On peace, war, understanding soldiers and ARRSE

WRITTEN ON September 21st, 2007 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Political engagement, What do we want?

It’s International Peace Day when the UN Secretary General

calls on people throughout the world to reflect for a moment on the universal goal of peace.

Hurrah. It can do no harm at all, and might remind governments that war is their biggest dereliction of duty, that we need to kick our addiction to the arms trade and control by force and that, as the Polaris subs motto has it, “when we fire, we fail”.

Meanwhile in the UK the British Legion has an Honour the covenant campaign aimed at MPs and seeking more money and decent public services for soldiers and their families, which we’re all in favour of. The online campaign is pretty slick, with an A4 campaign demands poster, link to Theyworkforyou and has a model letter MPs, and looks a pretty effective offline and online campaign.

I’m more confused by the comments of Sir Richard Dannatt

“When a young soldier has been fighting in Basra or Helmand, he wants to know that the people in their local pub know and understand what he has been doing and why.”

“Soldiers are genuinely concerned when they come back from Iraq to hear the population that sent them being occasionally dismissive or indifferent about their achievements,” he added.

Gen Dannatt compared the situations in the UK and the US, where firms offer discounts to serving soldiers and people shake the hand of those in uniform.

You have to sympathise when he says soldiers want to be “understood”. We can feel compassion and respect for the awful duty they fulfil. But what on earth are they doing, and why? You can’t exactly clasp a soldier by the hand and then ask them. As ever, someone on the Army Rumour Service gets to the point sharpish

It is hard to have an unpopular war and have popular soldiers

I don’t understand whether the Legion’s “Honour the covenant” requires support for the war, or whether the fiercely patriotic British Legion (which historically has taken a pretty dim view of pacifists) is happy to have the support of people who oppose the war on principle. I wrote to the campaign director to find out – see below.

Dear Patrick

I much admire your Covenant campaign; well thought out, good online support etc. I feel strongly we should treat all public servants with respect, decency and gratitude and this applies especially to those who put their lives at risk as a matter of duty.

What I don’t quite understand is whether your campaign asks us implicitly to support the war in Iraq. Gen Dannatt asks for understanding from fellow pub goers but many of us simply don’t understand why our soldiers are there. This complicates feelings. I’m sure many soldiers feel the same.

Are you comfortable being supported by people who wish our troops well but who at the same time oppose this and virtually all wars on principle?

William Heath
www.idealgovernment.com

One Response to “On peace, war, understanding soldiers and ARRSE”

Ideal Gov administrator wrote on September 25th, 2007 12:18 am :

…and the British Legion’s spokesman sends a polite email back to say

Officially, The Royal British Legion is neither pro-war nor anti-war. We are pro-Armed Forces personnel, past and present, and their families. Our mission is to defend and safeguard their welfare, their interests, and their memory.

We acknowledge that all wars are unpleasant and they always have victims — and that those victims are often those who have been sent to war by their government. We pass no judgement on the morality, legality, or necessity of any particular conflict, but we are unflinching in our support of the men and women who serve.

To answer your question more specifically then, yes, we are comfortable being supported by people who wish our troops well and who, at the same time, may oppose the war in Iraq or any war in principle.

I am sure that your views are shared by many in society, and indeed, by many in the Legion. I personally know Legion staff who are pacifists, Legion staff who oppose the conflict in Iraq, and those who hold quite the opposite view. In neither case do their views prevent them from offering support to the Armed Forces.

So you can tell your friends down at the pub that we here at the Legion greatly appreciate their support of the Armed Forces serving in Iraq, and their families at home, even if they do not support the operation itself.

Well, that’s fair enough. I can support that.