WAR & Soldiers

I don't like the war, and I'm definitely with you when you say there are better ways to solve problems than invading someone's country. Though I do care about the soldiers, because they are protecting our freedom and rights of religion, and our rights of being able to express ourselves freely, like right now =). But everybody believes differently, so it keeps things interesting. Savannah

Some say that women who oppose war and soldiers are too soft. I have difficulty in respecting women who join the army. I am opposed to war. I think the army is one big propaganda machine but I don't believe in oppression of democratic rights either and we have seen quite a lot of that through history. I don't believe in killing each other. It's always the young men who offer their lives and not the high and mighty generals who seem to believe that killing is the way to solve our problems. I believe in dialogue and diplomacy at an intelligent level.

I think that war is ritual human sacrifice,by the high priests who are our politicians, to the god of profit. I think that it has always been about the rich and powerful needlessly sacrificing the lives of ordinary people. They say support "our boys". What they really mean is "support the slaughter of our boys". I don't know how sending young men off to get killed or crippled is supporting them, especially when they're not being killed or crippled for a worthy cause but just so that the rich ruling elite can get richer and more powerful. I think that Remembrance day is part of the propoganda machine aswell. Why don't people mourn the dead privately on Remembrance day? Why make a spectacle of it? They may claim that it doesn't glorify war but it clearly does because it portrays war, not as something insane and horrific but as a noble sacrifice. If I didn't know better then I'd be seduced by all the pomp and poppies (is it merely a coincidence that they chose the flower from which opium is extracted, since poppy day is surely an 'opium of the people'?). However, I do admire those men who volunteered to fight against the fascists in the Spanish civil war. They chose to do that because they believed strongly in the cause they were fighting for. They, to my mind, were true heroes.

My grandfather was a conscientious objector during WW1. He served as a stretcher bearer at Ypres where he was severely injured. He was patched up and sent back into the line. His advice to me was 'always stand true to the person standing next to you and you'll be rewarded with loyalty.' I've had to modify it a bit - bankers and politicians don't count.

Whenever the subject of war comes up I am reminded of these words from the song 'The Green Fields of France' : "The sun now it shines on the green fields of France. There's a warm, summer breeze that makes the red poppies dance. And look how the sun shines from under the clouds: There's no gas, no barbed wire; there's no guns firing down But here in this graveyard, it's still no mans land, The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand, To a man's blind indifference to his fellow man, To a whole generation that were butchered and damned" And the indifference still goes on today.

So what do the anti-war/soldiers people think should have been done when Hitler decided to try to overrun the world and exterminated 6 million people merely because they were the wrong racial or social types? Perhaps you think they should have discussed it over a nice cuppa and a bit of cake? I think they tried that and it failed.

Well, Foots, it's the nature of the beast. I doubt we'll be kissing its arse goodbye anytime soon... http://www.ukauthors.com

FTSE, I'm assuming that you're being ironic. Real war doesn't look like a lot of fun to me but the counter-culture movement of the 1960's looks great; sex, drugs,rock and roll and revolution. What's boring about that? Whenever I see the 60's depicted in the media, it always seems as if the 'Jocks' (as the americans call them) went to Vietnam while all the really cool kids stayed at home. JoHn - "Ex amore victoria". ("From love comes victory".)

FTSE, there are so many people with extreme views on internet forums that its not always easy to tell if someones being serious or not. I've often got into a lot of misunderstandings with people on forums because I don't use emoticons. JoHn - "Ex amore victoria". ("From love comes victory".)

I like you Richard but I AM a hippie.. ;)Pia