Thursday, 30 April 2009

Beating The Retreat

I was very moved to hear the list of our war dead from Iraq read out in Basra.

But if you did that at the Cenotaph, then you would be arrested. People have been.

So why did they bother? What was it all for?
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5 comments:

  1. JohnJGMooney30 April 2009 at 15:58

    Well the Cenotaph is a sacred place and should not be used as a political backdrop (although arguably it is increasingly used as such).
    Watching the News today I was struck by the dignity. But it was stage-managed (not a bad thing in itself)
    I wonder how many journos were flown out there at MOD expense thus ensuring a particular type of uncritical coverage.
    Although the solemnity of the occasion itself should ensure no critique.
    Not the time. Not the place.
    Yet the portrayal of the Basra experience as a "victory" may not stand up in 20 or 50 years time.
    Nevertheless from the perspective of a neutral....it was impressive.

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  2. David Lindsay30 April 2009 at 16:14

    A neutral? What about all those Irish Guards and RIR, complete with the shamrock on their vehicles?

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  3. JohnJGMooney30 April 2009 at 16:20

    A neutral yes.

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  4. David Lindsay30 April 2009 at 16:26

    Whatever that means.

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  5. JohnJGMooney30 April 2009 at 16:32

    Self explanatory surely.
    It means that my nation is not involved in the conflict.
    And the ethnic origins or birthplaces of those in the regiment are as little consequence to me as those serving say Australia, USA or Canada.
    I obviously wish them no harm. To wish anyone involved in that conflict more harm than the other side would be an immoral act and my conscience could not sustain such a thought.

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