Morality of war paramount

ANZAC day again saw a positive coming together of the nation with memories, tributes and, of course, a few tears.

While at other times New Zealand can be painfully divided - between political parties, between rich and poor, between Maori and Pakeha - the Anzac commemorations offer a kind of healing.

Again, there were questions raised about whether this should be regarded as our national day (as opposed to, say, Waitangi Day), and about Kiwi involvement in conflicts across the globe.

It was, perhaps, pertinent that earlier this week New Zealand's 10-year stint in the bloody Afghanistan war came to an end with the last troops arriving home on Saturday.

As questions are asked about whether we should have been there in the first place, there was a news report that the morale of Defence Force personnel is at an all-time low.

In a political programme on television, Winston Peters made the point that New Zealand was lucky to only suffer 10 fatalities from a decade-long deployment in Afghanistan.

For once, Winston was talking sense. Damn lucky, I would say, except that for the families and friends of those 10 dead soldiers such a sentiment must surely twist a knife in their guts.

When asked whether Kiwis should in future be sent to fight in similar United Nations or US-sanctioned conflicts, MPs of a range of hues all said it was a question of whether it was in New Zealand's "best interests".

What a typically lily-livered fudge from our politicos.

George W Bush, Dick Cheney and all those US companies that made billions out of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq would tell you it was in America's best interests, but isn't it a moral question rather than one about the self-interest of a nation?

The two World Wars and the first Gulf War can be justified as sovereign nations were invaded by an enemy, but other military actions don't stand up so well. So next time the call comes, let's not weigh up NZ's "best interests", let's look at the morality of it.

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