As I flicked through the Guardian prior to my long overdue Christmas break I stumbled upon a fascinating piece by George Chesterton that spoke beautifully of Britain's unconditional love towards all things military related: "Britain has been drawn into a deep sleep about war", warns the author. And he happens to be right. The tip of the iceberg has been the monumental rise of the Military Wives choir; culminating in their single, Wherever You Are, reaching Christmas number one. This year also witnessed the fourth annual Sun Military Awards (televised, of course), a serving soldier performed on the X Factor and the continuation of the propagandist Help for Heroes campaign.
Not one of these events would be detrimental in isolation, but, when combined, form an unpleasant amalgamation that causes Britain to take leave of its senses. As a nation, we no longer question the 'brave' acts of 'our boys'; Deepcut Barracks and Abu Ghraib seemingly a distant memory. Torture, sexual harassment, electric shock, sleep deprivation; not the handy work of our courageous heroes, surely. In fact, the whole puzzling desire to be a member of our armed forces is never questioned. As the brilliant academic Angus Calder once pointed out, "The military career requires wars for fulfilment". Pro-military cheerleaders will claim that they fight for their country and keep ungrateful cretins like myself safe and secure. Not once do they dare grasp the notion that some servicemen may enjoy the addictive nature of warfare.
Similarly, whilst cheerleaders preach that we ought to be grateful for all the hard efforts of our military personnel, they never once stop and comprehend what exactly it is we ought to be grateful for. Labour leader Ed Miliband, in his Christmas message, thanked the army for making Britain "secure, peaceful and happy". I do apologise Ed, but I was totally unaware of the fact that the UK was insecure, non-peaceful and unhappy prior to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Obviously I was not paying attention properly. Not for a moment was any consideration or goodwill passed on to the millions of widows, orphans, homeless and maimed of the aforementioned nations. They, of course, were merely collateral damage.
The common and preferable narrative is that the military is solely an agent for good. If only that were indeed true. Yes, many of our serving men and women are extremely brave and decent people, however, that does not, and should not, eradicate the sad reality that too many within our military are wrongdoers; unworthy of adoration. Shameful tales of drunken soldiers wilfully injuring innocent children are brushed under the carpet. God forbid anything gets in the way of Britain's blind hero worshipping. The main side-effect of this is that ordinary citizens no longer question and scrutinise the justifications for war. Politicians are given an easy ride.
By blindly endorsing the goodness of our armed forces we are consequently unable to make informed judgements over whether or not what we are doing is right. Stopping wars is becoming infinitely harder and unachievable. Debate surrounding why we are still fighting in distant regions has all but vanished from society. Enter any pub and all you will find is a Help for Heroes bucket placed on the bar with not one customer engaged in a conversation denouncing Britain's foreign policy. We are all the worse for it. Come to think of it, nobody is engaging in the imperative questions of our time: Why is the west so willing to resort to violence in the aftermath of the Cold War? Why is Britain engaged in so much conflict when its sovereignty has not been remotely threatened by any other state?
The normality of warfare also poses dangerous implications for the future. As Britain's gullible public dutifully slobbers over anyone who happens to possess a military uniform, our political elites are covertly plotting a war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. How many Jonjo Kerr voters, Military Wives listeners or Help for Heroes donators are even aware of the looming encounter? How many of them even care? Not too many is my prediction, for they have been programmed through the militarisation of our popular culture to ignore such nasty goings-on. So, by all means, indiscriminately and instinctively ritualise the achievements of 'our boys', but do not think for one second that you can innocently bemoan the next batch of bodies to pass through Wootton Bassett having done nothing to prevent the next bloody conflict.
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I have no problem with anyone who says they don't like their country fighting wars, however, having a go at the military is an irrelevant reaction not based on a full reasoning of the issue. Lobby your local MP and only vote for parties who promise to stop all foreign intervention and disband all military forces. After all you do have the power to vote in Britain don't you?! (Good luck finding such a party).
Everybody who thinks that soldiers go to foreign countries to help the people there is more naive then a newborn baby! Soldiers are just hired killers for money. nothing more nothing less. They kill for money - that is why they are called soldiers and not nuns.
People in Briton are generally peaceful people who don`t want war to anyone, but the army has nothing to do with the peoples interest. They follow orders form Washington and execute them for the slice of the oil cake.
Have some respect for the hundreds of thousands who died defending this country so that ungrateful cowards likes you could live a life of freedom.
Right now, thousands of brave, selfless Britons are in Afghanistan proudly giving Afghans a future free from Taliban oppression.
Perhaps we just abandon the Afghans, maybe that is what your morals dictate we should do. Thank goodness most Britain have a better sense of morality than you will likely ever have.
Moreover, service to the Afghans and UK aside, what they do, facing death on a daily basis, demands our respect and admiration like we would great explorers and mountaineers. They have mental strength which is awe inspiring.
What are you doing? Selfishly serving your own interests. You are not even serving your country, not that you probably understand the concept of service, except to yourself.
As the Field Marshal Montgomery said about the Para's which is true of all those in the armed forces: 'they are men apart, every man an Emperor'.
You selfish individual.
Quite simply the most biased and vacuous article I have read about the armed forces. Did you not know that:
1) British soldiers weren't involved in Abu Ghraib?
2) That our armed forces just liberated the Libyan people from a tyrant?
3) That Afghanistan is no longer a country where women were stoned to death for having an affair and girls have acid thrown in their face for attending school. Within months of the ISAF invasion, 2.5 million girls were in school. Is this the barbarity you are referring to?
4) Hundreds of thousands of British men and woman in uniform died defeating Nazism. Perhaps the author would have preferred a few more millions Jews, homosexuals and gypsies to be killed and Nazi flag to be flying above our greatest landmarks?
5) Just because our armed forces personnel today can't jump in a Spitfire to defend London or set off in a landing craft to invade Normandy does not mean they are any less worthy of our respect, or somehow would not act as bravely or selflessly as those in WW1/2.
I could go on. Next time, before you write an article, do a bit of research and think a little bit.
UK forces get their orders directly from The Pentagon these days.
"Not once do they dare grasp the notion that some servicemen may enjoy the addictive nature of warfare."
I'm more concerned about the many many computer game players , who go around killing on the screen and then have no problem killing in real life. You know like that murderous thug who shot dead in Salford on boxing day and who today in court named himself as:"Psycho Stapleton"
Tell me Scott, how many soldiers have killed innocent people these past 14 days. Now lets contrast that how many thugs have killed over the same period. The thing is Soldiers who are caught doing no good have the book thrown at them and then dismissed. Idiots who kill for pleasure are afforded every excuse in which to explain their actions. Usually by blaming society or even the victims and the left support that stance and what do we find the left complaining about..about how the public perceive the military.
"As a nation, we no longer question the 'brave' acts of 'our boys'; Deepcut Barracks and Abu Ghraib seemingly a distant memory. "
Correct me if I am not wrong but what did the numerous courts cases say about 'Deepcut'? lets see would that be that they were all suicides. Just because you don't agree with those who had the facts and made a sound judgement it doesn't your view is right.
As for Abu Ghrib, I think you will find the idiots who took those photos were.....American.
I served for 23 years and definately not a phychopath, not even a police record.
How can you comment on something that you have never done yourself?
On a personal level, I hate that 'serving your country' has come to mean military service. Many civilians serve their country, but choose to do so without bearing arms. What's more, we should be moving into an age when 'serving your country' in whatever form comes second to simply Doing the Right Thing. I don't see why one country should come before another when it comes to moral actions.