Stand at ease

IT IS hardly surprising that the Armed Forces have a shortfall of 8,200 troops (Mail).

gone are the days of ‘ join the Forces and see the world’. now it’s ‘join the Forces and we will send you to fight in unnecessary wars. And maybe you’ll find yourself being charged with a war crime’.

understandably, this doesn’t appeal to a lot of young men and women. There are better opportuni-ties in civilian employment.

i am appalled at the way our Armed Forces have been run down over the years. if they can’t plug the recruit-ment gap, perhaps we might see the return of national Service.

ROBIN KIRKHAM, Swaffham, Norfolk.