 Barrons attained general officer status in 2008 , when he was promoted to the substantive rank of major general and appointed Deputy Commanding General , Multi @-@ National Corps – Iraq . He was posted to Baghdad , where he had responsibility for overseeing joint operations conducted by the multinational force and the Iraqi Army . Having served in Iraq , he returned to the UK to take up a staff post in April 2009 as chief of staff to the NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps ( ARRC ) , but the appointment was short @-@ lived as , in October 2009 , he deployed to Afghanistan at short notice to establish a force reintegration unit , part of an effort to persuade Taliban fighters to rejoin society by offering alternatives to fighting , such as jobs and training — a role for which he was hand @-@ picked by American General Stanley A. McChrystal , then commander of all troops in Afghanistan . Barrons defended the controversial scheme in interviews , saying that it was not " about buying insurgents off the battlefield " and that " the idea is that you get the whole community benefiting and turning against the insurgency " . In a later interview , Barrons also said " I am absolutely convinced it can be done , and that the time is right . This is an opportunity the Afghan people aren 't going to get again . Most of them realize that , and are keen to take it now " . 
