At a time of atrocity-ridden wars, are there any good soldiers left?
At a time when brutalities are common place on our TV screens – whether in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine Myanmar and countless other conflicts – can there be a good soldier? Especially as wars are calculated or rational acts of cruelty? That is how my podcast guest, Major General James Cowan describes the logic of war.
He goes on to quote one of his military heroes: “if you are ever presented with two courses of action of equal merit, always choose the bolder one”. That requires some thinking through, and even more so if you are “only” a desk warrior.
We go on to talk about what he learnt from his time in NorthernIreland, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, and how and why he turned humanitarian. And about the nexus of development and security at a time that aid workers collaborating with the military are so demonised by conventional humanitarian workers.
James Cowan now heads The HALO Trust, whose amazing mines clearance personnel risk their lives daily around the world to remove the debris of war. Surely, there can be few braver people?
What I found refreshing in our conversation is that James Cowan is no idealist offering empty rhetoric for saving humanity. He is very much a realist and pragmatist i.e. a welcome antidote for our age of simplistic delusions around good and evil. And yet he remains optimistic and determined.
A straightforward chat for our crooked times….worth listening on The Fading Causes Podcast (or via Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts).
