MacKay marks Remembrance Day in Kandahar: Torturing prisoners and cutting half a billion dollars for Veterans. Yeah we remember. Lest we forget. Another Harper U turn: Recent events suggest that despite its past rhetoric about transparency and accountability, this government is determined to silence whistleblowers rather than protect them.
But we all buy into it on this day. We all suddenly become avid militia supporters and wear poppies to honour those who fight and kill. I'll not wear a poppy and be part of this societal glorification of soldiers and simultaneous ignoring of the many more innocent victims of war.
ReplyDeletehttp://ricksturningpoint.blogspot.com/2011/11/selective-remembrance-day.html
The Afghan mission and the torture along with the US Soldiers protecting the Opium crops there returning Afghanistan to becoming the world’s largest producer of opium, I have to admit, has caused the poppy to take on new meaning. Yet stopping Hitler was the right thing to do. Military service is honorable although blind devotion is not.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, your blog post does have merit. Remembering the other victims of war is important too. A 10:1 civilian-to-soldier death ratio in wars fought since the mid-20th century is significant. I think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and am saddened. Thanks for your thoughts.