Remembrance

What we now call the First World War brought home the senseless horror of killing as a way of resolving conflicts.

Yet a solemn ceremony of remembrance for a generation that was mown down by the militarism of political leaders more concerned about power and influence than about people has now been turned into something which upholds the very same militarism that sent them to their deaths. A white poppy is one way of taking a stand against this.

     

Yes, it is right to remember the millions who have died and those who are still dying, but we also need to remember the millions who they have killed and are still killing. We are slow to learn. We must repudiate those who resort all too readily to armed force as a means of projecting power and influence around the globe. If war is ever justified, it can only be in defence.

The War You Don't See

Last night I watched John Pilger's documentary, The War you Don't See, on ITV. It was the most hard hitting couple of hours of television I have seen for some time.

This is a short trailer which gives a flavour of what it's about:

     

Nothing in the documentary particularly surprised me. From what I've written here and elsewhere, people should know my opinion of what Pilger calls the "rapacious wars" the UK government and some of its allies have been and are engaged in. Nor are some of the things reported new. But so much of this film's strength lies in the thoroughness of its approach in showing the failure of the mainstream news media to give us a balanced picture of what happens in these wars.

So I'd urge anyone who missed it to carve out some time to catch it here on itvplayer.

To the Civilians of Hiroshima and Afghanistan

Today is the sixty-fifth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The first of two examples of the worst atrocities of war: the indiscriminate killing of civilians on a massive scale. There might be some circumstances in which war is justified, but the indiscriminate killing of non-combatants can never be justified.

    

We rightly mourn the loss of what is now just over five hundred of our armed forces in our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and I would not hear a word spoken against their service, nor against those who have been wounded in service. But it is sobering to remember that the loses to our armed forces are as nothing compared to the civilian deaths that we and our allies have inflicted on the people of these two countries.

When we choose to, we are well able to fight wars in such a way as to minimize the loss of civilian life. The Falklands War is a good example of how to fight in an acceptable way. And while I do not want to impugn the conduct of any of our service personnel and the difficulty of the decisions they have to make in the heat of battle, the way that we have chosen to fight these other wars at a strategic level has undoubtedly led to more loss of civilian life than would have been the case if we had chosen to give the same care and attention to the citizens of the places we have invaded as we've done where our own citizens were concerned.

    

We fight dirty wars in a shameful way.