The End

Albert Einstein once said "The pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse military service."
During World War One, there were many incidences of troops of opposing sides who had no urge to fight eachother. Neither side wanted to kill or risk being killed and so they settled into a sort of truce. This often lasted until senior officers learned of the situation and forced the troops to conduct raids and larger assaults.  The famous "Christmas Truce" was an extreme example, where the opposing sides played football (soccer) - again, until senior officers decided it was wrong.
Compare those events with the footage we see of modern war. The latest images and comments of US combatants suggest the enemy has been dehumanised. How does this happen?
Modern society must have a part to play. By design, so must military training.



I can't help thinking that we can do better that this. Our ability to wage war has rapidly evolved, and yet our ability to prevent war seems to have been left behind. What is democracy?

War...

...is a calculated and condoned slaughter of human beings.
Those are the words of Harry Patch, a WW1 veteran who was buried today at the age of 111.

Here's a video of Harry from a couple of years ago:



If you read my blog I don't need to tell you what to think about war and peace, so I'm going to end with a composition which is often performed during Remembrance Sunday which I've always found quite poignant.