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Posted by Grand Falcon Railroad (U3267675) on Wednesday, 19th August 2009
were the word of Rudyard Kipling (i think at my desk at work) with regards to the 2nd Lt commission in the trenches of WW1 and it led me to think about the news from Afghanistan (and more historically Vietnam, WW2, Ulster) - did wars that have a progressive "drip" effect on casualties mean the Armies they effect have a subsidance in quality of leadership - for example we've seen quite few Lieutenants, Majors and Captains killed in action in Afghanistan along with many JNCO's and senior WO's - when does this begin to have an effect on the training mission of the British troops in Afghanistan?
Good officers and N C Os have always led from the front, and because of that are more likely to be killed or wounded. But by the same token men are more likely to follow such a leader.
Best not to discuss such a defeatist topic for fear of giving encouragement to the enemy.
We dish it out in return, remember. You just don't hear the details.
GFR.
There is a constant and complex shifting in appreciation of the work of our armed forces.
You mention Kipling, few captured it more accurately:-
.
Some here would sooner we merely knelt and prayed for a better world.
While he might have wished for a world of justice, Kipling's Tommy Atkins knew that sometimes it had to be fought for...
Wars deplete Britain of good people of all classes. They are a waste of time and they hurt Britain.
Better to have just surrendered to Hitler, then?
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