Harry's Non-Deployment

Strategy Page comments on the victory of terrorists over the deployment of Prince Harry to Iraq.

In the case of keeping Cornet Wales from deploying with his unit, it did not take any IEDs. He was kept home via the use of threats by a terrorist whose claims were repeated by the media. Eventually, senior British Army officers flinched. This is a major victory for the terrorists in Iraq – one that did not require a single IED or even a shot.

One notable point that they miss is the collusion of the British Press and the naivety of the MoD. At no point did it seem to occur to anyone involved that publicising Harry's military postings at a time of war would alert the enemy. No one seems to have paused for thought for a moment and demanded a press blackout on this. We the public really didn't need to know the name if the unit he was joining and when and where it was going.

Whatever happened to "loose lips sink ships"? We're at war people and yet the British press thinks it's a great idea to broadcast to our enemy that a Prince is deploying with his unit to the war-zone. What's going on here? Has our press completely lost its ability to not reveal every nugget of information which might aid our enemy?

And during the build-up to the announcement, media pundits were alarmed about the risk that Harry's presence would pose to the men serving with him. They seem to be completely oblivious to their own role in endangering British servicemen going to war. Really, I think they don't even know that telling the enemy when and where Harry was going to be would be harmful.