Remembrance day

The 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11 day of the 11th Month this year leaves me with more mixed feeling than any previous year.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
 
Anyone familiar with this ceremony will recall the phrase 'The War to end all wars.'
   Surely the point of remembrance of this war is that we do not forget the mistakes of History thereby repeating them.
   The so called Great War is where men empowered by privilege and social position gave orders to men, from less fortunate backgrounds, forcing them to commit acts that fly in the face of every natural instinct.
What happened at locations such as the Somme truly beggars belief - where young boys standing in rotten feet in rotten boots with lice offending every orifice had to watch the first wave go over the top into 100% certain machine gun scything down death - and then follow orders as a second wave to do the same. And then a third wave. All of whom knew beyond all reasonable doubt that the orders they were following were lunacy. And those who refused were simply shot by their own officers.

These are not Fallen Hero's. These are victims of social crimes. Class crimes. Empowering unqualified men of unconvincing intelligence to knowingly execute hundreds of thousands of unfortunate victims of their callous disregard and respect for life.

There were many voices at the time pointing out the ridiculous aspect to paying for a few miles of front line with hundreds of thousands of lives. No one listened then.
The lesson we should take away from all of this is that War is horrible. It debases everyone involved.

There is no need for war at all but for one exception. When a country comes under attack from another bent on military destruction. In no other circumstance is War superior to diplomacy and the tools available to the diplomat, most notably through economic manipulation.

I have been horrified and fascinated by the WW1 stories in equal measure. The only sense that can come from remembering the sacrifices made on the bloody battlefields of the Western Front is that through their deaths we learn something to ensure that we don't repeat the same mistakes.

That we continue to make war since the sorry reflection following WW1 is self evident however my umbrage at this time of year lies with the hijacking of a noble memory - remembrance of victims of callous cruel execution in the name of an ideal not of the choosing of the vast majority - who were led sheep like into the conflict without the opportunity to exercise choice.
Translating their tragedy to muster support for the current wars is quite clearly in my view, revolting.

They were not fallen heroes who died to inspire a new generation to follow in their footsteps.
They were tragic victims of failed leadership. Duped by circumstance and by deliberate targeting along class lines into a slaughterhouse that should have given rise to many criminal charges, instead of the medal count that the likes of Hague went on to enjoy.

My remembrance on 11/11/11 this year, as it is every year, will be a moment of misty eyed silence for the victims. I will not be buying the fluffy Tommy doll with a string you pull that makes him say 'Over the top' or the ridiculous sound of silence CD that is as much an affront to the environment as it is to basic common sense. Or even listening to speeches by the social inheritors of Hague's mantle, like silly Prince Andrew in his ridiculous hat playing soldiering that has no connection or appreciation of the real tragedy that remembrance day represent.
The execution of almost an entire generation of youth in service to the vainglorious idiocy of a deluded few.