For me the term "the military mind" has long been a criticism of a personality type, a mode of behaviour, a concept of an attitude bordering on insult. It has been equated with behaviour expectations such as 'do as ordered', 'do not question orders', and the fundamental expectation of rigid adherence to codified discipline in the art of warfare. In the past that perception was enhanced by the separation of the military establishment from the civilian 'everyday world' most of us inhabited and experienced. It also fitted in with the world I grew up in and especially the perceptions of the 60's in Britain. Even when the frequent wars and British military interventions happened near and far, during those times and since, the reporting of them, and the general perception, was of a remote military establishment doing what it was expected to do away from the run of our our civilian lives.
But in recent years, especially with the impact and comment on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, almost since the deaths of the last survivors of the 1914-18 war, there seems to me to be a disturbing emphasis on marking anniversaries of wars, battles, campaigns and almost anything else of significance in relation to warfare, as a target for memorials and celebrations. I say celebrations as, although the words spoken at ceremonies talk of honouring the sacrifice, they are portrayed a sanitised sacrifice shorn of the true horror and sordidness of warfare. Shorn of the uncomfortable truths about wars be they described as unavoidable, futile, necessary, honourable or dishonourable.
It seems that the increasingly frequent anniversary celebrations are turning the marking of these terrible events into another branch of the entertainments industry. They are supposed to remind us, we are told, of the sacrifice of those who fought, died, and were traumatised by the events in the wars, but is that really what we get from such celebrations. We are told that the lessons of these terrible events must be learnt, especially by those who did not live through them, but are these celebrations really addressing that expectation, I think not. They are/have become rituals, a routine, an entertainment even, where the reason for them and the message they should convey are being lost, sanitised, buried. Where the military and its warfare turn of mind is seen as standard, acceptable, necessary, a sanitised and disembodied way of viewing the world and conflicts, when it should be a decent to a desperate final recourse. This new and cosy acceptance of the military establishment and their activities is, for me, the very opposite of how we ought to view the military, their use and their behaviour.
