British army "proud" to sell war to children

Toys for the boys (girls later) glamorise mass murder as a career

The Ministry of Defence has sponsored a set of "HM Armed Forces" dolls. All are, for now, male and white and none have missing limbs or bear the psychological scars of warfare.

Since the ‘war on terror’, the government has been struggling to make the army something to be respected and emulated and to make war seem acceptable and justifiable. These toys are a part of that drive as are the resurgence of military parades and recruitment campaigns aimed at teenagers.

The reality is that the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are disasters and the last three soldiers to die in Iraq committed suicide because they found their lives unbearable.

These toys attempt to make acceptable a completely unacceptable situation. Children have no natural predilection to violence nor do they have any need to play with toys that normalise war. This glamorisation of war and today’s rising levels of unemployment are a dangerous combination. Children should not be targeted for military recruitment.

The Ministry of Defence said: "We are rightly proud to be celebrating our Armed Forces through the production of these new action figures. These toys showcase our people and equipment and this commercial recognition proves the high level support for our forces among the British public."

Unless of course “our forces” are doing something the British public opposes, such as the 68 per cent who think all British troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan.

See also:

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The Iraq war has been a monstrous crime...