Kember was repeatedly criticised for his response toward the military forces involved in his release. He refused to provide military intelligence with any information regarding his captors. He also requested the withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq. On 24 March General Sir Michael Jackson told Channel 4 News that he was "saddened that there doesn't seem to have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives to save those lives". On 25 March, in a phone-in discussion on BBC Radio 5 Live, Colonel Bob Stewart, a former British Commander under United Nations command in Bosnia from September 1992 to May 1993 suggested that Kember and people like him were a liability, since he had ignored advice not to go to Baghdad and the security services, the British government and multinational forces had diverted valuable time and resources to rescue a "foolish, albeit well-intentioned, meddling civilian". His alleged lack of gratitude was criticised as not being characteristic of true Christian values.