According to the last "Tommy" who recently passed away at the age of 111 "war is organised murder". This man was not a pacifist but a soldier who fought in a war which he did not believe in because society said that is what he should do, to serve his king and his country. It was what society expected and there were many precedents to it. It is one of the aberrations of human nature that man has to prove himself by going to war against fellow man and that he is expected to engage in mass warfare and fight and die in a foreign field for the sake of glory and honour. Note the medals which adorn his jacket. It is time that these attitudes towards the condoning of organised murder were ended for all time. One of the Commandments is "Thou shalt not kill". Since this was written on a tablet of stone in a Middle Eastern desert there has been an endless succession of wars and countless deaths. As the song goes "When will they ever learn?" There is no justification for murder and organised murder is perpetrated by a society that has no concept of the sanctity of life and the responsibility conferred on humankind.
"He was a man of peace who used his great age and fame as the last survivor of the trenches to communicate two simple messages: remember with gratitude and respect those who served on all sides; settle disputes by discussion, not war."
7 comments:
Thanks for emphasising this. I doubt if Bloody Brown will permit such sentiments to be broadcast.
I see he's bizarrely claimed World War 1 was fought for freedom and democracy. Funny, I thought it was an imperialist war in which the working classes were sacrificed to defend European empires. For this ultra-British nationalist - who is already on record for claiming the British Empire was beneficial - to try and re-invent history shows what a dangerous nutter he really is.
War isn't always futile Alan. I'm reading a history of the Finnish 'Winter War with Stalin in 1939-40 and what's obvious is that Finland's neutrality was of no use and in fact jeopardised that country's hard-fought for social democracy when was needed. Many of the country's leads misguided belief in pacifism and the 'international community' meant it came within a hairs-breadth to being a soviet satellite which would have meant certain death for people like yourself who takes an interest in politics. Fighting against Stalin or gulag and Soviet repression? I know what I'd rather do - war wasn't futile for the Finns!
The mistake you and many nationalists make is swallow the British left wing propaganda that 'war is futile' and that the First World War was testimony to the 'danger of nationalism'.
Alan - the First War War does one thing. It's a testimony to the Futility of Britishness. Pacifism is the religion of those who refuse to fight against dictators. The Irish weren't pacifists and they fought for their country. Would Welsh/British pacifists like yourself have fought for Irish independence were you in Dublin in 1916 or would you have had a useless candle vigil and said 'war is bad'?
Sometimes, not everytime, sometimes war is the best option of a bad situation. War works - that's why people still do it.
The lessons of WW1 aren't the futility of War but the futility of Britishness. Don't be hoodwinked by the Brit Left. Don't allow yourself to be given a pat on the head by the Brit Pacifists for being a 'nice nationalist'.
WW1 is an shows the danger of British nationalism not Welsh nationalism.
Harry Patch called "war as organised murder" in the context of two World Wars. Or rather, one early 20th century intra-European war in two parts. There is no doubt that the imperialist First war led directly to the Second. Finno-Russian hostility - on both sides - was part of that unresolved conflict. (See the excellent book 'Finland in the Twentieth Century').
I agree that most of the British Left - including a few misguided souls in Plaid - are a waste of space. Most remain British nationalists to the core, including contempt for Wales. But the idea of Welsh resistance and even pacifism is by no means part of that tradition.
Free Wales will be part of the UN and will work to strengthen that organisation - like the Irish - against the imperialism of states like the UK. Much more likely now with the decline of the US hegemon. I'm sure Wales would also work for European peace resolution initiatives to prevent future wars; a very successful policy in the Balkans for example.
There is no need for Anon 02.21 to throw out the baby with the bath-water. Alan and Harry Patch are fundamentally right.
Pegalius
Agree with you (and I'm sure with Alan to a large exent) but:
"I'm sure Wales would also work for European peace resolution initiatives to prevent future wars; a very successful policy in the Balkans for example."
... what, like Adam Price and other Left wing Plaid members condemning NATO's bombing of Serbia in '99? It was NATO's action which brought peace and independence to Kosovo - surely we as Welsh nationalists are in support of that?
Too often 'peace intiatives' are a waste of space and an excuse to be seen to do something but nothing in reality.
The question remains, what would Alan, like many pacifitst in Finland 1939 - been smug neutralists/pacifists like Sweden (which didn't come to the aid of any of its three neighbours even though they were invaded by vile regimes like Hitler and Stalin) or conceeded that a state has to arm itself and be prepared to go to war.
The problem with Alan's blog is the totally brain-dead title 'war is futile'. No, war isn't futile - the British nation state is futile - there's a difference.
I hope to god that a Welsh nation state will not be run by unthinking pacifists, otherwise we're either expecting to live in cloud coockoo land or other states to send their sons (like Sweden and Ireland in WW2) to get killed fighting for the democracy and freedom we so cherish.
Lets kick out this pacifist nonsense and start acting like a grown-up nation.
More serious and interesting comments here than we have had for some time.
Surely, this is a controversial subject and I accept the points of view expressed and see their validity. However, though a Utopian society may not be possible or even desirable, it remains to be said that murder, of any kind and even for the cause of freedom, is regrettable if not inevitable and is a moral and ethical crime.
Liam Clarke in the Belfast News Letter wrote a fascinating column on the links between Harry Patch's WWI and today's Middle Eastern conflicts that had their roots in WWI. I cannot get the link now due to a glitch, but the article's well worth reading; I sent the link directly to Alan in hopes he may be able to comment upon it in a future post.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have changed Computer history completely. But the interesting part is who is known as father of computers- Charles Baggage did not know that he would make an important place in history with his invention. Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into mobile device, and mobile computer can be powered by small batteries. Personal computers in their various forms are icon of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". It was a great invention of world history.
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