Comments on: Powerful antiwar song. The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

By: DJ

DJ — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:39:01 +0000

In the movie “Gallipoli,” many of those men died following absurd orders, under the presumption that dying for The Cause was noble. I don’t now how historically accurate the movie was, but in today’s 4GW/terrorist warfare, that concept has expanded to include civilians. Whether at the hands of western armies in Iraq and Afghanistan, or on buses and trains and rice paddies at the hands of both combatants in Sri Lanka, civilian deaths are today just part of the cost of the struggle. In Sri Lanka, 2/3 of the 70K+ casualties have been civilians. In Iraq, the percentages are even higher.

Years ago, when I was in elementary school, we’d gather and recite the poem “Flanders Fields” and pass out paper poppies– but had no idea that what we were memorializing was the millions of deaths of WWI. We read that poem and had no idea what it meant. I wonder if the same is true today.

By: Eminence Grise

Eminence Grise — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:30:15 +0000

War really *is* a racket, ain’t it?

By: Dave Riley

Dave Riley — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:09:59 +0000

Here’s some background:

The song is written by Eric Bogle and marks the massive slaughter of Australian troops during WWI fighting for king and empire and the annual ANZAC Day military remembrances.

I wrote this comment a couple of years back:

—–

With the increasingly strident nationalism that greets ANZAC Day each year, it is easy to forget what the ANZAC tradition celebates. In almost nine months of entrenched fighting on Turkeyâ€™s Gallipoli peninsula, Australian and New Zealand casualties reached 8587 killed in action and 19,367 wounded in the line of duty. Those Turks were defending their homeland from invasion.

Where so many died invading we now call â€œsacred groundâ€.

When the British Empire (which included the ANZACs) and French forces finally withdrew from the Gallipoli peninsula, they had suffered 44,000 deaths. At least 85,000 Turkish soldiers died during the campaign.

That was in 1915. The same year, ANZAC forces suffered massive losses of 28,000 killed or wounded during the first seven weeks of the Battle of the Somme. So it comes as no surprise that during the following year Australians rejected conscription at a federal referendum â€” with troops in the front line trenches strongly voting â€œNoâ€ . Another referendum the following year rejected conscription by an even larger margin.

So I am a proud Aussie, not because this country has a penchant to celebrate the slaughter of those who we sent to invade or defeat, or the deaths of those this country sent to do such deeds. I am a proud Aussie because, in the face of such slaughter, a massive campaign was organised in this country against strengthening that war through conscription â€” and it won!

You have to see past the jingoistic bullshit on Anzac Day. You canâ€™t afford to forget, thatâ€™s true, all those who died. But for whom did they die? Not for me.

If conscription had prevailed many more would have died. Thatâ€™s really whatâ€™s worth celebrating.

Lest we forget.