Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
An insult to the war dead
The Paddy McGuffin column

RIDDLE me this: When is a memorial unveiling not a memorial unveiling?

Answer: When it’s a crassly cynical propaganda exercise which sneers at democratic principles and thumbs its nose at international law.

That was exactly the case this week when the new edifice purporting to pay tribute to those British soldiers and civilians killed by political cowardice and imperialist adventurism in Afghanistan and Iraq was revealed at a lavish ceremony in London.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
RITUALS: Wooden crosses with poppies and names of those being remembered at the Cenotaph in Victoria Square, St Helens, Merseyside
Features / 11 November 2025
11 November 2025

WILL DRY speaks to three former members of the armed forces about the political hypocrisy surrounding Armistice Day, how war is a function of class society, and the far right’s use of militarism and nationalism to divide working people

Attila the Stockbroker Diary / 11 July 2025
11 July 2025

Warming up for his Durham gig, the bard pays attention to the niceties of language

International Brigade Memorial by Ian Walters, 1985 (restored 2012). Jubilee Gardens, Belvedere Road, Lambeth, London
Spanish Civil War / 24 June 2025
24 June 2025

LYNNE WALSH tells the story of the extraordinary race against time to ensure London’s memorial to the International Brigades got built – as activists gather next week to celebrate the monument’s 40th anniversary

HELD IN CONTEMPT: Elbit has faced a long campaign of sabotag
Features / 4 April 2025
4 April 2025
Israel’s number one death dealer supplying the IDF in its murderous campaigns against the Palestinians is now actively wining and dining our military top brass, looking to flog its blood-soaked wares, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES