Remembrance Day 2011

Today we remember those who died in wars.

Some people have hijacked this day to glorify war, or to use it as an opportunity to once again spin post-war propaganda.

I choose to remember some of the dead this way:

I remember the 500+ Australian soldiers who died in Vietnam (some of whom I knew personally). I remember the lies on which that war was based. I remember that we were only there to appease Big Brother America. I remember the 4,000,000+ dead Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodians whose only crime was to be caught up in the meat grinder that was America's mad empire-building spree.

I remember the 32 Australian soldiers who have died, so far, in the Afghanistan war - another mad US venture that is doomed to failure.

I remember the insanity of the Iraq war, and the more than 1,000,000 Iraqi dead. I remember that they had to die so that Saddam's decision to stop selling oil in US dollars could be reversed by the US occupation forces. I remember that the day after Iraq "agreed" to once again sell oil in US dollars, George W Bush announced "Mission Accomplished."

I remember the futility, nay, crime that war is...

I remember...

Lest we forget...