Boulevard of Broken Dreams

I've been reading Pierre Berton's Marching as to War and came across this excerpt that made me think of Cindy Sheehan. He's talking about the construction and dedication of cenotaphs across Canada in the post-WW1 era:

It was in the mothers' names that the lies were told, the propaganda machine was oiled up, the demonization of the enemy was carried to insane lengths, and the brutal facts about "the war that will end all wars" (H.G. Wells's unfortunate phrase)were unrevealed in all their naked horror. The mothers who so proudly sent their boys abroad to be sacrificed must never know how their sons really lived and died in the wastes of no man's land, nor must they be exposed to an even more dreadful truth: that the Men Whose Names Will Live Forever died for no good reason in a futile and foolish war that solved nothing.

Also particularly interesting was his description of Canada's role in the Boer War, which I knew next to nothing about before reading the book. As you read the following passage, think about why Cindy Sheehan's son went to war. I don't mean his motivations, but the motivations of George H.W. Bush for stepping right in with Desert Storm. And then think about how other nations might view the U.S.:

As usual, both sides believed in the righteousness of their cause. To the Boers, Great Britain was a greedy, imperialistic nation that had pushed the virtuous Boer farmers out of the Cape Colony. To the British, the policy of the Transvaal government was dictatorship--a brutal denial of basic freedoms to the Queen's subjects--which, incidentally, jeopardized British control over the largest gold-mining complex in the world.

Some things never change. Isn't it depressing? Still, thanks to Mr. Berton for the context.