Where have all the flowers gone?

I was moved by the 888,246 poppies at the Tower of London representing the British soldiers killed in WW1 – an amazing, shocking sight. However I am sad that, in this remembrance no one is pointing out what a futile war it was.
I wear a White Poppy for peace because, while I feel that those injured in war need support (as given by the British Legion), I do not want to glorify war and we need to … remember
 More children have been killed in wars in the last 10 years than soldiers
 80% of the people killed in all wars have been civilians
 Wars are not accidents caused by evil people … wars are the outcome of social, political and economic structures and policies that we can influence.

So while I mourn the loss of 888,246 British soldiers lost in WW1 I cannot and will not continue to glorify this ‘Great War’ as anything other than the futile, inhuman waste of life that it was – and that wars continue to be.

I cannot be a pacifist – it’s too easy for a white middle class woman in England – but if I had been a black woman in apartheid South Africa, I would have fought.
If I was a Palestinian woman, I would be fighting.
If I was an Arab woman forced to wear a hijab or to relinquish education, I would fight. etc, etc, etc.
I will fight for all these women and against all oppression and discrimination ... but this does not mean I can glorify war.
So I will continue to wear a white poppy, not a red one.

Joan Baez (I know I have used this before – but it was too appropriate not to use it again)