The Better Part of Valour

The deplorable dearth of proper wars since the Crusade Against Terror reached its glorious drawdown has prompted the Ministry for War and the Colonies to consider new strategies against that cunning and perennial enemy, democratic accountability. A discussion paper, issued by a post-Werritty think-halftrack during last Remembrance Sunday month, suggests countering public reservations through saturation propaganda bombing ("a clear and constant information campaign") while at the same time reducing the publicity given to bringing home the bodies. The paper also suggests using more "contractorised forces" (mercenaries, in Oldspeak), apparently on the grounds that the families and loved ones of privatised casualties tend towards a more acceptable, second-order style of grief. Of course, a spokesbeing was deployed to proclaim that it's all just a suggestion intended purely to provoke a mature debate; but it does appear that the armed forces are finally catching up with Blairite strategic thinking, in accordance with that fine old British tradition of arming today for yesterday's battles.