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The following was printed today, in the letters to the editor page of The Independent;

State funeral for Italians killed in Iraq

Sir: One of the great advantages of living abroad (apart from being far from Blair, Clarke and Prescott) is that, every so often, I get an opportunity to "see ourselves as others see us".

Yesterday, for example, I was able to watch on Italian state television's main channel the very moving state funeral of the three Italian soldiers who were killed in Iraq recently. The President of Italy was there, as was the country's outgoing (and not before time) Prime Minister, together with hundreds of senior government, military and church figures to pay tribute to the sacrifice of these young lives and to help comfort their families.

If Italy can do that for three, can't the UK do as much for 103? Have any of Blair's senior ministers ever attended the funeral of one of our war dead? If Silvio Berlusconi can face the families of the young men he sent to Bush's war, can't Tony Blair find the courage to do the same?

WYLIE CUNNINGHAM

BALZAN, MALTA.............

Valid point. The OZ PM and CoDS both made it to the funeral of the young Digger who died the other week.

Maybe Blair thinks he`s got summat to hide.

B'liar would have a farking problem attending his own funeral!

Gett that he is.

Artist

Yes, but a state funeral? With all that implies? "State" funerals are actually reserved for Royalty and such like. A funeral with full military honours, is quite a different affair altogether. Either way, as the conflict continues and casualties potentially increase, "state" funerals would be all there was on TV.

Italy's response is to a rather (for them) unusual situation. When was the last time they had any troops killed anywhere?

Then there's the national morale. If there was a "state" funeral for every soldier killed in NI, let alone Korea or even WWII we'd have been in a state of perpetual national mourning for a couple of decades at least.

Here (Canada), they have just (as of the Chief of Defense Staff's last message issed five days ago) gone back to the old protocol for flag lowering.

Previously, every time a soldier was killed, all flags across the country went down (and there are lots of them here, like in Elmerland). Then it was when a mountie was killed, then it was some medic that got slotted. Finally, someone quite rightly said, "Enough!". It was all getting watered down. Now, the polcy has returned to the Maple Leaf being lowered at the deceased's operational theatre HQ, his home base HQ in Canada, and the General Parks building (NDHQ) in Ottawa. On the day of the funeral, however, all flags may be lowered within the deceased's command (land, air, or sea).

I personally prefer to just let the family have their time and their own funeral. If I was killed, or one of my boys, I wouldn't want a bloody circus (they tend to be very convenient political vehicles, anyway and that would just pi$$ me off no end!).

If Blair attended a funeral I think he would be lynched!