MOD Advertising Campaign

[Dave Greer]

Here in the UK, the MOD has been running a TV campaign which purports to show ordinary people giving their thanks and appreciation to veterans of the ongoing Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns.

What is the reason of spending money on this kind of publicity campaign? Is it really to enable the citizens of this country to say "Thank you" to the troops for implementing an unpopular Government foreign policy? Or is it simply an attempt to condition the British public to think that since most people agree that our troops are doing such a fine job, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan must therefore be just?

I have no problem with members of the armed forces following orders ultimately handed down by politicians (except where execution of those orders spills over into torture and abuse, and breaches of human rights and international conventions). No blame can be laid at their door for the failure of government intelligence (at best), or (at worse) the suppression and falsification of intelligence in order to justify a war to the British public.

What I do have a problem with, is British taxpayers money being spent on a publicity campaign to send out the subliminal message that the ongoing occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is a good thing, under the guise of Joe Public praising the Average Tommy for his sterling service.

I find it doubly ironic that the Government is currently appealing a decision that troops sent to Iraqistan (sic) without the correct equipment may have had their own human rights breached.

But which is worse? Spending money so that the Government can use the Great British Public to slap our troops on the back for a job well done, or spending money to allow the Government to continue to send troops into war-zones without being properly equipped? Personally I think they both stink.