Some times, when Hawkeye came out of the operating theatre, he would berate himself for failing a patient.  BJ would console him that he had done all he could, and we the viewers knew that was indeed the case.  But in the field of war, even fictional theatres of war as depicted in M*A*S*H, it is important to paper over the cracks and deal with the next emergency.

Unfortunately, papering over the cracks is often preferred when a post mortem would be more appropriate.  The British Government lurched through the fiasco of the Millennium Dome without ever asking the basic question as to whether the Government should be involved.  And so it is not surprising that the Government should now find itself embroiled in the fiasco of the National Football Stadium.  Fortunately, the only victims are the taxpayers.

A more serious case involves the recent Foot & Mouth epidemic.  There is an entire catalogue of mistakes, made public by many investigative reporters: the lack of a realistic contingency plan; the refusal to act on early warnings months before the crisis hit; the absence of a data base of British farms; poor and excessive transportation of animals; poor and intensive farming techniques; pre-occupation with slaughtering to the exclusion of vaccination; failure to weigh the small export value of animal products against the greater value of the tourist trade.   Once again, the taxpayers footed the bill, but the cost in terms of human misery is beyond measure.  Many lessons could be learnt, but the Government has refused to hold an enquiry.  And so we still have no contingency plan, even though we now know that this would be a soft target for terrorists.

The Government defended itself by claiming success.  How can we question their decisions when in fact the disease was brought under control?  But this presumes there is only one way to achieve a desired solution, and that is a mistake being made over and over in the Middle East.  There is always another way, and the greater the violence and misery, the greater the need to look for alternatives.

The coalition against terrorism dealt with the Taliban by waging war.  Although the al-Qaeda network is unbroken, the Americans claim their methods were fully justified.  Once again, there is no post mortem.  This insidious extrapolation from a single erroneous point could lead to military actions in other countries, and more collateral damage.  In other words, more innocent lives are likely to be lost.

We must indeed fight terrorism, but without a post mortem on Afghanistan we do not know whether weapons are the best option.  Fanaticism is difficult to combat, but when that fanaticism is based on misplaced idealism words are surely mightier than bullets.  We need wise words from all leaders, from all view points, to combat the brain-washing that produces terrorists.

No-one ever questioned Hawkeye’s integrity or ability, yet even he could only paper over the cracks for so long.  Eventually his mind refused to accept reality and he was unable to exercise his judgement wisely.  If this can happen to a fictional hero, what chance do mere human beings stand?