Free Republic

The revolt of the old farts. That is the best description of the statement by "a concerned group of former service chiefs and Australian diplomats" on Sunday. No longer involved with the formulation or implementation of Australian policy, and rarely if ever consulted, this group is suffering from what Gareth Evans aptly named "relevance deprivation syndrome". The world is out of joint, and no one asks them how to set it right. The statement is, in fact, based on a lie. It is a lie widely disseminated, but a lie nonetheless. This is that Australia's participation in the Iraq war...

"UK diplomats launch mass attack on Blair policy" was the title covering the letter published by 52 former British ambassadors criticising the Prime Minister's policy in Iraq and alleged subservience to the United States. Other jubilant headlines proclaimed this as the "Revolt of the Establishment". The fact that the letter was not signed by a couple of hundred other former ambassadors, including this one, was thought scarcely worthy of mention. This was because most of us have an allergy to acting as if we were members of a trade union. For that and other reasons, we have never been tempted...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...