Prince Harry Current Events 26: January 2012-April 2013


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Status
Not open for further replies.
I quite agree. Its almost as if people think the soldiers in Afghansitan are just rounding up the Taliban and saying "now you guys have been very naughty (IEDs, shootings, rapes etc), go into a corner for a time out and stay there until you are ready to apologize".

I couldn't help it... This conjured up some image of them being send to the naughty chair. :D Perhaps we should send Supernanny... :ROFLMAO:
 
The knowledge that someone you know has been to a war area and has consiously killed people is a painful thought. On the one hand he/she is a murderer (harsh word, but true), on the other hand he/she is still your friend and the same as he/she ever was (to you). This results in very conflicting emotions.

The same applies to Harry and how we see him.

I want to state my belief that the military, under orders, are not murderers. They are being asked to do very difficult things, under difficult circumstances, on behalf of the UN and/or their country.
 
I am glad posters are putting Platell in her place. DM is known for sugaring the RF but when it comes to Harry they can be cruel. He seems to be the exception. I like one comment in particular from a soldier who said that is the way they refer to war, probably not in public, and that this interview should have been made in the UK, 15 days after his arrival.

I wonder who was the brain who had the idea of making this interview in the middle of a war zone. Guys are under much more pressure there. And Harry needs some PR advice soon. He has to learn to avoid this kind of questions in a diplomatic way.
 
I want to state my belief that the military, under orders, are not murderers. They are being asked to do very difficult things, under difficult circumstances, on behalf of the UN and/or their country.

War is one of those horrible things that reigns upon this Earth, IMO. Either way you look at it, it's humans killing each other.
 
War is one of those horrible things that reigns upon this Earth, IMO. Either way you look at it, it's humans killing each other.

I agree war is a terrible thing
 
I wonder who was the brain who had the idea of making this interview in the middle of a war zone.

The only way Henry was allowed back into Afghanistan again was with the cooperation of the media, he had to give 3 interviews I believe. 2 in Afghanisatan (personally I have no idea why they couldn't do a before and after), and one when he got back.

--------------------------

Anyone who expected Henry to get a peaceful welcome, was deluded. Everyone word any royal says is analysed to death and Henry spoke more like a soldier, than a Prince and frankly he's a Prince first. Whilst I agree that it's their way of dealing with things out there, we don't understand the "dealing with" process, so we interrupt the whole playing a game thing differently.
 
The interviews were done while he was serving because it gives the public the best insight into what he and his comrades are actually doing. An interview in Clarence House wouldn't have been nearly so resonant. It allowed Harry to show us the helicopter he flies, what he gets up to on his downtime, what his living conditions are like.

The press will have wanted to see him in action, not in a suit and tie in London after the fact. They agreed not to write about Harry's deployment before he went and so they wanted their payoff.

Also, and this should not be underestimated, it's a huge PR boost for the Army at a time of serious budget cuts and a general malaise in the public's support toward a conflict that's been going for almost 12 years now and cost hundreds of British lives.
 
Anyone who expected Henry to get a peaceful welcome, was deluded. Everyone word any royal says is analysed to death and Henry spoke more like a soldier, than a Prince and frankly he's a Prince first. Whilst I agree that it's their way of dealing with things out there, we don't understand the "dealing with" process, so we interrupt the whole playing a game thing differently.

On the "taking them out of the game" thing, TBH, all I could think of was probably how they were trained at first. With flight simulators, war game simulators etc. Many of the popular computer and game system creations also are along these lines and in 3D almost virtual reality. It would make sense to refer to actual combat and hitting the target as "taking them out of the game" to me. These soldiers have to depersonalize their missions or the emotional stress can get to be way too much to handle. They see "targets" just as when we see "media" we don't think of Richard Kay or a reporter by name but just the press as a whole.

Of course Harry is a prince first and a soldier second but at the time of the interview, he was very much a soldier on active duty and not the Prince Henry that we saw close the Summer Olympics. He was speaking as a British soldier stationed in a war zone.
 
