Oh yeah, the great "if only" game. I love it.

I like to play it with real fiction, too.

OTHELLO
Lend me thy handkerchief.

DESDEMONA
Here, my lord.

OTHELLO
That which I gave you.

DESDEMONA
I have it not about me.

OTHELLO
Not?

DESDEMONA
No, indeed, my lord.

OTHELLO
That is a fault.
That handkerchief
Did an Egyptian to my mother give;
She was a charmer, and could almost read
The thoughts of people: she told her, while
she kept it,
'Twould make her amiable and subdue my father
Entirely to her love, but if she lost it
Or made gift of it, my father's eye
Should hold her loathed and his spirits should hunt
After new fancies: she, dying, gave it me;
And bid me, when my fate would have me wive,
To give it her. I did so: and take heed on't;
Make it a darling like your precious eye;
To lose't or give't away were such perdition
As nothing else could match.

DESDEMONA
Is't possible?

OTHELLO
'Tis true: there's magic in the web of it:
A sibyl, that had number'd in the world
The sun to course two hundred compasses,
In her prophetic fury sew'd the work;
The worms were hallow'd that did breed the silk;
And it was dyed in mummy which the skilful
Conserved of maidens' hearts.

DESDEMONA
Indeed! is't true?

OTHELLO
Most veritable; therefore look to't well.

DESDEMONA
Then would to God that I had never seen't!

OTHELLO
Ha! wherefore?

DESDEMONA
Why do you speak so startingly and rash?

OTHELLO
Is't lost? is't gone? speak, is it out
o' the way?

DESDEMONA
Oh look, silly me - here it is...

[Exeunt omnes]

I think you should add to your article that ending the First World War could have prevented the Russian Revolution and the Communists coming to power there. I think the fact that you left this out, or that you didn't consider it, says something about your motives. Other than that, I found it a very interesting article. I sometimes argue that if the Gallipoli campaign had been handled more competently, the Western Allies could have broken through the Dardenelles and been able to supply Russia from the south, and again, avoid the Russian Revolution. If only, given that the USSR became the second most diabolical regime of the 20th century, exceeded only by the PRC.

I agree with another commenter here that the actions of a single man propbably would not make a difference.

Military comms often have redundancy. No one has the legal right to refuse to fight or to refuse to pass on the order to fight. If an acconpanying officer was aware of the order, he would be duty bound to pass it on even if his companion thought not.

The trials of Nazi war criminals established the true situation.

The responsibility to not carry out vile acts overrides any order to do so, each and every rank.

As I see it, it is the duty of command to provide proper information confirming the legality of orders, and of recipients to demand such.

Of course, if we only have just wars, I suspect the army will get very bored.

Rusty

Dear Brian,

Thank you for writing this poignant and wonderful article. Every day each one of us changes our world. For the better or the
worse. I've just read this. And you have just changed my world for the better.

You've made me think.

Tess Lawrence

With all the talk of the Anzac spirit, acknowledgement of heroism and remembrance of past struggle what effort is going into preventing future wars? We know some causes and exacerbating factors - too many people struggling over too few resources, unequal distribution of those resources, increasing population, religious and ideological conflicts, those in power wanting to keep and expand their power and those out of power wanting to gain power. Can we act rationally to attack the causes of war?

If Smith-Dorrien had not followed Orders & got the troops back fighting there would be about 1 Billion more people on this planet looking for a feed.
War & pestilence have their place in the natures scheme. It's a sorry fact of nature. Not many creatures live to an old age, most become food for something else. That's life (& death) unfortunately.