The Times: Ben MacintyreThere is, as Bill Rammell correctly points out, an extraordinary disconnection between the British people and the warriors sent to fight on our behalf. True, the 24-hour news media constantly pump information from the battlefront into our homes, but often that news is sanitised: it seldom shows the reality of modern war — the periods of boredom punctuated by moments of pure horror and fear.
The US ban on showing footage or photographs of soldiers returning in body bags is part of a wider feeling, shared in this country, that the public should not be exposed to such upsetting images. This may reflect a gentler and more humane society, but it also says much about our profound ambivalence about the real nature of war.
One effect of this is the absence of military heroes produced by the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq. The actions and deaths of soldiers seldom last longer than a single news cycle. Those we celebrate have almost always saved the life of a comrade, rather than taken the life of an enemy. Because of our distaste for war, we would rather not know what war really involves: killing people, and being killed.
Many returning soldiers report feelings of profound estrangement from the rest of society. In more extreme cases, disabled soldiers have suffered discrimination or mockery from civilians.
Most, however, report a more subtle but morale-crushing lack of interest in what they have done on the battlefield.
General Sir Richard Dannatt, the former Chief of the General Staff, complained that returning soldiers often felt “devalued”. In more concrete terms, the sense of alienation may be measured in alcohol and drug addiction, divorce, suicide and imprisonment.
During the Second World War, everyone had a relative in uniform, and the bloody reality of conflict was brought home to millions in the Blitz. Even during the Falklands war, there was a broad sense of community with the Forces. Now that elemental bond between soldier and civilian is under chronic strain.
Mr Rammell puts this down to cynicism. But it is also a reflection of a risk-averse, squeamish, kinder society, unwilling to face up to the elemental nastiness of war.