I just realized that while people here (and in other places) keep saying he is still a prince first, that is not true when he is in a war zone. There he is a soldier first and that is how it should be. When he is there that is where his responsibilities lie and for people expecting it to be the other way around would be dangerous for the people he works with.
 
At the time of the interview he was very much Prince Henry of Wales as well, he's got to learn to hold his tongue once in a while. That's why I think the interviews shouldn't have been done whilst he was on active duty, it was almost as if it was set up to catch him saying something stupid. Which he did.

I didn't know that soldiers were taught with "war game simulators"? What kind? I can understand flight simulators.
 
Last edited:
The only way Henry was allowed back into Afghanistan again was with the cooperation of the media, he had to give 3 interviews I believe. 2 in Afghanisatan (personally I have no idea why they couldn't do a before and after), and one when he got back.

I think it stinks that this was a condition. But it also means he knew in advance and had plenty of time to prepare.

Anyone who expected Henry to get a peaceful welcome, was deluded. Everyone word any royal says is analysed to death and Henry spoke more like a soldier, than a Prince and frankly he's a Prince first. Whilst I agree that it's their way of dealing with things out there, we don't understand the "dealing with" process, so we interrupt the whole playing a game thing differently.

Bingo!

People are well aware of what happens in wars. They see it in their living rooms, both in the news and, more graphically now, in dramas such as Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Jarhead, Courage Under Fire, and in Homeland, and also in numerous documentaries. We know all about the My Lai massacre.

Harry is a Prince first. Different standards do apply to him. He should not have spoken so flippantly about having quick reflexes because of video games, and talking about killing people. IMO he made another error of judgment. Yes, it was difficult for him because the interview was done in the war zone, not back at home, but he knew it was going to happen as part of the price for him getting to go back and do what he wanted to do - shoot big guns and probably kill people - and he should have been more circumspect.
 
So judgemental on this thread when last week all you wanted to do was welcome him home.

I just dont understand why it has to be so black and white. Your world must be perfect because you don't allow any mistakes
 
I just dont understand why it has to be so black and white. Your world must be perfect because you don't allow any mistakes

I agree. What I don't understand is, while this may not have been the smartest thing to say, it's hardly the worst thing anyone in his family has ever done or said. These people might be royal but they are not perfect. Which on the one side is repeated here on this forum often enough, but when it suits people it's this very imperfection you are willing to use against these people. This is exactly what the media does. How then are we here better?
They might have fancy titles, and they might be treated like they are better than most, they seem to realize they're not. We only seem to remember it when it suits us (and yes I put myself in the we-category. I'm not perfect).
 
I didn't know that soldiers were taught with "war game simulators"? What kind? I can understand flight simulators.

Post 712 - the second video shows the simulation used. It is not a flight simulator, it is about different terrains and using the weaponry available under the correct circumstances - the instructor explaining it was Harry's instructor.
 
The comments that he made were probably no different than what any other military person interviewed might have said. Some would have been more blount or direct about it than he was.

Yes, he's a prince but he's also in a war zone. I would also like to commend him for serving as how many other royals are serving over in Afghanistan. He might be the only one or at least the only one reported to do so. He didn't have to go over there or even be part of it He volunteered to do so.
 
Last edited:
It's true that men in action have to desensitize themselves to perform effectively, and it helps even more if they don't have to kill the enemy face-to-face, but from a helicopter. The general public is not desensitized, though, and to those who are not, wording like "take them out of the game" sounds cold and calculating. When your words are going out to tens (hundreds?) of thousands of readers or listeners, those words need to be chosen carefully. Otherwise, you might get a backlash like Harry is getting.
 
So judgemental on this thread when last week all you wanted to do was welcome him home.

I just dont understand why it has to be so black and white. Your world must be perfect because you don't allow any mistakes

Your post appears to be a response to me, but at no time did I welcome him home.
 
