What were they thinking?

When I served in the (Dutch) armed forces the joke was that “kamfer”, a chalk like substance that is extracted from a tree by the same name, was added in small quantities to the food because of the libido suppressing properties that the stuff was thought to have.

Today I hear on the radio that Canada’s DND (Department of National Defence) is contemplating ,as an austerity measure, doing away with a programme that was introduced in 2000 that provided free Viagra to serving members of the forces ( 6 pills a month @ $15 a piece). The government at the time justified supplying the prescription wonder drug to troops as a health policy meant to ensure “all soldiers were mentally fit and ready for the battlefield”. Presumable they would rise to the occasion more eagerly.

If it requires Viagra to make our forces mentally fit one has to wonder why we even have a DND.