Dannatt: PM didn't understand Afghan war

LONDON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The former British Chief of the General Staff says Prime Minister Gordon Brown didn't understand the Afghanistan War until recently.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, who retired from the post last month and now is an adviser for the opposition Conservative Party, told the BBC that only in recent months has the prime minister grasped what's at stake in the battle against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, The Times of London reported Tuesday.

"My own dealings with Gordon Brown were sort of mixed over the time that he was Prime Minister and I was still Chief of the General Staff," Dannatt told BBC Radio 4. "But I will say that, in my last three encounters with him, at the end of July and the beginning of August after I got back from my last trip to Afghanistan, I felt he was beginning to get it."

Dannatt reportedly said he is encouraged the government has announced Afghanistan troop reinforcements to bring the British contingent close to the 10,000 figure he had recommended at the start of the year.

The Times said Tory leader David Cameron has been criticized for employing Dannatt -- a move critics say undermines the general's formerly authoritative assessments.