You fight to win not appease

Submitted by guy leven-torres (agricola) (United Kingdom), Aug 3, 2007 at 17:59

As an ex soldier and trained in the principles of Von Clauswitz who famously stated 'War is politics by other means', I am astounded at the naivete of many of the commentators above! In fact I would call most of it dangerously facile thinking!

War is messy, dirty, unglamorous, noisy, confused and people die all around you, their screams in your ears for years afterwards. That is the reality of war, so face up to reality, not behave like armchair generals. Iraq is not a computer game for God's sake or a campus union meeting, it is battle for life and death!

No soldier takes pleasure from it. every soldier knows fear and anybody that says otherwise is a liar!

A soldier has a dirty thankless task to do and if there is one thing that tees soldiers off, it is politicians and naive ignoramuses with no experience of war telling them how to do their job!

I saw it in Ireland first hand and the political hypocrisy that failed not only the British Army but the people of Ulster too. If the British army had been given six months to do what it was good at ie winnig wars... The Irish problem would be a distant memory and a whole lot more people would be alive including friends of mine!

The same principle applies to Iraq too only more so. You are dealing with primitives and a savagery still in the Middle Ages. They understand only one thing: a strong enemy prepared to give as good as it gets! How many more young boys from America have to die? Another 3,000? How many more Brits? Another 200?

How many more Iraqis? Another 650,000? to suit the busy bodies and PC brigade back in Washingtom and London?

Politics is dirty so is war! It sickens me when I hear and read ridiculous tripe written by people on this website! People who have no experience of war!

In the British Army we called them the 'NSNDBTYAI' pronounced 'NASNIDTYABS' or Never Seen It, Never Done It But We'll Tell You All About It Brigade.

Once in Ireland I was asked to lead a body of men through an area we had just escaped injury from IRA snipers. A TV crew wanted us to do it all again like some film set.

My language and that of my CO was pretty unrepeatable! I suspect That would be the same attitude of the troops fighting in Iraq!

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