Poppycock
The 11th of November is of course Remembrance Day; the day when everyone tries to out-patriotism each other by wearing little plastic poppies to honour all the glorious heroes who murdered someone else's glorious heroes because... "Freedom" or something. My poppy is bigger than yours... Yes, I know. That was offensive. Well you know what? War is offensive. I have always been very uncomfortable with the commemoration of any aspect of war; even if it is just to honour the dead. It can very quickly turn into a rallying-cry for more bloodshed. Too many times in our history has there been a tacit assumption that war is a game , with rules and ethics, and red lines that must never be crossed. That's why you will often hear pundits and politicians talking about "war crimes" and "atrocities" as if war somehow had boundaries and umpires and fouls. Guess what? War is a crime. Any act of war is an atrocity, and if two sides can agree to work within a mutual