Photo © Nord-Ouest Production
I saw Joyeux Noël, and excellent european movie, a couple of days ago.
It is one of the best movies I have ever seen. The contrast between soldiers who choose to celebrate Christmas in the trenches of World War 1 and the official response to their actions is heart rending. The movie is inspired by a true story which happened on Christmas Eve in 1914 .
The lunacy of war and those who encourage it is apparent.
I couldn't help thinking about the American, British and Australian soldiers sent to Iraq to solve what George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard now classify as a "regime change, lack of democracy and terrorism" issues, now that their apalling "mistake" about "weapons of mass destruction" has at least been admitted by George Bush and Tony Blair .
These political leaders should know better than to conduct a war based on ideology and politics; the problems arising from it will haunt future generations like the Berlin Wall did and the partion of Korea still does. The parallels with Vietnam are disturbing too. The Americans will eventually leave Iraq - the question is not if but when, and what will they leave behind.
A monument symbolising peace and to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1914 "fraternisations" is is planned for construction in 2006 in the village of Neuville St Vaast. It is greatly encouraging to see people focussing on and working for peace.
Link to the official movie site
No comments:
Post a Comment