When I was in Belfast (1971-82) the behaviour of the British Army was not a pretty sight and was sometimes shameful. But what Ard and Co can't grasp is that this is not a "Brit" thing. We've surely seen enough evidence by now to know that any army, anywhere, is capable of losing its moral compass - in fact there's an institutional predisposition for this to happen in "active service" scenarios.

If there is one lesson to be learnt from the NI troubles it is that soldiers are not the right people to police civilian populations. It is interesting to note (as I expect Big Mick has noted) that the behaviour of the Brits in Iraq has been a good bit more intelligent and constructive, on the whole, than that of their Us counterparts. So perhaps something was indeed learnt in Belfast and south Armagh.

Wherever the balance lies between right ane wrong in NI, what completely pisses me off about Mudcat is the endless bitterness, as exemplified by this thoughtful little gem from Divis Sweeney: "So glad I am getting under your skin...." You'd get a better level of debate from schoolkids.

Oh, and whatFrench Resistance, Divis? At times it took fewer than 3,000 German troops to keep Occupied France under the Nazi cosh, and to keep exporting its Jews to the camps. Any resistance was largely a figment of Allied propaganda. The fact is that most of Europe, including a great many people in the UK,were only too happy to see the Jews get their come-uppance. The USA was not the only nation to turn away desperate Jewish refugees.

But I mustn't distract those of you who believe the axis of evil begins and ends in Britain.