There's a war on

I'm struck by how little discussion, in academic life and in the media, there is of the role and actions of the UK armed forces. We are, after all, at war in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and British troops, 'insurgents' and local civilians are losing their lives in ever-increasing numbers. During the Cold War there was a lot of discussion of how the armed forces should be organised and deployed, what their role and composition should be, and who our enemies really were. Now, with both main political parties largely agreed on 'defence' policy, and with no serious military threat to face, there is little comment or academic analysis, particularly in the social sciences.
This is strange: the role of the military in the Cold War was far more prescribed and delineated by treaty agreements, parliamentary committees and external scrutiny of the MoD. The possibility that the government could send the armed forces into conflict without securing support from parliament and the country was unthinkable; whatever one may have thought of the Falkland's conflict it must be admitted that Thatcher had a fair amount public opinion on her side. But now the government deploys troops in Afghanistan without any public debate or discussion. Why Afghanistan? There are, of course, many reasons, although the ostensible one provided by HMG is implausible. Similarly with Iraq. And the impending conflict with Iran. How did we get to this state of affairs? It may be, for all that I find it a depressing conclusion, that the support of much of the population for our government's military forays abroad is actually there, in the sense that many people don't care anymore, and aren't much interested: silence is assent.
I would like to think that UK academics will take more notice of war and conflict: ignoring it as a topic for debate in universities is part of the problem. But whether or not that will make much difference remains to be seen.

Lichtenberg: 'A handful of soldiers is always better than a mouthful of arguments.' Notebook E 1775-6