THE unprecedented comments by new army chief General Sir Richard Dannatt, in which he called for British troops to withdraw from Iraq "sometime soon", have been welcomed by soldier's mum, Philomena Kerley.

On Monday she told the Daily Echo of her fears for her son, reservist Phil Kerley, who was sent to Afghanistan with the Devon and Dorsets earlier this month.

Now, following Sir Richard's explosive media interviews - in which he appeared to stray into the political arena regarding military policy rather than strategy - Mrs Kerley says she backs him 100 per cent.

"The General is definitely on the right track," she said. "He thinks they should get them out of Iraq and so do I, because they should also get out of Afghanistan because it's getting worse over there."

She believes his comments, in which he said the presence of troops in Iraq exacerbates the security problems', would be welcomed by the families of all servicemen currently in the region because it could indicate that there will now be a concrete plan to bring them home.

"I think the General has looked around and seen what's going on," she says. "He seems to be saying we should get them home which is the right thing to do."

Mrs Kerley contacted the Daily Echo last week to voice her feelings over the plight of servicemen in Afghanistan. "There are these feelings of sadness and anger, not at the Army because they've been given a job to do but about the reasons why they are there," she said. "It's OK for government ministers and other high-fliers to give orders and decisions to penetrate Afghanistan - how many of them are in the firing line?"

Sir Richard's comments also found favour with Brian Wood of Ferndown, whose son, Corporal Graham Wood, has just returned for a holiday from his posting with the RAF near Baghdad.

"My son is attached to an American airbase and lives there in relative safety but he can hear the fighting, it's never far away. I think it would be better if we left Iraq soon because of the unstable situation."

Cpl Wood, who is married with a nine-month-old daughter, said he'd like to get out of Iraq. "It's somewhere that people don't want to go."

Meanwhile, Sir Richard was getting the seal of approval where it matters, from his troops, who jammed the popular website British Army Rumour Service with messages of support. A member of the Devon and Dorsets posted this: "Respect to the man, he's saying what everyone thinks" and other members pledged to support Sir Richard if the government tried to axe him for his forthright remarks.