Damn, I wish more people understood this. Young kids bleeding and dying in mud and shit is not glorious, no matter what uniform they are wearing.
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!âAn ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundâring like a man in fire or lime.â
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devilâs sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,â
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
My dad set that to music as Dulce at Decorum Est by John H Ashton when I was a kid. I attended many performances over the years. It left a deep mark on my soul.
I saw him perform this at Rebellion last year
Propaganda:
Oh God, I hope not. Nononononono.
No worries, itâs just the Russians at it again. Trying to discredit and misinform.
You need to be a Patreon subscriber to get the full interview, but thereâs a worthwhile excerpt of a discussion with @NuclearAnthro at the end of this.
Amongst other things, they discuss post-war US propaganda efforts to defuse civilian resistance to nuclear weaponry.
Interview starts at the 47 minute mark.
Who is this Peter guy you speak of?
Saddle up, boys n girls!!
Oh, not just war. This is the shitbag that bragged his bill was the inspiration for the Patriot Act.
Right but, psst-- this is the Drums of War thread.
And I guess tonight, in all threads itâs also Being Hit on the Head Lessons. 
Agh. Iâm probably not going to last more than one more electoral round around these parts at this rate, but thank you. 
We may have to go back and redefine what âwarâ is at some point too.
All US Presidents are âWartime Presidentsâ. The bombing never stops.
And that will never change so long as Americans continue to think of war as noble and glorious.
â
Separate incidents.
