It’s all so much hoo-haa! But is it?

It seemed to come across as a very proper dressing down, a British General openly seeming to take a contrarian’s view of his Prime Ministers plans regarding British Forces in Iraq.

Tony Blair’s wish for a peaceful step off into retirement took a major hit on Thursday, as a leading British General criticized the government’s military plans for Iraq and suggested the time is nigh to leave Babylon.

Comments described as scathing, contradict pretty well everything that Blair has said over the last few years, as he held to his beliefs that the insertion of British forces into Iraq were a force for good.

It seems that he may be one of the few left in the United Kingdom that now believes that is so. His General, Sir Richard Dannat, leveled a fair amount of criticism at not only the Iraqi stand but its impact on life back in England as well.

Suggesting that the post war scenario in Iraq is based more on “optimism than sound planning”, he called for the British forces to be returned home as soon as possible as they only serve to exacerbate the security problems in the middle eastern country now.

His blast, in effect sandbags an already embattled Prime Minister, who it seems has over stayed his welcome and now faces a revolt not only among his fellow Labour members but among his military as well.

It's expected that the General will be called home for “consultations” most likely a precursor for re-assignment. But his comments have found a receptive audience among other military members past and present in the UK.

It makes for a percolating issue that Blair may have a trouble keeping a lid on much longer. It’s one thing to commit troops to a cause that isn’t particularly popular to begin with, but when their leaders begin to question the reason to be there, then you have the makings of a potentially dangerous political situation.

As the comments made the rounds around England, the General tried to portray the reaction to his comments as so much hoo-haa, and while the back pedaling begins and the General denies any rift exists, it does seem that the British Generals, like many Generals in the US Army, feel there is a disconnect between military planners and their civilian handlers these days.

Caught up in the British crossfire could very well be Tony Blair’s plan to walk off into the sunset, now suddenly a much more clouded affair.

His timetable may not be his own much longer, leaving his successor with a giant problem to try and handle.