Ariel,
by conscript war, i meant that the majority of combat was fought by conscripts, as opposed to a war of professional soldiers.. fair enough, the vast majority of those didnt really have a clue about what was going on, in terms of who was fighting who, and what for. But both my grand parents did (or at least they pretended to).
I personally disagree that the profession of soldier is an honorable one. fighting an honorable war is different. a soldier surenders himself to be used and abused. that's how i see it anyway. I am not saying they are bad folks either...
and you are right, blair's decision did cloud the issue, but the millitary remains what it is, a government tool. it was abused. but then, we live in a democracy, we cannot, as a nation, blame everything on blair, he was elected...and reelected.
Ian,
you are going off a little ;-)
i could just say that the IRA, mafia, basques separatists, corsicans and other greek communists have blown more things up than people seem to remember. they are not arabs or muslims... people always need something to put their insecurity on, it was UFOs in the 50s, this time round, it's on the arab. it's human nature. it helps to focus the fear on something tangible, and that in itself is rearuring. just take it easy !
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