Weighing Things Up

When I wrote 'A Good Day At The Office' Pat asked if I had ever fired my rifle in anger. I was originally just going to answer the question with a 'No' and leave it at that. Thinking about it though I realised that it is actually just part of a wider issue. So for one day only I'll get away from the memoire.

When soldiers join the army they don't do so to kill people. At least in the British Army they don't. Most of them don't even join up with a definite idea that what they are doing might involve them going to war. I certainly didn't.

Most of us join up to 'see the world' or 'do something different'. I've never been in a position where I have had to fire my weapon at another human being. I do know people who have though. Often for them the training took over. That's not to say that they didn't make a conscious decision to fire but they did so in response to a situation they had trained and trained and trained for. Those people I know who have taken human life have expressed regret that another person died but most often it was a case of 'them or me'.

There have been several media reports recently about the number of troops serving in Iraq who are now leaving the forces. The implication is that they either feel it morally wrong to be there or that the evironment they have served in has mentally affected them.

For most of them it is neither. They joined up for some excitement. Many of us wanted to know if we had what it took to do the job 'for real'. A lot of soldiers have now had enough excitement and have found out the answer to the question they posed themselves. Some of these soldiers have understandably left the army, others have relished the experience and look forward to returning to operations.

Normal service will resume tomorrow.