Veteran says remembrance abused for war propaganda

This music video from Britain is called Siouxsie & The Banshees ‘Poppy Day‘; John Peel session version.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Old soldier warns poppy being devalued

Sunday 11 November 2012

The real message of the red poppy and remembrance day is being lost, according to a former SAS soldier.

Veterans for Peace UK organiser Ben Griffin told the Wales on Sunday newspaper that the run-up to today’s commemoration had become a “month-long drum roll of support for current wars.”

Mr Griffin served eight years in the parachute regiment before quitting on moral grounds and and is now a London ambulance driver.

He said: “War is nothing like a John Wayne movie. There is nothing heroic about being blown up in a vehicle, there is nothing heroic about being shot in an ambush and there is nothing heroic about the deaths of countless civilians.

“Calling our soldiers heroes is an attempt to stifle criticism of the wars we are fighting in.

“It leads us to that most subtle piece of propaganda: You might not support the war but you must support our heroes, ergo you support the war.”

On Remembrance Day, keep in mind challenges veterans face at home (thestar.com)
Rail firm bans veteran war heroes from free travel scheme before Remembrance Sunday (standard.co.uk)
Mosques urge the faithful to wear a poppy this Remembrance Day (metro.co.uk)
Belfast mayor Mairtin O Muilleoir accused of ‘convenient absence’ on Remembrance Day (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)

4 thoughts on “Veteran says remembrance abused for war propaganda”

I always wear my poppy and remember the fallen. I believe that we need to find peaceful solutions.

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petrel41 on November 12, 2012 at 7:44 am said:

The poem In Flanders Fields, the inspiration for Poppy Day:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields

according to critics, illogically shifts from describing the horrors of war in the first two stanzas, to war propaganda in the third stanza.

I think this is why the Siouxsie and the Banshees song in the video in this blog post limits itself to the first lines.

I think the Veterans for Peace comments should be seen in the light of the plans of British Prime Minister David Cameron to spend lots of money in a time of “austerity” on celebrating the start of the First World War:

https://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/cameron-shouldnt-celebrate-world-war-i/

He does so now that the last veterans from that war have died. Safely for Cameron, as their voices were anti-war.

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