Brit general supports Iraqi insurgents

Retired British General Sir Michael Rose, who has in the past called for the impeachment of Tony Blair for going to war on false pretenses, now says Iraqi insurgents are justified in opposing the occupation of their country. He says the U.S. and its allies should admit defeat and depart. As to the dire consequences some predict, he insists they won't happen, observing, "The British admitted defeat in North America and the catastrophes that were predicted at the time never happened. The catastrophes that were predicted after Vietnam never happened. The same thing will occur after we leave Iraq."

As for the insurgents, he compares them to George Washington and his rebels during the American revolutionary war and quotes 17th century British politician William Pitt, the elder, who famously said: "if I was an American ... as long as one Englishman remained on American native soil, I would never, never, never lay down my arms". "The Iraqi insurgents," Rose says, "feel exactly the same way."

Now here's a general who learns from his history.