From Sir Keny St Johnston
Sir: In recent weeks, stirring words have been uttered around the world about war with Iraq, both for and against. Most recently, a hawk has conjured up memories of a robust Winston Churchill in the run-up to the second world war. Coincidentally, I have been rereading Winston Churchill's My Early Years, In the run-up to the Boer war, he reflected (in Chapter 18) as follows: Let us learn our lessons. Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on that strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes
he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realise that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. Antiquated war offices, weak, incompetent or arrogant commanders, untrustworthy allies, hostile neutrals, malignant fortune, ugly surprises, awful miscalculations — all take their seat at the council board on the morrow of a declaration of war. Always remember, however sure you are you can easily win, that there would not be a war if the other man did not think he also had a chance.
Keny St Johnston
London SW4
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