A poll on a website popular with former and serving British military personnel shows that 79% of its users think Sir Richard Dannatt was "absolutely right" to call for a withdrawal from Iraq "sometime soon".
The remarks last week by Sir Richard, the head of the army, are continuing to make waves today with the former Lib Dem leader, Lord Ashdown, adding his voice to criticism of the general from unnamed ministers.
The users of the British Army Rumour Service - arrse.co.uk - have expressed strong support for Sir Richard and they were today attacking his critics. Lord Ashdown and others railed against Sir Richard, alleging his remarks amounted to a "clear constitutional breach" - an argument which is not going down well on the site's message boards.
One poster, Chimera, notes that former home secretary David Blunkett has also criticised Sir Richard. Chimera, who questions the "moral courage" of the unnamed ministers, writes:
Executive authority, of course, lies with the government of the day, but is it frightening to think that this authority is invested in such a collection of self-seeking moral bankrupts, for the majority of whom the personal courage taken by CGS [chief of the general staff], and the respect that he enjoys across the forces (and I suspect now the nation), are characteristics that they find so wildly incomprehensible. And yet they have the right to send us to fight, and to die, on their behalf, without even a whimper of comment.
Other posters wonder how Sir Richard's comments can be unconstitutional when Tony Blair said he agreed with them; another poster on an earlier thread said that if the general was removed "it's time for a coup".
Many of the site's users would, no doubt, agree with the Daily Mail's leader today saying that the general is a "bigger and better man by far than the pygmies trying to drag him down".
Finally, there is also a debate on the British Army Rumour Service website about journalists quoting from its message boards - the Times and Channel 4 news are among media outlets who have done so in recent days.
Some are anxious about it, but others believe it is a good thing that the views of forces' staff are being highlighted. One user of arrse.co.uk suggests journalists using quotes should contribute to the charity Combat Stress.
