marching as to war

Soldiers from the Stafford regiment marched through Hanley at lunchtime today. Someone in a fancy hat, perhaps the mayor or similar, stood on a raised wooden platform, with a reasonable crowd around who applauded as the 200-odd young lads went past, drums beating.

A Warrior armoured vehicle was parked nearby, and young boys were welcoming the opportunity to climb inside. Recruitment officers were working, as they frequently do in Hanley, one of the areas with low wages which tend to be major suppliers of troops.

I found myself getting confused between anger and sorrow at the whole spectacle. Parading banners is a traditional activity going back hundreds of years, but in these days when the regiment has recently returned from Iraq, there is far more to it.

Young people are lured into a dangerous part of the world with the prospect of 'better' wages or career, and die in a war which we started, supported by an incompetent government and opposition and led by a Prime Minister who at best misled Parliament with false information largely copied from an essay on the Internet and at worst actively and knowingly lied to the country.

There was no public inquiry into the case for invasion, yet young people continue to enlist and their families and neighbours stand applauding them in the street. We will never truly regenerate this city while people feel that the army is their best option, and we will continue to be complicit in war while people keep joining up and accepting orders.