Reflections on Empires, War and History...

For photo credit see below *

I'm reading (and listening on tape to) a book called "Birds Without Wings" by Louis De Bernieres.

The following is quite an engaging (and an historical, philisophical) interview with the author.

Surprisingly, I like the interviewer's comments as well as those by De Bernieres.  Here's an excerpt:

“...you wrote about empires, war and history...

Where does it all begin? History has no beginnings, for everything that happens becomes the cause or pretext for what occurs afterwards and this chain of cause and pretext stretches back to the Paleolithic age.

When the first Cain of one tribe murdered the first Abel of another.

All war is fratricide, and therefore there is an infinite chain of blame that winds its circuitous route back and forth across the path and under the feet of every people and every nation, so that a people who are the victim of one time become the victimizers a generation later, and newly liberated nations resort immediately to the means of their former oppressors.

The triple contagions of nationalism, utopianism, and religious absolutism effervesce together into an acid that corrodes the moral metal of a race, and shamelessly and even proudly performs deeds that it would deem vile if they were done by another.” And these themes are constantly reiterated in the book, nobody is innocent, no one is pure, or totally good.You get these great big ideas which sound terribly noble and even patriotic but which actually produce a fantastic amount of evil. That’s what I hated. I hate it when people do evil things in the name of big ideas.

LdB: And nobody is really bad either.

Find the full interview  GO here:
http://www.themorningnews.org/article/birnbaum-v.-louis-de-bernires

Below find other references for the sake of reflection on these warring/crusader themes.  You will find other such items on this blogsite.

(I am sharing some items of which I need more study & of which I have no opinion at this time -- so my disqualify that I fully support these items yet record them for this blog's attempt to help create a little more mindfulness around the wars still going on which appear to be disguised attempts at fanning crusader sort of flames.)

The Crusade Mentality:
http://laboratorium.net/archive/2007/01/07/the_crusade_mentality

Historiography of the Crusades (leaving these easier (I hope) to send on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historiography_of_the_Crusades

The Taking of Jerusalem:
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswars10011200/p/jerusalem.htm

Saladin:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Saladin.htm

What are the true facts about Saladin after his victory?
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100411135638AAh9AY2

* Although what we see today in Palestine/Israel is not exactly a crusade of the same sort as those in history, there is still here some remarkable food for thought which relates to earlier times.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/taking-back-palestines-streets-exclusive-interview-underground-jerusalem-graffiti-artistimg

* Find the photo I posted above here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1248330/Traditionally-theyve-painted-noble-mission-Now-new-books-tell-gruesome-reality-unholy-crusades.html -- along with the interesting new research mentioned in this article.