on the Ministry of Defence, at a time when the coalition's entire approach in Afghanistan is facing intense scrutiny and criticism.



Officially the Ministry attributed General Mackay's sudden resignation, announced to colleagues on Thursday, to 'personal reasons'.



But insiders said he had voiced anger over the Government's strategy - or lack of it - in Afghanistan, frustration over inadequate resources and disillusionment at the apparent inability of other Whitehall departments, such as the Foreign Office and Department for International Development, to work together coherently.



General Mackay has made no secret of his unhappiness at the lack of a joined-up approach to stabilising Afghanistan, and about inadequate resources.



On his arrival in Helmand as a Brigadier in late 2007 he was said to have been shocked to find commanders 'making it up as we go along'. He made it his goal to draw up a template for future commanders, stressing the need to engage fully with civilians and focus on development rather than simply looking for Taliban gunmen and starting fights.



Conservative defence spokesman Liam Fox said: 'This is yet another indication of the frustration of our military commanders at the lack of clear strategy and adequate resourcing of the war in Afghanistan.



'Increasingly, people feel that Labour cannot be trusted to give our troops everything they need to carry out their mission safely and successfully.'



Liberal Democrat spokesman Nick Harvey said: 'How many more senior officers will have to go before Brown gets a grip on the situation in Afghanistan?



'Soldiers must have the equipment they need to do the job, and a strategy they can believe in. Right now it seems they have neither.



'If the Government is not prepared to resource our commanders properly, it should not be putting troops on the front line.'

