British Army chief, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has said the presence of British soldiers "exacerbates the security problem" in Iraq and demanded that they be withdrawn soon. General Dannatt, who took over as Chief of General Staff in August, told the Daily Mail in an interview: "I don't say the difficulties we're experiencing around the world are caused by our presence in Iraq, but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates them. We are in a Muslim country and Muslims' views of foreigners in their country are quite clear."