This documentary relates in an interesting way to a quote from a book I just finished: Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller. A different war on a different continent...:
"We accepted the war as one of the pieces that had to be paid for Our Freedom, although it was a funny sort of Freedom that didn't include being able to say what you wanted about the Rhodesian government or being able to write books that were critical of it. And for the majority of the country, Freedom did not include access to the sidewalks, the best schools and hospitals, decent farming land or the right to vote. It now seems completely clear to me, looking back, that when a government talks about "fighting for Freedom" almost every Freedom you can imagine disappears for ordinary people and expands limitlessly for a handful of people in power." (p 29).
It's the main problem with knee-jerk nationalistic fervor. It's fine to like your country, but, as with most other things, a critical eye is important to avoid blindly accepting everything we're told.
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