Saturday, September 22, 2007

Re: Thompson is probably right...   [Mark Steyn]

I have no particular problem with Fred Thompson's statement, and The Washington Post's promotion of the Soviets as liberators is absurd. But in defending the Senator is it really necessary to sneer at everybody else? "British Commonwealth" may be a joke designation to David Freddoso, but in the First and Second World Wars the Empire had one common citizenship: In the legal sense, Welshmen, Canadians, Indians and Jamaicans were all "British subjects" and 1.7 million of them died. They fought together, and they're buried together in Commonwealth war cemeteries in almost every corner of the globe.

As to whether it's still a meaningful categorization, take the "British Commonwealth" out of Afghanistan today, and then see how long it takes to name a single Nato ally who's prepared to do any actual fighting alongside US troops.

As for "soldiers stolen by force from occupied Ireland", southern Ireland was famously neutral in World War Two and so the only Irishmen who fought Nazism and Fascism were the many who volunteered to serve in British regiments. Speaking as an Irishman myself, I can't see why it advances Senator Thompson's point to denigrate the service of every living Irish combat veteran.

UPDATE: Getting a lot of shamrock-hued anecdotage along the lines of the following:

Do not forget the many Irish volunteers who flew with the RAF, including such memorable characters as the fighter ace Paddy Finucane, who once, during the Battle of Britain, while in his cups at a pub after a long day fighting the Luftwaffe, raised a pint and offered a toast, "To Eamon de Valera! He kept us out of the war!"

Alas, Finucane did not survive the war. He was killed in 1941, leading a fighter sweep over occupied France.

09/22 09:08 PMShare