Carronade The Yankee Sailor Carronade

The Sea is a choosy mistress. She takes the men that come to her and weighs them and measures them. The ones she adores, she keeps; the ones she hates, she destroys. The rest she casts back to land. I count myself among the adored, for I am Her willing Captive.

FLASH TRAFFIC:
I've relocated to a new Yankee Sailor.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Send Me to War or I'll Quit

Britain's Princes William and Harry take the right stand.

PRINCE Harry has threatened to quit the British Army if commanders refuse to send him to the frontline.

The prince and his older brother William have both made it clear they want to see active service with their units.

Earlier this month Harry, 21, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals, the army's oldest and most senior regiment.

The Blues and Royals have been deployed in almost every major operation of the past 25 years, including the Falklands, Bosnia and both Gulf wars.

And now it has been revealed the determined prince told top brass at the Sandhurst military academy: "If I am not allowed to join my unit in a war zone, I will hand in my uniform."

This poses serious problems for advisers tasked with protecting William and Harry, the second and third in line to the throne, and those fighting alongside them.

A Clarence House spokeswoman said: "Harry is very clear that he is joining the Army to serve his country as an operational soldier."

But she added: "There may be circumstances in which his presence could attract attention, which could lead to additional risk to those he commands or himself.

"In these instances it is a judgment call made by his commanding officer."

I'm not sure this is as big a deal as they're making it out to be. Their uncle, Prince Andrew, served in the Falklands War. Just don't send them both to Iraq at the same time, and if one of them does get killed, you can pull the other out of the rotation as the sole surviving heir. Harry, after all, is just a bulkhead spare.

Sand crawler tracked to Jawaland.