Should Prince Harry have been sent to Afghanistan?

Yes

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by Ray Burke

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Should Prince Harry Have Served in Afghanistan?

Since the news has broken that Prince Harry, third in line to the British Throne and a Second Lieutenant with the Household Cavalry, had been serving in Afghanistan there has been much debate. The fact is he is a soldier, an officer and part of a unit. There would have been no point in training him for his position if he was going to be kept out of harm's way, while his men were sent into the danger zone.

Prince Harry is setting an example and fulfilling the wishes he has had since a young boy of being in the army. Various members of the Royal Household are or once were serving members of the Armed Forces and the Queen is the Head of the Armed Forces. It is the duty of the Royal Family in being representatives of several Armed Forces Regiments that they should serve in whatever capacity they can, just as Prince Andrew did in the Falklands War in 1982. In this, the twenty-first century, Prince Harry is proud to serve Britain and wanted to serve in the only way he could as an officer, on the front-line. And by all accounts he has been doing a great job. This is not about being gung-ho or staging publicity stunts. If it was then Prince Harry would have just paid a flying visit to the troops in a flag waving exercise, giving speeches, driving a tank and firing a symbolic shoot towards the Taliban before returning home, as many politicians and celebrities have done. But this was about doing the duty the Prince voluntarily enlisted to do and with the full knowledge of the dangers involved. Putting a Royal Family member's life on the line is not a publicity stunt.

The danger to himself was enormous as to any other British and coalition soldier in Afghanistan. But, once German, Australian and American sources had broken the story about his already ten-week old mission, he might still have been safe. But in pinpointing his location, his position became a bit more precarious and now he has been ordered home. Part of me hopes that this is a bluff and that he can complete the remaining four weeks of his tour of duty. It is not like the Taliban have the extra luxury, time or resources to identify and engage the Prince in combat. There are now fears he may be a more likely target for terrorists in Britain, but again, as a member of the Monarchy and the Armed Forces, he was already in the danger zone anyway.

Morally, the war in Afghanistan is different to Iraq, where Prince Harry's deployment was aborted last year due to media leaks, because most people see this as a justified war to end the Taliban regime. There is a moral compulsion to be there rather than in Iraq. Prince Harry is not fighting a crusade, but against the Taliban who aided in 9/11 and also suppressed the Afghans. Prince Harry is just one soldier carrying out NATO's mission to fight for the survival of the Afghan State and their democracy.

Our nation should be proud of Prince Harry, not because he is any more special than other troops, but because he could have chosen not to go. He has shown real courage, leadership and maturity that will stand him in good stead for his future army career and as a leader of the country. Prince Harry also gains the respect from his fellow soldiers who he can now empathise with. Prince Harry's deployment in Afghanistan has not been a hollow exercise in spin or PR. He has boosted morale, become a prince of substance and shown the nation that duty should not be shirked or taken for granted. Well done Prince Harry.

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