Talking points for June 12

Our virginity debate is still simmering away on the blog.

On air: Is it still the greatest honour to die for your country?

This is a discussion which takes place in every country with servicemen and women at war. The parents of a British soldier killed in Afghanistan this week have been talking about the pride they feel that their son died for people he’d never met and for causes his country believed in. The word honour is used repeatedly by US military leaders to describe the efforts of those in Iraq. Ugandans told us when we visited Kampala that they were proud of their soldiers in Somalia as part of an AU force. But is that sense of honour increasingly misplaced, or as relevant and important as ever before?

I’m not going back

There are two debates suggested in the Talking Points page that we think warrant their own post. This from ZK. ‘Canada, traditionally a refuge for American military deserters, is preparing to begin deporting some back south to face trial. Any thoughts on this? Is Harper’s government right to do so?’ The man at the centre of this is American Corey Glass. Here, he makes his case for refusing to fight. Are you convinced? Are there circumstances where soldiers should be able to refuse to go to war?