A senior British army officer who was widely praised for a rousing speech made on the eve of the Iraq war intends to quit the army, Britain's Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
Belfast-born Col Tim Collins fears the service faces the danger of becoming under-funded and is weighed down by bureaucracy and political correctness, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Col Collins (43), former commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment, made world headlines for a speech in which he exhorted his troops to be ferocious in battle but magnanimous in victory.
A copy of the speech was reportedly put on the wall of President Bush's office and Prince Charles wrote to him praising his "stirring, civilised and humane" words.
Col Collins was honoured with an OBE last October.
But the Mail on Sunday said he resigned last Monday and expects to be released from service in August, a move it said would embarrass the army.
The newspaper quoted his wife, Caroline, as saying: "Tim is no longer convinced that the army reflects the country with the fourth-largest economy in the world. He's worried it is being crippled by political correctness, petty bureaucracy and the refusal of politicians who send British soldiers to war to give them enough money to do their job."
She said a factor in Col Collins's decision was the army's failure to support him when he was wrongly accused of mistreating Iraqi POWs. - (Reuters)