The Present State of War

This story about the Canadian government’s desire to outfit 17,000 soldiers with the Integrated Soldier System Project really got me worked up again. The simple fact that it is anticipated to take until 2018 to accomplish this “upgrade” for the 17,000 soldiers reminds me of how committed this government is to keeping our soldiers at war … for the long-haul.

So where am I going with this? What I would like to do is to use this site as a forum to assess what people’s views are on the present state of war: in (inter)national politics, in our culture (e.g., messages in film, or music, or visible through sport, etc.), and in our own personal lives.

To kick this off, I’d like to suggest a list of movies that might spark some discussion about some of the more predominant attitudes about war in the contemporary moment. If you’ve seen any of these, offer your readings on the prevailing messages. If you haven’t, try to find the time to watch one (or all) and do the same. In no particular order, some of the films I’m thinking about are:

Lions for Lambs

Redacted

Rambo

The Kingdom

Jarhead

Hotel Rwanda

Of course, feel free to suggest some other relevant films as well. But let’s definitely start this conversation …

Peace & Much Love …

Dig it!