In my November 2008 newsletter I offended some people's sensibilities. In consideration of Remembrance Day I asked - "What are we being asked to remember on Remembrance Day?" and "What would be different if we truly remembered the sacrifices and those deceased by military conflict?"  I received more complaints to that article and more 'unsubscribes' to my newsletter than any since. It seems I had touched a raw nerve where even asking such questions was deemed inappropriate.

I've pondered about this ongoing relationship humanity has with war and our support for it. I've wondered why is it that we cannot seem to behave in more reasoned and civilized ways. I've questioned why it is considered naïve and unrealistic to request that we respond to the challenges and differences we face with diplomacy and compassion rather that weapons and destruction.

I acknowledge that war has been a part of humanity from the beginning. The amount of time in recorded history that humans have been at peace, where no country has taken up arms against another, is measured in days and months rather than years, decades, or centuries. The behaviour of the United States, for example, in invading and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan isn't new or isolated. The United States has been instrumental in invading and overthrowing fourteen governments over a 110-year period beginning with the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.

My perspective now is that the real issue is not about remembering or forgetting but rather about seeing through the delusions that cause us to view war in such noble and patriotic wrappings. With very few exceptions war is done for ideological, political and economic gain. War is about controlling valuable resources, strategic locations, or imposing one's will upon another as a way of intimidating other potential competitors. So why don't we see this fact more clearly? Why are we so easily seduced into believing that war is necessary, justified, noble, and unavoidable?

In the build up to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan I watched how the enemy  was depersonalized, dehumanized, and objectified. Those men and women in Afghanistan who so valiantly fought against the Soviet occupation were no longer referred to as freedom fighters or resistors. Rather, they were "terrorists", "extremists", and "members of the axis of evil".

While it is easy to sit in judgment of the decisions and actions of the US, British, and Canadian governments I am more interested in reflecting on how this path became a viable option in the first place. How is it that decent and caring citizens were co-opted into believing that aggressive military action of such scale and destruction was a good idea?

We can blame Mr. Bush and his cohorts in Washington who insisted that war was the only option. We can blame the media for failing to ask tough questions in the lead up to the invasion. We can blame Saddam for his practices in Iraq. We can blame Afghanistan for insisting that Bin Laden be tried by an international court rather than a US court. However, we would be better served by considering how the insanity of Mr. Bush and others is a reflection of our own insanity. How the failure of the media to ask tough questions is a reflection of our own unwillingness to ask tough questions. How the stories that were told to us about war is a reflection of our own willingness to accept these stories.

It is only when we search within for the cause of such behaviour that we will be able to heal ourselves and create peace. If we continue to focus on the actions and behaviour of others we will fail to recognize and address our own capacity for behaving and acting badly.

The good news is the delusions of war are beginning to disintegrate. The Canadian publication 'Peace' recently announced a number of notable achievements that are worthy of celebrating this Remembrance Day:

-       In July 2010 the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal issued its unanimous judgment that the Canadian Government's rejection of Iraq war resister Jeremy Hinzman's application for permanent residence in Canada was "flawed and unreasonable".

-       More than 4,037 mayors in 144 countries have joined a campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons by 2020.

-       This year's annual survey of public opinion conducted by the German Marshall Fund discovered that only two countries (the United States and Britain) have more than 50% of its citizens in agreement with the statement - "Under some conditions war is necessary to obtain justice."

Maybe we are beginning to see through the delusions of war. Maybe, just maybe, peace is being increasingly embraced as realistic, necessary, and possible. Maybe soon Remembrance Day will be about remembering war because it no longer exists.

Namaste

Ted