Friday, January 12, 2007

Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war ...

I made myself rewatch the classic movie Oh, what a lovely War last night.

This is an ageing but brilliant representation of a stage musical about world war one. If you haven't seen it, I cannot recommend it too highly.

About it

Acquire it

Part of the reason for rewatching, apart from the sheer pleasure of it, was in comparing key parts of it to what George Bush said in his much-reported speech this week.

I quote the President here:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time.
On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation. On the other side are extremists who kill the innocent, and have declared their intention to destroy our way of life.
In the long run, the most realistic way to protect the American people is to provide a hopeful alternative to the hateful ideology of the enemy - by advancing liberty across a troubled region.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

To me, this sort of level of self-delusion is similar to the 'it'll all be over by christmas' attitude with which our descendents entered world war one.

The full speech is here

Enjoy the film - and the lesssons it leaves.

Global reaction to the President's speech.
Feedback on the Bush speech

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