Soldiers are not love objects

According to the Sunday Times, Gordon Brown is planning to launch a campaign to persuade the nation 'to love the man in uniform again'. While such a campaign might persuade us 'to love Gordon Brown again', I very much doubt whether it has a chance of turning soldiers ­ - ie men trained to kill and be killed - ­ into love objects.

Of course, bravery can and should be admired. But if appropriately trained, there will always be something about a good soldier which will arouse fear rather than love. The Duke of Wellington knew what he was talking about when, referring to a draft of soldiers, he said "I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they terrify me".

Soldiering is an ugly business, a necessary evil. As a war 'squaddie' in

1942, I remember having my bed regularly soaked by two corporals relieving themselves after returning from a night's drinking.

A measure of brutalising and coarsening was part of the training and if anyone had objected, the sergeant major ­ no respecter of sentimentality - was there to put him to rights. No wonder 'Tommy', as George Orwell pointed out, was never welcomed in the local pub.

Good pay, good grub and the best of weapons, these are what the soldiers want, not PR stunts.

The sad truth is that the days of the great patriotic war are over. Technology has replaced chivalry; blanket bombing, cavalry charges, and no amount of spinning ­ particularly by a discredited government ­ is going to bring back the knights in shining armour.