Once upon a time

It was incumbant upn Princes to lead their soldiers into battle. This was what William the Conquorer did, and Richard the Lionheart, and Frederick II, and Ceasare Borgia. So the fact that Prince harry, second in line for the throne, is going to war in Iraq shouldn't be causing all the fuss in the tabloids that it is, but the brittish tabloids are going nuts with the story, and expecially with rumors that he *won't* be deployed becuase he's received specific threats from insurgents--rumors which ahve been denied by the brittish army.

But what does this say about the war itself? One of the complaints about this war, as with Viet Nam, is that the children of the rich and poweful, and especially of those who run the government, are not serving--that the senate and the president are sending other people's children in harm's way while their children are safe. There are, of course, exceptions to this. John McCain's son, for instance, has a son at the Naval Accademy and another in the Marine Corps. That doesn't get as much news coverage as it should, expecially considering his expressed position on the campaign trail that we should send more troops to Iraq. But where are the Bush twins in all this? They are sitting this one out, thank you very much.

No such hypocracy in Brittain. The prince is going to fight.