- Bravo Two Zero hero says our soldiers will now start
to think twice about sacrifices...
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- If the intelligence on Iraq proves to be wrong, it will
be the greatest blow to military families in living memory.
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- The loss of the 58 men in the Iraq war so far is already
hard enough for their loved ones to cope with. But any death must have
a meaning to it to make it bearable.
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- Tony Blair justified invading a sovereign country without
any provocation because of the threat Saddam's weapons of mass destruction
posed.
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- If it is proved that there were no WMD, and these guys
fought bravely for a flawed cause, that grief will be almost impossible
to bear without a deep and soul-destroying anger for the rest of their
lives.
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- That's not to say that the 45,000 servicemen who went
to war last March now hate what they did. The vast majority didn't at the
time and they won't now. Soldiers want to fight. That's a fact - it's what
they trained for and why they joined up.
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- They didn't fight for Queen and Country or any of that
claptrap.
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- The armed forces are a pretty realistic and cynical bunch
and nine out of ten times they know that the politics is all bullshit.
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- The Special Forces are probably the most cynical of all
because most of what we do overseas is about maintaining UK commerce -
it's about people making money, not for her Majesty or the greater good.
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- In Gulf War One, the SAS knew it was all about oil. We
knew that before we went in but nobody gave a shit. Soldiers fight because
they want to and for each other. If they don't like the politicians of
the day, they can always get out. Everyone is a volunteer and nobody forced
them to be there.
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- WHEN it all kicks off, of course they're scared. But
your average infantryman, if he was being honest, would tell you he is
also just delighted he's lucky enough to be there.
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- I remember the first time I was shot at. I walked into
an ambush in South Armagh in 1979 when I was in the Green Jackets. It was
scary but incredibly exciting too. Older soldiers will care a little bit
more about what they're fighting for because they've got more to lose.
They've seen a few wars and think more about their kids and families.
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- But they too will fight no matter what the cause because
its their job. We have the most professional army in the world and they
obey orders no matter what.
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- Most blokes will now be justifying their own actions
in Iraq by knowing they helped to get rid of a tyrant.
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- You make up your own personal justification for doing
what you do.
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- But dying for a flawed cause is a different matter. Then,
it all becomes about the parents, the children, and the wives. They're
the ones who take the brunt of all of this, the biggest victims of all
wars.
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- Not one person I've heard speak in the last week - during
all the guff about Hutton, Butler and everything else - has talked about
the relatives of the 58 who have died.
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- THEIR deaths are the reality, the hard results, of all
the far flung political decision making. Grieving is far easier if you
know that person died for a good cause.
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- My uncle Ron was tortured to death by the Japanese in
a prison camp during World War Two. My dad still hates them so much he
still refuses to buy Japanese goods. But he's proud of his brother and
his sacrifice and that pride has allowed him to bear his brother's loss
over the years.
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- Right now, all of the Iraq War bereaved families will
be starting to wonder why the hell their husband, brother, father or son
really died.
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- Because it doesn't look like saving the world from Saddam's
WMD.
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- So was it worth dying to get rid of the old tyrant? That's
a far less easy question to answer. And last year, not even Tony Blair
would have argued that. In fact, he didn't.
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- Give it five years or more, and all the grieving relatives
will all be forgotten about. Do we still talk about the Gulf War One widows,
or the Falklands widows? They will be forgotten along with the great sacrifice
of their loved ones.
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- BUT one thing that won't go in a hurry will be the feeling
of mistrust that the WMD intelligence row has created.
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- The next time a conflict comes along in which British
troops are asked to fight, it will be the surviving soldiers' families
who'll ask their men whether they are willing to go out and do it again
for what might be another lie.
-
- After all, once bitten, twice shy.
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- That pressure on the soldiers will start to tell.
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- While they're excitedly packing up their Bergens again,
that will make them start to think twice, and that is a very dangerous
situation indeed.
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- An army of men as good and as professional as ours must
never be lied to, not when they put their lives up for grabs.
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- They deserve the utmost respect and that means telling
them the truth all the time.
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- But it will be some time before any British soldier,
or his wife, son, or mother, can be 100 per cent sure of that again.
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- col/sgt john cecil March 21, 2003
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- L/bdr LLYWELYN EVANS March 21, 2003
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- CAPT PHILIP GUY March 21, 2003
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- marine sholto hedenskog March 21, 2003
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- SGT LES HEHIR March 21, 2003
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- MECHANIC IAN SEYMOUR March 21, 2003
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- W/O MARK STRATFORD March 21, 2003
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- MAj JASON WARD March 21, 2003
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- LT PHILIP GREEN RN March 22, 2003
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- LT ANTHONY KING RN March 22, 2003
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- LT MARC LAWRENCE RN March 22, 2003
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- LT philip west RN March 22, 2003LT
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- JAMES williams RN March 22, 2003
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- LT ANDREW WILSON RN March 22, 2003
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- FLT LT KEVIN MAIN March 23, 2003
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- FLT LT DAVID WILLIAMS March 23, 2003
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- SAPPER LUKE ALLSOPP March 23, 2003
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- S/SGT SIMON CULLINGWORTH March 23, 2003
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- SAPPER robert thomson January 31, 2004
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- rifleman vince windsor January 21, 2004
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- L/cpl andrew craw January 7, 2004
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- sgt norman patterson January 1, 2004
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- MAJ James stenner January 1, 2004
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- PTE ryan thomas November 6, 2003
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- sgt john nightingale September 23, 2003
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- cpl dewi pritchard August 23, 2003
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- maj matthew titchener August 23, 2003
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- PTE jason smith August 13, 2003
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- l/cpl thomas keys June 24, 2003
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- cpl simon miller June 24, 2003
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- CPL russell aston June 24, 2003
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- FIREMAN LEONARD HARVEY May 22, 2003
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- GNR DUNCAN PRITCHARD May 8, 2003
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- L/Cpl James McCue April 30, 2003
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- L/CPL IAN MALONE April 6, 2003
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- LT ALEXANDER TWEEDIE Injured April 1, died April 22
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- S/SGT CHRIS MUIR March 31, 2003
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- MARINE CHRIS MADDISON March 30, 2003
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- cpl ian plank October 31, 2003
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- FSLR russell beeston August 27, 2003
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- CSM colin wall August 23, 2003
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- capt david jones August 14, 2003
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- CAPT JAMES LINTON July 18, 2003
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- l/cpl ben McGOWAN HYDE June 24, 2003
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- cpl paul long June 24, 2003
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- SGT simon hamilton-jewell June 24, 2003
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- Cpl David Shepherd May 19, 2003
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- PTE ANDREW KELLY May 6, 2003
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- Piper Christopher Muzvuru April 6, 2003
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- FSLR KELAN TURRINGTON April 6, 2003
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- L/CPL karl shearer April 1, 2003
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- L/CPL SHAUN BRIERLY March 30, 2003
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- SGT STEVEN ROBERTS March 24, 2003
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- L/CPL BARRY STEPHEN March 24, 2003
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- cpl stephen allbutt March 25, 2003
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- trooper david clarke March 25, 2003
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- L/cpl of horse matty hull March 28, 2003
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- MAJ STEVE BALLARD March 30, 2003
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