Remembering

Today is Armistice Day, when we remember the dead of wars and the sacrifice they made.

However it is important we remember the whole story. We can't for a moment allow this to be hijacked by groups seeking to push their own agenda. That's why this is wrong

And this is right

But nor should we allow the glory myth to mask the truth about the sacrifice, or the PR suits to hijack it. The RBL have produced a sanitized version of The Green Fields of France by Eric Bogle. In it's original form it is a beautiful, haunting and thoughtful song that highlights the sacrifice and futility of war, in the new RBL version its a pop ballad featuring some abstract posing by Joss Stone, with the last verse, the one that makes you think, removed.

'Ah young Willie McBride, I can’t help wonder why,

Do those that lie here know why did they die?

And did they believe when they answered the cause,

Did they really believe that this war would end wars?

Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain,

The killing and dying, were all done in vain.

For Willie McBride, it all happened again,

And again, and again, and again, and again.'

I believe sometimes there is such a thing as a Just War. There is no such thing as a clean one. If we forget that, we're dooming our children, and insulting our veterans and those who sacrificed their lives on our behalf.