Wednesday 25 November 2015

Peace in our time?

The events of the last few days, and weeks and months for that matter, are an uncomfortable reminder how fragile peace is. From Paris to the Turkish border, never mind the awful events around that slip off the front pages of the newspapers, 2015 is a year that will be remembered for a long time for all the wrong reasons.

Our link with the world comes from the BBC news, various online forums and newspapers, and does not give a very balanced view of current affairs. The keyboard warriors and armchair generals all seem to feel this is some sort of game. I am reminded of an animated scene in the brilliant 1968 film "The Charge of the Light Brigade" YouTube link when the masses decide that "War, War, War" is what is wanted. And it seems that certain sectors of society are talking and writing their way towards even more killing.

No one who has served in the military, especially those who have seen active service, would want the world to go down that route. But the opinion formers and politicians seem isolated from the realities of war, and talk and write of this and that as if it is inevitable.

So let us hope that sanity prevails and that "To jaw-jaw is better than to war-war", as attributed to Winston Churchill in 1954 at a White House luncheon. I, for one, will be keeping all my fingers and toes crossed.

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