It's true that men in action have to desensitize themselves to perform effectively, and it helps even more if they don't have to kill the enemy face-to-face, but from a helicopter. The general public is not desensitized, though, and to those who are not, wording like "take them out of the game" sounds cold and calculating. When your words are going out to tens (hundreds?) of thousands of readers or listeners, those words need to be chosen carefully. Otherwise, you might get a backlash like Harry is getting.

Yup.

I wonder if he had any advice about what to say in the interview, and how to conduct himself, and how to field particular sorts of questions? And what not to say.
 
Perhaps because I've been around a lot of individuals who have been in the military, are currently serving in the military or have family members in the military, the words "take them out on the game" doesn't really strike me as being cold or calculating. It's a very mild way of saying what happens in a military operation.

It Harry had said, "I going to hunt down and kill them or "We hunt down and kill our enemies,", then that would be a different matter. This would not be a wise choice of words.
 
So judgemental on this thread when last week all you wanted to do was welcome him home.

I just don't understand why it has to be so black and white. Your world must be perfect because you don't allow any mistakes
Indeed it is a perfect world and they wish to inhabit it with perfect wind-up princes. Unfortunately Harry is a real live human being with perfectly normal responses.

It has been my personal experience that those involved "at the sharp end" tend to shrug it off and dislike being questioned about the "hard bits". Many only ever talk about the silly things, the jokes, the light-hearted incidents and their reality is their own. Sharing that reality is intensely personal.

Name me one single occasion when a soldier of Harry's age and experience was thrown to the media dogs and acquitted themselves with the wit, charm and charisma of a seasoned General?

Harry's seemingly off hand response to what amounted to a series of in-depth questions more fitted to a court-room cross examination than an interview hardly deserves the vicious character assassination he is getting on this thread and many more like it.

Every single word he said, the way he stood, the way he looked, the way he spoke has been dissected to the nth degree. Every moment examined in itself and not in context. Harry interviewed as a "soldier" and found wanting as a "prince'"!

Where was Harry's opportunity to "decompress"? And how much use are lesson in politically correct interview techniques within the theatre of war?

I don't know about many of you but I find some of the observations on this thread strangely vindictive, and the glee exhibited by some of those performing hatchet jobs, incredibly ugly.
 
Harry shouldn't have given an interview immediately on his return. War is ugly and soldiers sometimes have to do ugly things as part of their work. If there had to be some kind of interview, it should have been done after Harry had a chance to gather his thoughts after his experience and had some advise about how much to say. Why couldn't he have sat down with an interviewer after a couple of weeks and given a more serious, more in-depth interview? Whoever okay-ed this was mistaken.
 
Indeed it is a perfect world and they wish to inhabit it with perfect wind-up princes. Unfortunately Harry is a real live human being with perfectly normal responses.

It has been my personal experience that those involved "at the sharp end" tend to shrug it off and dislike being questioned about the "hard bits". Many only ever talk about the silly things, the jokes, the light-hearted incidents and their reality is their own. Sharing that reality is intensely personal.

Name me one single occasion when a soldier of Harry's age and experience was thrown to the media dogs and acquitted themselves with the wit, charm and charisma of a seasoned General?

Harry's seemingly off hand response to what amounted to a series of in-depth questions more fitted to a court-room cross examination than an interview hardly deserves the vicious character assassination he is getting on this thread and many more like it.

Every single word he said, the way he stood, the way he looked, the way he spoke has been dissected to the nth degree. Every moment examined in itself and not in context. Harry interviewed as a "soldier" and found wanting as a "prince'"!

Where was Harry's opportunity to "decompress"? And how much use are lesson in politically correct interview techniques within the theatre of war?

I don't know about many of you but I find some of the observations on this thread strangely vindictive, and the glee exhibited by some of those performing hatchet jobs, incredibly ugly.

Thank you - I agree 100% with this post.
 
Perhaps because I've been around a lot of individuals who have been in the military, are currently serving in the military or have family members in the military, the words "take them out on the game" doesn't really strike me as being cold or calculating. It's a very mild way of saying what happens in a military operation.

It Harry had said, "I going to hunt down and kill them or "We hunt down and kill our enemies,", then that would be a different matter. This would not be a wise choice of words.

