As a Brit, I find it to some degree insulting that the Chief of the Defence Staff felt he needed to 'set the record straight'. The mad posturings of Maliki and his reliance on Al Sada should come as no suprise. Neither should the interpretation of UK's actions in Basrah by the world's media be paid too much attention.

The tag-line in the article is hugely misleading and the provocation it was, no doubt, meant to engender is unhelpful