Hello, I think the letters are particularly good today

Letters from "The Age" Tuesday April 25, 2006

Inspirational
Last year I attended an Anzac Day service in nearby Latrobe. It was the best I have ever attended, for two reasons. First, no politicians were allowed to address the gathering, so we were spared their self-serving, oft-repeated banalities; and second, the choice of a young lady from the local high school to give the main address was an inspired one.

The theme of this young lady's respectful but provocative address was that Australians have been killed in wars primarily because their leaders lied to them about why they were there. Her closing words, addressed to those in power and on behalf of her generation, were: "Please don't lie to us."

I have never heard a more moving or more relevant speech in more than 30 years of attending services around the world, including at Anzac Cove itself.
I fully support the concept of younger people marching and otherwise being involved in Anzac Day. The whole idea of the day is that we shouldn't condone such criminal stupidity in the future — and these young people are our future.
Lewis Winders, Sheffield, Tasmania
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Serving our country
Maxwell R. Hayes' bitter old man routine against the so-called "Generation Y" (Letters, 24/4) displays only hatred for young people and no insight as to why they are reluctant to join Australia's defence forces.

I have been involved in community work for many years and have volunteered in youth leadership and organisations such as Oxfam Australia. I have met many young volunteers in this time that care deeply about Australia and humanity in general and are willing to make sacrifices for their communities. What Mr Hayes needs to understand is that for many young people like myself, serving their country is best done through this community volunteer work rather than in the army. For me, the army does not represent national service, it represents violence and war. The army doesn't fight for freedom but for the political and business interests of those in power and their financial backers.

While there are many selfish people in my generation, as there are in generations before us, for many young people the invasion of Iraq showed how the Australian Defence Force could be used as the tool of the US in its quest for resources and political advantage. Why would young people choose to join the defence forces if they are used in this way?Pablo Brait, Malvern

More than a gameI love football. I hate the Anzac Day match. Not because it features Essendon and Collingwood, although that might be reason enough. I hate it because the stench of marketing opportunism suffocates any meaning that might be gleaned from a day that is all about war.
Those who believe that war is about making men of boys, or triumph in adversity, or, God help us, defining our nation's character, let them also remember at the going down of the sun and in the morning that war is about killing people — not just soldiers, but children too. It's about the wholesale rape of women. It's about millions upon millions of young men drowned in an ocean of mud, shredded alive by grenade shrapnel, or simply hacked apart by a hurricane of bullets as they stumbled "over the top".
There are acts of heroism in war, extraordinary courage displayed, camaraderie forged under fire, and sacrifices made. By all means, let us remember them. But these things occur in spite of war, not because of it. They are candle flames in a long, dark night of brutality.
Stephen Mitchell, Newham
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More than a game
I love football. I hate the Anzac Day match. Not because it features Essendon and Collingwood, although that might be reason enough. I hate it because the stench of marketing opportunism suffocates any meaning that might be gleaned from a day that is all about war.

Those who believe that war is about making men of boys, or triumph in adversity, or, God help us, defining our nation's character, let them also remember at the going down of the sun and in the morning that war is about killing people — not just soldiers, but children too. It's about the wholesale rape of women. It's about millions upon millions of young men drowned in an ocean of mud, shredded alive by grenade shrapnel, or simply hacked apart by a hurricane of bullets as they stumbled "over the top".

There are acts of heroism in war, extraordinary courage displayed, camaraderie forged under fire, and sacrifices made. By all means, let us remember them. But these things occur in spite of war, not because of it. They are candle flames in a long, dark night of brutality.
Stephen Mitchell, Newham
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A great win for all caring Australians
Congratulations to Petro Georgiou on his splendid win in the Kooyong preselection vote (The Age, 24/3). This is a win not just for Georgiou personally and not just for sane and "small-l liberals" within the Liberal Party, but for all thinking and caring Australians. His win will give heart to those of us who feel alienated because the values of the Howard Government are so radically different from the values that we hold dear.
Robin Rothfield, Fairfield
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Here's a nice heart warming piece by Phillip Adams:
Petro wins on principleBy standing up for refugees, this liberal has become a stronger, more symbolic figure in the Liberal Party, writes Phillip Adams
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18916260-12272,00.html

Bye for now