IMO "Take them out of the game" means exactly the same thing as "hunt down and kill them".
 
MARG said:
Indeed it is a perfect world and they wish to inhabit it with perfect wind-up princes. Unfortunately Harry is a real live human being with perfectly normal responses.

It has been my personal experience that those involved "at the sharp end" tend to shrug it off and dislike being questioned about the "hard bits". Many only ever talk about the silly things, the jokes, the light-hearted incidents and their reality is their own. Sharing that reality is intensely personal.

Name me one single occasion when a soldier of Harry's age and experience was thrown to the media dogs and acquitted themselves with the wit, charm and charisma of a seasoned General?

Harry's seemingly off hand response to what amounted to a series of in-depth questions more fitted to a court-room cross examination than an interview hardly deserves the vicious character assassination he is getting on this thread and many more like it.

Every single word he said, the way he stood, the way he looked, the way he spoke has been dissected to the nth degree. Every moment examined in itself and not in context. Harry interviewed as a "soldier" and found wanting as a "prince'"!

Where was Harry's opportunity to "decompress"? And how much use are lesson in politically correct interview techniques within the theatre of war?

I don't know about many of you but I find some of the observations on this thread strangely vindictive, and the glee exhibited by some of those performing hatchet jobs, incredibly ugly.

I do as well. I've found it very disconcerting and more than a little vicious and unwarranted. I should think most people would understand that four months of deployment in a dangerous area would take their toll on anyone, and that this interview must have been very hard to give- an obligation Harry was willing to get through if it meant he was able to serve the way he wanted, but certainly not something he would have chosen or enjoyed.
 
We will be lucky if Harry does not suffer long term psychological damage from his war experiences. Military people do have to find ways to get through the war. Not all do make it through. There were many, many from WWII that never talked with their families about what they saw and did. That goes for any armed conflict. Some people on this site need a reality check.
 
It's true that men in action have to desensitize themselves to perform effectively, and it helps even more if they don't have to kill the enemy face-to-face, but from a helicopter. The general public is not desensitized, though, and to those who are not, wording like "take them out of the game" sounds cold and calculating. When your words are going out to tens (hundreds?) of thousands of readers or listeners, those words need to be chosen carefully. Otherwise, you might get a backlash like Harry is getting.

The backlash, if there is one, indicates a problem with the general public, IMO, not with Harry or anything he said. The problem is not Harry talking about killing, (flippantly or otherwise), the problem is that we live in a time when civilians are able to completely bury their heads in the sand about the reality of what soldiers do. The vast majority of citizens in Western democracies are able to go their entire lives knowing that they'll never be called to serve in defence of their country; advances in technology and changes in the nature of warfare itself have given civilians the luxury of ignorance. We want soldiers to do whatever they have to do to enable us to maintain our safety and our luxurious standards of living, but we don't want to hear about their experiences unless they've worked with a team of public relations experts beforehand to make sure both their stories and their attitudes convey exactly what we want to hear.
 
The backlash, if there is one, indicates a problem with the general public, IMO, not with Harry or anything he said. The problem is not Harry talking about killing, (flippantly or otherwise), the problem is that we live in a time when civilians are able to completely bury their heads in the sand about the reality of what soldiers do. The vast majority of citizens in Western democracies are able to go their entire lives knowing that they'll never be called to serve in defence of their country; advances in technology and changes in the nature of warfare itself have given civilians the luxury of ignorance. We want soldiers to do whatever they have to do to enable us to maintain our safety and our luxurious standards of living, but we don't want to hear about their experiences unless they've worked with a team of public relations experts beforehand to make sure both their stories and their attitudes convey exactly what we want to hear.

Bingo !!!!! We have a winner.
 
IMO "Take them out of the game" means exactly the same thing as "hunt down and kill them".

Well, he's a soldier- he didn't go out there to play checkers. War is not fun, nor is it a game and quite frankly, I think Harry did very well. If he had stayed home, some of you would be calling him a coward or worse.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom