OK, this is going to come over as sounding heartless - it's not -, probably this isn't the place, but I want to say it...
Every soldier who signs up (unless of course conscripted) must read the small print..."War Kills."
I am sincerely sorry for the families of anyone who is lost at war, but certainly no more than I am sorry for civilian victims who have not signed up, or the people caught up in 'natural disasters' or acts of terrorism.
It irritates me that some try to impose on me that I should feel something extra for a soldier, because he is wearing the nation's colours. The state funerals, press coverage, pomp and show are not for the families or the men lost. They are for the government, the media and the army recruiting offices.
What I'm saying is that a soldier is a soldier, ready to kill his enemy as his enemy is ready to kill him. The enemy soldier has a family, a reason, a cause too. "Don't they count then?" An eye for an eye never has worked.
The Americans will tell me that these people are going to secure MY freedom (or their freedom). If that's what they feel, then fine, but that isn't everyone's opinion; indeed, not mine.
I have no quarrel with anyone on this list...this is not meant to be antagonistic (although I know it is a very sensitive point to put on the list), simply another very personal view on the subject of this thread.
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