Just because I hate this war doesn't mean I think all soldiers are shit
Armistice day seems to have growing poignancy as I age. I'd intended to write an 11/11 post about the honourable soldier, my Grampy, and the complete fucked-upness of so may wars and the behaviour that motivates them. Today is Remembrance Sunday, one of the days I was obliged to go to church in my childhood, in spite of my early declaration of agnosticism. Glorification of war in the name of religion (in a brownie's uniform); that hurt.
There's talk of troubles in Mosul - that’s a really bad sign for 'The Coalition'. Mosul is the main northern town in Iraq, with a strong Kurdish presence and long standing resistance to Saddam. At the start of the war it was sufficiently independent of Baghdad and pro 'Coalition action' (or whatever politically correct term you may have for the war) that it pretty much joined in on The Coalition's side without much resistance at all (sorry, not clear on details, just recollections of old stories, and insights from previous occupants of Mosul). Now it seems, the 'Battle for Hearts and Minds' has turned even this city against 'us'. If the American style of soldering can't keep these people on side, then how the hell is it meant to bring round those Iraqis with strong initial antagonism to their (our) presence? Things will probably get much worse before any consistent signs of getting better. Bad war. Bad soldering. How the hell does one turn this around without many more Fallujahs?
Bizarre thought. If Turkey joins the EU, and some of the old bits of Mesopotamia were realigned with Turkey, Iraq could be in the EU!.
(last night was a good night with elements of entertaining strangeness that may hit the page later in the week)