O.K. the I will put another spin on it.
The reasons we went to war were, to say the least open to debate. However, it was not just some on this side of the Atlantic that bought into it. I remember a UN session by a very famous General.
What I would say to ExAscoteer is that anyone who joined any of the three services joins, if not to go to war, then they know that there is a reasonable chance that they may have to go to war.
Was anyone in the military therefore not pleased (if apprehensive) to go and have their training and their 'mettle' tested? We all knew the implications of military service when we took the oath, and knew the risks, even if it was flying your aeroplane into a hill training for war. 85 RAF aircrew died during the brief period of peace (Northern Ireland not counting) that I served.
Sure, Toni B declared war, but does anyone think that the senior ranks of the MoD at the time were really against it?
War is an extension (failure?) of politics. You can blame politicians for going to war, but subsequent deaths in battle can't just be laid at their door. You might as well blame Bae Systems for providing the weapons to make it possible, or the Generals to say what is proposed is achievable, or the foot soldiers for wanting to have the 'chance to do the job we trained for ' offered.
To blame a politician for the deaths of your friends is perhaps unfair.
As for a knight hood; which will come Boris's way as a result of this breaking of the presumed honours for ex PMs log jam. Try this for size:
What would the Daily Mail/ Telegraph headline have been, if a 57 year old twice divorced lady of Caribbean heritage, with unknown children, who had been sacked a couple of times from jobs for lying, had move her toyboy into Downing Street as our PM?
Mods - feel free to delete the last para!