Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the British army, has decided that Prince Harry - the younger son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana and third in line to the British throne- will not serve in Iraq with his Army Unit. The General said he had reached his decision following a visit to the region at the end of last week and learning of specific threats being made by insurgents against Harry and the soldiers in his unit.

It was all started in February 2007 when British Defense Secretary, Des Browne announced that Prince Harry would be sent to Iraq, latter on 30th April that decision was affirmed by Gen. Dannatt that Prince would be heading to Iraq as an armored reconnaissance officer in the Blues and Royals regiment. But now it is a different story.

Clarence House, British Royal Home in London, stated that the Prince was “very disappointed” by the decision.

Many have started calling it as a victory for Iraq insurgents which is quite true. It clearly represents the strength of insurgents but this decision has other dimensions also.
Was Harry pulled out because he is a soldier likes many others? No, because he is a Prince also and in line to the British throne so if something had happened to him in Iraq that would have been considered as a great loss to Britain. But what about the others who are fighting and dying in Iraq? Are they not important? In the East we are always told about the exemplary equal status for every person regardless of their positions in the West, now it all seems like fiction.

Prince Harry will not go to Iraq because insurgents have threatened him by name but what about other soldiers as they are always in threats, the only visible difference is that insurgents do not know their names but always ready to attack them whenever possible at any cost. This decision clearly shows that the life of a Prince is more important than the lives of other British soldiers.

In ancient times, The King and the Prince would lead the war when they were directly exposed to enemy swords in the battlefield but now with all the modern technology and superiority over Iraqi insurgents, a British Prince will not even go to the war zone when he would have had all the protections necessary to save his life.

A war which was started with lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and that claim has never been proved. Recently in a book named “At the Center of the storm” written by George Tenet, who was the director of the CIA when Iraq was attacked in 2003, revels that Bush administration of United States was ready to attack Iraq in any case, that idea was fully supported by British government. These governments were so keen to start the war that they ignored everything and put their soldiers in the battlefield.

There might be a difference between countries but no matter if it is Iraq, United States, or Britain the life of the ordinary is always ordinary. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since 2003. Over 3,300 United States and 148 British soldiers have also been killed. I wish if every coalition soldier in Iraq was as important as Prince Harry, than this war would have never been started but unfortunately it is not like that and whether it is Iraqis or ordinary US/British soldiers, everyone is paying a huge price for it. And our renowned world leaders will always be busy defending their poor decisions.