Re-writing history

RAYMOND Rickards from Hampton Park (News, 13 February) may disagree with my opinions, but it is unfortunate he, and the ANZAC spirit supporters, are in denial about some basic facts in Australian history.
During WW1 Australian soldiers didn’t die in defence of our freedom or mateship.
They died in the interests of British imperialism.
Australian soldiers were assisting with the invasion of another country, Turkey, on the other side of the world.
Mr Rickards, Australia had not been threatened and was never in danger of being invaded by any foreign country at this time.
The Australian economy had been driven into recession with very high levels of unemployment.
But, as well as deliberately deflating the national economy, governments used bribery and propaganda to recruit young unemployed men and send them to Gallipoli where thousands were slaughtered following catastrophic military blunders.
The Allied forces were emphatically defeated at
Gallipoli with the landing followed by an evacuation.
Australian governments have subsequently wasted billions in the glorification of the ANZAC tradition.
This is really little more than a very expensive, taxpayer-funded, annual nationalistic exercise in the glorification of war: a distraction designed to cover over massive government incompetence by rewriting history.
John Glazebrook,
Endeavour Hills.