Having a say in the defence of the nation

So both self-interest and budding professional interest were tweaked. Here was a chance to work close to the centre of decision-making in Australia. I knew the job sometimes involved working for conservatives, supporting positions I did not personally hold, but my teachers' advice came to mind. So why not apply? What's to lose?

The rest, as they say, is history. The PhD was consigned to the dustbin, and I set off for Canberra. Now I'm retired, but I'm still here. I supported the 1991-2 war to force Saddam Hussein to relinquish his Kuwaiti conquest, but opposed that launched by Bush, Blair and Howard in 2003. Whether I was right or wrong in particular cases is beside the point here, but at least my arguments (and many others') were rational, based on facts (or what we thought were facts - rationality is still vulnerable to deception) and not glib slogans like those that dominated the "debate" over Vietnam.

I reckon it was worth it. But for those who might chose a similar path, it pays to bear in mind a warning which appears in Tolkien's classic, The Lord of the Rings:

It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill.