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What a Hero!

Entry 713, on 2008-03-04 at 22:04:33 (Rating 3, News)

I just read through some comments from the BBC web site about Prince Harry's time with the British army in Afghanistan. There are a range of opinions there and most of them seem to make fairly standard points ranging from the idea that its all a stunt arranged by the UK government to the idea that Harry is a genuine hero and we need more people like him.

He insists he isn't a hero and I guess he's right about that. I haven't heard any reports of him doing anything out of the ordinary so if he was going to be labelled a hero then everyone else there would need to be as well. I'm not saying it doesn't take a certain amount of courage to do what he did, just that he's no more heroic just because he's a member of the royal family.

He criticised the media for revealing that he was there and causing him to be brought back because he said he was there doing something he loved. I'm not sure quite what that was but I am a bit disturbed by the idea that it might include calling in American air strikes to drop bombs on people who have lived in that area for many years.

In his interview I heard the same old justifications for killing. He didn't like having enemy positions bombed but if it was going to save lives then he accepted it needed to be done. I guess that's a soldier's duty but the idea of fighting for peace, or killing for life gives me an uneasy feeling.

This issue has been going on for a while now. I commented on it over a year ago in a blog entry for 20 Feb 2007 titled "Harry the Hero". I pointed out the possible consequences, especially if he was injured in a friendly fire incident, but so far he seems to have been kept safe. I'm sure the army is making sure he is sent to positions which seem dangerous but aren't necessarily as bad as they might seem.

What about the media's place in all of this? Well the royals complain about the media but I think that's a bit disingenuous really because any celebrity class, whether its royalty, movie stars, musicians, etc really rely on media exposure to maintain their profile. If Harry doesn't want to be the center of attention he should relinquish his claims to royal privilege and become another common citizen. But I can't see him doing that.

In the end everyone has won really. Harry has come home from Afghanistan but he still looks like a hero. The UK military has a great bit of propaganda by having a brave young royal recount his daring stories fighting the evil Taleban. The public has heard all about the fearless exploits of their latest hero. And the news media have their story. Its brilliant!

So maybe the army will send Harry back some time in the future, but they will have to be careful that it doesn't remain a secret too long, otherwise what would be the point?

Comment 1 (1294) by SBFL on 2008-03-21 at 01:26:01:

This was a complete non-story but the media lapped it up, as you said. I saw plenty of photo-ops, but few heroic deeds (not his words to be fair, but my criticism is of the media). I hope the definition of 'hero' is not watered down at the expense of the real heroes, including our own Willie Apiata who risked his own life for others in the same conflict.

Comment 2 (1307) by OJB on 2008-03-21 at 10:49:14:

Cool. Sounds like we agree on this one!

Comment 3 (1318) by SBFL on 2008-03-21 at 22:01:30: About time!

Comment 4 (1329) by OJB on 2008-03-22 at 19:59:45:

Wow. We agree. Maybe miracles really do happen!

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