Posted by Nicholas. That saying by George Bernard Shaw that Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language has been pretty much done to death, and I am almost too embarrassed to quote it here. Almost, but not quite, obviously, because I have just done so. I was reminded of it by this article about how British soldiers currently in Iraq view their role and what they are doing.
There is a play running now in Los Angeles, and will shortly be opening gin new York, based on actual interviews with soldiers of the Black Watch, one of the oldest regiments in the British army, about what they are doing in Iraq. The performers may be actors, but the words are genuine sentiments. And they seem to surprise, even shock, the American audiences.
"The British soldiers in the play, and in my experience in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Jason Berg, a former US Marine officer, "don't talk about patriotism, loyalty, or things like democracy and liberty." The soldiers declare in the play they might fight for the regiment, or the platoon, or just their mates.
It was ever thus. Way back as far as the First World war, maybe earlier, British soldiers have never gone in for flag waving patriotism. They don’t natter on and on to each other about how they are fighting for democracy. Patriotism and belief in doing what is right are unstated, and kept under control. Instead, they sing cheerful songs, usually dirty, as they march and their loyalty to country is also unstated. They main loyalty of the British soldier has always been to his regiment. The Army is a collection of regiments, about a thousand strong each when fully manned, some of them centuries old, each with a history and string of battle honours that each man feels part of. These regiments collectively form the Army, which serves the Crown.
All well and good. American soldiers like to talk about patriotism while British soldiers just assume it’s there and keep quiet about it. But also, there is a marked difference about how the soldiers view the war. Possibly the bulk of the US servicemen there think they are helping the Iraqis. The British know they aren’t.
On the other hand, the Scottish soldiers showed they had sympathy, pity even, for the Iraqis. "We've spoiled their country," one character says….
Well, of course we have. We have destroyed the country’s infrastructure, made a million or more homeless, reduced over 50% of the population to below the poverty line, uncorked the genie of civil war and in the process killed over half a million civilians. The claim that at least we got rid of Saddam wears thinner with every passing month, because we have replaces Saddam with a murderous chaos, and the one seems less and less a fair exchange for the other. Even those who still believe that Saddam was behind 9-11 are more and more become ignorant voices in the wilderness. It seems, unfortunately, that we are separated not just by a common language but on this matter by completely different mindsets.
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