Sun's out, guns out!

Occupying British forces suppress a protest in Basra, 2003

Seems the military-industrial complex is planning to enjoy the sun while it lasts.

This Saturday, another militarist showboat will fill up our Royal Square. Armed Forces Day will be marked in Jersey and across the country by military drills and army stalls, with the flag of the armed forces to be flown from the Royal Court and the Cenotaph for the rest of the week and reservists and cadets set to attend work and school in army uniforms.

I hate to rain on the parade, so to speak, but I can't be the only one who is deeply disturbed by the continuing attempt to normalise the presence of the agents of state violence in ordinary people's lives. As recruitment stalls in the latest episode of a long-term decline in the size of the army, the generals are desperate to shore up their recruitment levels, and parades like those that take place on AF day are another familiar part of this ongoing campaign - they are designed to glamourise the armed forces and encourage you to become another cog in the military machine. Don't be sucked in. https://dontjointhearmy.co.uk/ is a site produced by former soldiers, in order to show potential squaddies what life in the army is really like.

The news is grim. The ex-troopers report poor food, standing on parade for hours on end, endlessly polishing uniform and accommodation, loss of free speech and severe punishment for failure to obey orders such as "report to the officers' mess, they need a waiter tonight", "stick your chin out, I am going to punch you" and "you aren't going home this weekend. You're on guard instead". The training encourages soldiers to form an in-group and hate civilians, operators in other branches in the military and foreigners, marshaling this hatred in order to psychologically transform ordinary recruits into killers. And while we're on the subject of killing - 179 British soldiers were killed in the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. 456 were killed in a similar intervention in Afghanistan. During Operation Banner, the British intervention in Northern Ireland, 763 servicemen were killed.

Don't become a killer. Don't become a casualty. Please, don't join the army.

If you go to the event on Armed Forces Day, if nothing else go with the knowledge that they are trying to suck you in. Go with the knowledge that the smiling men and women trying to get you to take the Queen's shilling have only one aim - more cannon fodder for the generals to sent off to die.

I even made a playlist just for the occasion. Let's see if the squaddies enjoy this one.