MoD experts combat informed public

An MoD 'think tank' recognises that the public is not as daft as it used to be and consequently this has had a negative impact on the ability of our leaders to drum up support for wars of choice that have little bearing on the security of the nation and fail basic common sense tests relating to risk and reward for the UK let alone residents of the states we seek to 'free' with our bombs.

But not to worry. According to MoD experts there are several remedies available to mitigate the damage caused by the over informed awkward squad. Including increased use of 'contractors' - the thinking being that nobody will give a damn when they die apart from maybe their kids and other immediate family. And if you think that's callous then the MoD's attitude to 'special forces' casualties won't help. Apparently when the SAS etc make the ulimate sacrifice the public's attitude is 'more robust'. They go on to point out that 19 SAS perished in a Falklands helicopter crash in 1982 and nobody gave a shit, hence they recommend increased investment in this area of highly trained cannon fodder.

Apart from a suggestion by the MoD experts that repatriating fallen service men and women be conducted with less of a fanfare - which needlessly draws attention to  a particularly unpleasant if rare aspect of war - that is the substance of the experts strategy to combat the effects of an increasingly well informed UK public. Oh ...and more drones.

[...] "The public have become better informed and our opponents more sophisticated in the exploitation of the sources of information with the net result that convincing the nation of the need to run military risks has become more difficult but no less essential."
[...] Noting that the growth of private security companies has proceeded at a spectacular rate during the past 10 years, it adds: "Neither the media nor the public in the west appear to identify with contractors in the way that they do with their military personnel. Thus casualties from within the contractorised force are more acceptable in pursuit of military ends than those from among our own forces."
Investing in greater numbers of special forces is also recommended. The paper suggests: "The public appear to have a more robust attitude to SF [special forces] losses." In a reference to a May 1982 helicopter crash, it says: "The loss of 19 SAS soldiers in a single aircraft accident during the Falklands campaign did not arouse any significant comment." Link