Monday 12 November 2007

Lest we forget.

Poppies in my garden.

War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong;
and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.

- Thomas Jefferson
...

11 comments:

  1. Generally, I would agree with that. However, is there such a concept as the "just war"? There cannot have been many, but I suppose the fight against the Nazis might qualify (It would have been much simpler to have assassinated Hitler in about 1937, but that is the value of hindsight).

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  2. Mr Jefferson hit the nail on the head all right.

    Lovely photo.

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  3. I like the quote and the poppies - are they hard to grow?

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  4. IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

    In Flanders fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses, row on row
    That mark our place; and in the sky
    The larks, still bravely singing, fly
    Scarcely heard amid the guns below.

    We are the Dead. Short days ago
    We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
    Loved and were loved, and now we lie
    In Flanders fields.

    Take up our quarrel with the foe:
    To you from failing hands we throw
    The torch; be yours to hold it high
    If ye break faith with us who die
    We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
    In Flanders fields.
    John McCrae.

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  5. Sparker adds:

    The last stanza presents a problem -
    is there a "just war"? Do we break faith with the dead? Should there be dead in the first place? Solomon, where are you when we need you!

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  6. Ah me, nothing to add, no certainties, alas. Wars, grievances, aggressions always happen because of the one before that,which in turn deepens the grievance in an endless cycle, of course. But knowing that doesn't supply a solution as to how to stop them.
    That's an excellent picture.

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  7. do you thinking, what i am thinking now?

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  8. love the photo. There is something so wonderful about poppies! Perhaps its the striking color... or the delicate petals... idk but they have always been among my favorites in the garden.

    As for war... it saddens me so that there is war... to see such human loss... to see the devistation on communities and cities... and its an awful waste of money that could be used for sooooooo many worthier things!

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  9. true, very true...

    and there are few wars that don't have injustice on both sides. perhaps none.

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  10. Jefferson should have known the errors of war both as a student of history and as a man. Nice quote!

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