At dawn on April 25, 1915 soldiers from Australia and New Zealand landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It was the beginning of one of the bloodiest battles in modern human history.

While our allies in the South Pacific remember those who gave their lives so long ago, we should consider the sacrifices being made by our own service members today.

Anzac Day is more than a day of remembrance; it is also a day of reflection. What is the nature of war? How does it come to be? Can it be avoided? And if not, can a war ever be truly won?

In this consideration we must be mindful of our history. Is our current situation in Iraq comparable to Vietnam as some claim? Perhaps, but I think the Bush Administration's broader global, generational war on terror is much more like World War I than any conflict since.

Terrorists - both state sponsored and otherwise - have attacked nations, and our nations have responded in the only way they know how. The aftermath of World War I saw the Middle East reshaped by the West; Something the Bush Administration would very much like to see happen again. But at what cost?

As our troops are fighting and dying today - nearly a century after "the war to end all wars" - are we as a race any closer to knowing the peace our ancestors thought they were fighting for?

Labels: Anzac Day, war on terror