It's ANZAC day tomorrow (again).
As you know, I'm a Vietnam veteran with an "attitude problem". So for me, ANZAC day is about the Vietnam war - and it gets me going. Big time...
We hear about "the 521 Diggers who sacrificed their lives" in that war. The propagandists make it sound like they gave their lives for a noble cause. They were "heroes". The propagandists do this for three very good reasons:
[1] There's a quid in being a propagandist - and a certain amount of kudos (in certain circles) and job security.
[2] So that we, the veterans, and the loved ones of the dead, don't get really pissed off (if we ever deduce the truth) and stone our leaders to death.
[3] So that future generations of young, ignorant, and idealistic wannabe "patriots" will eagerly join the next stupid war to benefit the war profiteers and their political puppets.
So, ANZAC day is just about _our_ dead, is it? It's still only about us, is it? We conveniently ignore the massive overall death toll of that war - in Vietnam, in Cambodia, and in Laos.
It was a war Australia wholeheartedly embraced ("All the way with LBJ!"), and to this day we still cheer and clap it on, to the rousing sound of marching bands on ANZAC day.
So, what about the 3+ million Asian people who died in America's war against Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos? Do we shed a tear?
Do the Asian casualties (mostly civilian) not count? How come only our (white, Anglo-Saxon, capitalist) dead count? How come we don't spend time on this day to reflect on the massive overall death toll?
By the way, we were told at the time that we were fighting for "freedom and democracy" - neither of which the artificial 'nation' of "South" Vietnam ever enjoyed. All they ever got was corrupt dictators - installed by America - and massively large numbers of dead people. Dead people we somehow don't think about on ANZAC day. It's too inconvenient.
The mantra was "stop the spread of communism" - but as we now know, the real purpose was to install globalised capitalism (with America in charge, of course).
And here we are... Happy ANZAC day, fellas!
Gerry Binder, Vietnam veteran
As you know, I'm a Vietnam veteran with an "attitude problem". So for me, ANZAC day is about the Vietnam war - and it gets me going. Big time...
We hear about "the 521 Diggers who sacrificed their lives" in that war. The propagandists make it sound like they gave their lives for a noble cause. They were "heroes". The propagandists do this for three very good reasons:
[1] There's a quid in being a propagandist - and a certain amount of kudos (in certain circles) and job security.
[2] So that we, the veterans, and the loved ones of the dead, don't get really pissed off (if we ever deduce the truth) and stone our leaders to death.
[3] So that future generations of young, ignorant, and idealistic wannabe "patriots" will eagerly join the next stupid war to benefit the war profiteers and their political puppets.
So, ANZAC day is just about _our_ dead, is it? It's still only about us, is it? We conveniently ignore the massive overall death toll of that war - in Vietnam, in Cambodia, and in Laos.
It was a war Australia wholeheartedly embraced ("All the way with LBJ!"), and to this day we still cheer and clap it on, to the rousing sound of marching bands on ANZAC day.
So, what about the 3+ million Asian people who died in America's war against Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos? Do we shed a tear?
Do the Asian casualties (mostly civilian) not count? How come only our (white, Anglo-Saxon, capitalist) dead count? How come we don't spend time on this day to reflect on the massive overall death toll?
By the way, we were told at the time that we were fighting for "freedom and democracy" - neither of which the artificial 'nation' of "South" Vietnam ever enjoyed. All they ever got was corrupt dictators - installed by America - and massively large numbers of dead people. Dead people we somehow don't think about on ANZAC day. It's too inconvenient.
The mantra was "stop the spread of communism" - but as we now know, the real purpose was to install globalised capitalism (with America in charge, of course).
And here we are... Happy ANZAC day, fellas!
Gerry Binder, Vietnam veteran
Posted at 10:43 PM
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