Why is our Prince so keen to kill?

Nov 3 2008 By George Tyndale

WHY is Prince Harry so determined to go to war?

When he was told that he could not go to Iraq with his regiment, the Blues and Royals, the second Lieutenant got in such a huff he threatened to waltz out of the army altogether.

So he was found a place in the front line in Afghanistan guiding jets in to bomb ‘Taliban positions’.

He professed himself deeply disappointed when his cover was blown and he had to be called home.

Now he has come up with a plan to become an attack helicopter pilot with the Army Air Corps.

This would keep the 24-year-old off the ground and reduce the possibility of him being identified and specifically targeted by the enemy.

But he must realise that the risk of his capture still represents a coup of immeasurable proportions for Al Qaeda and unthinkable consequences both for him and the nation.

If the Prince simply wanted to serve his country then there are hundreds of positions - away from the action - where he could make a contribution.

And his enthusiasm for battle can’t be connected with any belief in the justice of the wars we are fighting.

In Iraq we have contributed to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians - many of them women and children.

We have destabilised a nation and delivered a massive boost to terrorism and extremism around the globe.

In Afghanistan dozens of our young servicemen and women are being killed in an un-winnable war in a country that remains the world’s biggest producer of heroin.

There can only be a couple of reasons why the young man wants to get involved in either of these misguided conflicts.

Either he believes that warfare - however unjustified - still offers the chance for a bored Prince to get an adrenalin rush.

Or he wants to get in the driving seat of a £46 million machine equipped with rockets, missiles and 30mm automatic canon because he wants to kill people.